We feature below the fifth issue of the ASEMagazine for Lifelong Learning which focuses on lifelong learning and the digital revolution.

Online distance learning in Asia is associated with the view that the use of learning technologies will miraculously bring about a learning society. However, in the article “Will Asia become a world leader in the use of learning technologies?", Dr Insung Jung from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, and Dr Min Yang from the Faculty of Education and Human Development, Hong Kong, questions how effective the technologies are used. The article also shows that both over-optimism and over-pessismism about online distance learning exist in Asia.

In the article “Can the Confucian learner become a lifelong learner?”, Professor David Carless from the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong and Emeritus Professor David Boud from University of Technologies, Sydney and Director of the Research Centre in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University describes the challenges for the Confucian teaching and learning cultures. A succesful lifelong learner has 'learning how to learn' skills, but this requires a learning culture that appreciates self-assessment.

In the view of Professor Karanam Pushpanadham from Faculty of Education and Pshychology, the M.S. University of Baroda, India, students from middle and higher income groups in India are migrating from the country at an alarming rate to get higher education degrees. In the article “MOOCs are a revolution for higher education in India” he states that if India is to avoid this the mobilisation of educational resources is imperative.

You can also access the magazine on the Facebook page of ASEM LLL Hub.

Happy reading!

Anders Martinsen
ASEM LLL Hub Secretariat
Copenhagen, November 2014

Email: [email protected]