Education for sustainability: Opportunities and challenges for online and distance education.

Abstract

Education for sustainability (EFS) offers special opportunities and challenges for distance and online education. Traditional distance education (ie the mailing of educational materials to students who study at a geographical distance) supports EFS in several key areas. These include opportunities to reach distinct and insular communities of learners, opportunities to develop niche markets for EFS, and the reliance upon a learning model which caters to some of the special needs of EFS students. In addition, both distance and online education can be argued (subject to certain caveats) as being greener than face-to-face teaching, providing legitimacy to institutions which offer EFS at a distance. As part of the presentation, a variety of elearning tools will be demonstrated which illustrate current best practice in the online delivery of various environmental subjects. Although directed primarily towards the tertiary education sector, the demonstration will be of interest to conference participants who seek general information about working with EFS in an online environment.