If we interpret in terms of ‘e’ as electronic media, the scope of e-Learning can get a vast platform in respect of its concern and long-term effect and coverage.

In the Olympic Games of the electronic advancement, there is a never-ending marathon race being competed by the nations all over the world. But the nations have started at different times with different speed, energy and potential. It is therefore, really challenging job to verify their progress in various sectors of technological advancement and its extent of spread within the nation itself. Keeping this point in mind, we have started the new section under the heading ‘ICT and Education’, a part of which is ‘e-Learning’, a term newly emerged and not well-defined still now.

‘e’ percolating in e-Learning
If we go back to the history of development of e-Learning, we find some phases of its development. 1990 to 99 was the era of custom computer based training (CBT) that was consisted of standalone CD-ROM training courses, playing on end-user computers, standalone training stations and sometimes beyond the clients or server LANs. But it was costly, slow, labour-intensive and had limitations in software. During 1994 to 99, packaged content, which is financially sensible to sell and cost-effective, came to the market. Although the packaged IT training courseware can be quite effective, but the professional skills and learning contents needed to be improved to make it customisable and industry or business specific. 1997 to 99 was the period of rise of the Learning Management System (LMS). The need of strict standards was felt to make the content sources more user-friendly and useful in any type of administrative platform.

In around 1999, Internet boom acted as the next piston in the process of progress of e-Learning. The ‘move to the web’ brought administrators, instructors, managers, workers and learners together under one umbrella providing a consolidated virtual environment. Therefore, ‘do-it-in-house’ e-Learning concept emerged and many portals were also launched offering some learning processes. In the latter half of 2001 and 2002 the focus of e-Learning has become more accustomed to certain specific trends such as blended learning, Learning Content Management Systems (LCMSs), web collaboration, simulation and learning games, training without trainers for knowledge sharing and informal knowledge exchange. With the increasing speed of life in both developed and developing countries, it is a matter of increasing importance day-by-day.

Community radio – is it promoting e-Learning?
e-Learning although prefixed by ‘e’ and many experts comment that ‘e’ does not necessarily mean the use of computer as a must, but to many of us the term still is in half darkness. If we interpret in terms of ‘e’ as electronic media, the scope of e-Learning can get a vast platform in respect of its concern and long-term effect and coverage.

After going through the contents of this issue, if any of our readers ask the question whether community radio is also performing some tasks of e-Learning, what should be the answer? If learning is supposed to be for all and ‘e’ is used as the short cut of the term ‘electronic’, why shouldn’t we interpret the verbal knowledge spread through electronic media like community radio as a part of ‘e-Learning’? Of course, it is, at least from the point of view of the countries of South Asia where billions of people are living in the rural areas without electricity, even without some very basic amenities which the professionals, associated with the core sector of ICT, spending three-fourth of the day with email, voice mail, chatting across the country, SMS etc can’t even just imagine. It must be kept in mind that although ICTs are rapidly becoming available for the use in both formal and informal education, but such process is much more common among the rich and in the developed countries rather than for the poor or developing countries. The development process in this sector is comparatively slow in the develop