Technologies and issues in distance education Bangladesh perspective

This work discusses different issues and the technology requirements in distance education. In developing countries like Bangladesh, with very low GDP, poor telecommunication infrastructure and with majority of the population living in remote areas, careful consideration need to be given for choice of technology aspects for their efficient use and fruitful outcome. Few projects have been undertaken and few others are ongoing with the aim to increase the literacy rate in the country using distance education. Bangladesh Open University (BOU) was established in 1992 as the only public distance education provider with more than 200, 000 students. We discuss the limitations in the use of modern communication technologies for distance education at BOU. Projects have been undertaken to provide access to multimedia based interactive education materials to rural students through regional centers avoiding the huge cost required for establishment of a high speed communication infrastructure.