Abstract:

These are turbulent times as forces of globalization have engulfed most countries in the world. The impact of these forces is so overwhelming that it seems to have altered the econornic map of the world. In India, while on the one hand, there is growing affluence of certain sections, on the other, there are signs of marginalisation of vast sections of the population in terms of growing disparities in education, income, health care facilities and other measures of well being. Women in particular, have been adversely affected due to forces of globalization. Globalization has also sparked a revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs). While the ICTs are ushering in an Information Age that promises to bring about new levels of global connectedness, the gap between the 'information rich' and the 'information deprived' is also widening. The paper examines the role of education in such a context. In recent years, a paradigm shift is beginning to take place whereby the focus is now on 'learning' and building learning communities/societies within the context of lifelong learning. The experience of technology based community learning centers is showing how technology can be harnessed to empower individuals/communities whereby they engage in learning to create, appropriate and share knowledge, tools and techniques in order to change and improve the quality of their own lives and societies. The distance and open learning system would have to gear itself to meet the challenges posed by these developments.