Learning Technologies: where is the challenge?

Between late 1998 and early 1999, the Commonwealth of Learning [1] chaired four virtual conferences that led up to the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning [2]. These virtual conferences demonstrated the capacity of the Web to bring communities of scholars into a discussion, and provided an opportunity for those unable to attend the conference in person to send a message to the Forum. Between 700 and 1000 individuals participated electronically in these conferences (against about 400 who participated in the real Forum itself). Most were from the developing economies of the world, enriching the discussion with their particular perspectives. Most were also engaged in some form of distance and open learning to deliver education and covered almost all sectors of education. One of the Ž rst topics discussed in the virtual conference was Distance Education and Challenged Communities. This article is primarily based on that virtual conference and aims to highlight to readers of this journal certain issues that may not be at the fore of current debate, but may certainly require attention in the near future. While our virtual conference was centred on distance and open learning, ‘learning technologies’ were seen as an essential part of the infrastructure underpinning the delivery of these educational services.