eLearning and Social Capital Formation: Potentials for the China Agricultural Broadcasting and Television School

Alexander G. Flor, Ph.D.
2nd National Conference on eLearning, August 2003, Manila
UP Open University and Strengthening Distance Education for Agriculture and Rural Development in China (FAO TCP/CPR/0171)

*Abstract only

Reed's law submits that the social capital of social networks increases exponentially when they go online and are linked with other like minded social networks. Social capital is the capacity of a group or a community to achieve targets through collective undertakings. It is a recognized prerequisite for the success of any development program. Among other things, it is attained through mutual reinforcement among community members, something made possible by digital teaching and learning platforms. Traditionally, social capital formation has hardly formed part and parcel of distance learning objectives. The focus of distance learning has been individual knowledge gain, attitude change, and behavioural change, not collective action. The inclusion of social capital formation and learner mobilization agendas in online distance learning programs would maximize the potentials of teaching and learning in a digital environment since it allows for mutual reinforcement among the learners.

Apart from presenting a firm theoretical framework for social capital formation and networking, this paper explores the potentials of elearning and social capital formation in the Central Agricultural Broadcasting and Television School (CABTS) in China. Since its establishment in 1980, the school has developed into the largest system of education for agriculture and rural development in the world with 38 Provincial Schools, 330 Prefecture Schools, 2,408 County Schools, 23,000 township teaching stations, 45,107 staff, and nearly 900,000 students. The presentor served as a UNDP-FAO consultant for CABTS in June 2002.

CABTS is now in the process of migrating from traditional educational broadcasting to online teaching and learning. It is now in a position to tap this social potential and perhaps serve as a model for social capital formation and learner mobilization through distance instruction.