Approach of Ict in Education for Rural Development: Good Practices from Developing Countri: Good Practices from Developing Countries

A comprehensive study on the importance of ICT in rural education

There are many challenges faced in effective Information and Communication Technology (ICT) implementation for rural development. This book contains policy recommendations to help drive and stimulate innovation and creativity through ICT use and reduce the digital divide and social exclusion in rural areas. The cases included in this book typically represent the ICT educational applications in China and developing countries and examine how current policies can support the overall development progress. It is expected to share good practices and to focus on spreading them better among three targeted groups of people: young people in rural areas, teachers at rural primary and high schools, and "left-behind" rural women.

This book is a research result of the program "The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education for Rural Development (iERD)" that was initiated in 2012 by the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED) along with its three other partners―UNESCO Sector Policy Advice (UNESCO-PAD) and ICT in Education, International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), and Beijing Normal University-R&D Centre for Knowledge Engineering (BNU-KSEI).

Zeng Haijun is currently working as Program Coordinator at UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED) and C&B Manager in Human Resources Department of Beijing Normal University (BNU). He started his research on ICT in education when he was working in Research Centre of Knowledge Engineering and Laboratory of e-Learning in BNU in 2001. He worked in the Division of Distance and Continuing Education of Department of Higher Education, China Ministry of Education from 2005 to 2010. He edited a book named What Happened in e-Learning in Chinese Universities (in Chinese), which was published in 2009. His doctoral thesis, Study on Public Support Service System of E-learning (in Chinese), as a monograph was published in 2012. His research book e-Learning in China (in English) was published by SAGE in 2014. He has set up a special column in the Journal of China Distance Education and invites many international experts to share their findings. He also works as the reviewer for International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning and Journal of Open Education Research.

Xia Weifeng is Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Distance Education in China, founder of Learning Habour and the website E-learning World. He has established comprehensive and innovative media service mode of distance education in 10 years which combined print media, online media, enrollment service, industrial organization, annual conference, professional seminar, and social platform.

Wang Jinghua is CEO of Beijing TianDiShang Science and Technology Co., Ltd and LiuQi Group, and Executive Vice Chairman of Information Security Branch of China Communications Industry Association. He has worked on government informatization and education informatization for years and laid emphasis on solution to e-learning, vocational education, and smart city.

Wang Rong is Program Assistant at UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education. She joined the project team after completing her master’s from Beijing Normal University in 2012 and paid special attention to international organization’s program on ICT in education.