Abstract

Globalisation is conceptualised in this article, not merely in economic terms, but broadly social, political and cultural terms. The role of English as the global language is discussed in relation to the development of open and distance education in the Englishspeaking nations. Within this framework the interrelatior~ships with open and distance education structures and processes are analysed and discussed. It is argued that open and distance education structures and processes can be viewed as 'globalised' educational phenomena that have developed as part of international and global networks of discourse and practice in the field. Likewise, these open and distance education structures and processes are strong forces for globalisation in themselves in that they have traditionally used the available technology to reach beyond national boundaries to provide education and training. The rise of the information and communication technologies, and their incorporation by educators into the new educational technologies, strengthens still further the globalising power of open and distance education. The reflexive nature of globalisation suggests that the global education will incorporate a form of hybridisation whereby local institutions and students reflexively we\d the global and the local.