ONLINE education is not without distractions. Students without reliable Internet access and/or technology struggle to participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between income brackets within countries. For example, in the U.S., there is a significant gap between those from privileged and disadvantaged backgrounds: whilst virtually all 15-year-olds from a privileged background said they had computers to work on, nearly 25 per cent of those from disadvantaged backgrounds did not. Similarly, while some schools and governments in many countries have been providing digital equipment to students in need, many are still concerned that the pandemic will widen the digital divide.

Further, it is believed that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning, with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation, will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth. However, others believe that a new hybrid model of education with significant benefits will emerge, and that the integration of information technology with education will be further accelerated and eventually, make online education an integral component of school education.

Additionally, there are some privacy issues. There are direct legal ramifications of concern to students, as a result of sharing individual grades among group members and providing public feedback in blogs. Privacy issues also occur in more nuanced ways, such as open access to each other’s work, transparent reflections, public comments, critical analyses of the assignments, and collaborative evaluations of students’ work.

The journey continues for distance into the 21st century. It has become a social, collaborative, personalised and interactive experience that generates two powerful, mutually reinforcing success accelerants: first, the long-term desire to learn, to better one’s position in the world; and, secondly, the pleasure of participating in a learning experience that is continually exciting, rewarding and creating a valuable sense of social connection.

Today’s distance learning, that is, online education or e-learning, is no longer a one-way communication. Technological advances have allowed for teaching face-to-face at a distance. The speeding up of chips and the introduction of broadband technologies have brought about this veritable revolution. Learners can now communicate with one another and their professors, so that they learn interactively. In essence, distance education has now become a valued component of many education systems and has progressed in areas where traditional schools, colleges, and universities have had difficulties in meeting demands.

GOAL is a bold initiative which adds to the education value chain and aims to level the education playing field and make higher education accessible to everyone everywhere in Guyana. This means that learners, other than the usual ‘cream of the crop’ students, will now have opportunities to pursue higher education. More importantly, it affords the lesser qualified and needy citizens options of vocational programmes at the tertiary level. Like students elsewhere in the world, those in Guyana would grow to appreciate the way that online learning frees them from the constraints of time and space, and allows them to gain reflection as well as to think quickly and critically in real-time and thus gain knowledge and skills at their own pace and from the comfort of their homes in villages and remote areas of the country.

While some people may continue to ponder the change from face-to-face classroom delivery to online/distance delivery mode, others would quickly realise that the flexibility of the classes will not only help to alleviate their tight schedule, but will also help them to save money on their commuting.

In sum, online distance learning would level the higher education playing field, and in so doing, serve as a catalyst for education-training equity, fulfilling aspirations and creating opportunities for learners, even in the most remote parts of Guyana. GOAL, as a national entity, not only refreshes or brings new hope, but also undoubtedly ushers the dawn of a revolution in higher education in this evolving oil and gas economy.