OK, so there's a few problems with this article. The first is that it reads more like an ad for Microsoft than anything else and the second is that it gives very little info about the Pharm program that is to be offered. If we can look past all that we'll see another country moving into the realm of DL. In 5 years who knows what might be available in Thailand? Distance-learning made easy - The Nation
There's no need to wait five years. Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University has been offering distance learning since 1978. And Assumption University has PhD programs in eLearning Methodology and in Teaching and Technology that can be done by distance. I'm sure there are many others, but those are off the top of my head.
I was not aware of this. Perhaps other members will add to this thread. Issues of citizenship, language of instruction, etc. become important when describing these programs.
Asian Universities can certainly be expected to tap into online learning. Their economies are experiencing a growth mode that will require business and technical graduates at a rate that traditional learning processes will not be able to accommodate. The well known Asian tigers are India and China. Indonesia is the sleeper. It can be expected to join the tigers, albeit more slowly. The big issues will be corruption and fraud and how it is managed. A lot of startups occurring at the same time are always likely to lead to some of this. It is also likely that with huge internal student populations, foreigners may not be that relevant. Foreign universities getting in to these markets are also likely to be focussed on the internal markets. China can be expected in the longer term to export education for the usual economic reasons, but perhaps more so for cultural and political reasons to develop its influence as a superpower.
As a quick point of clarification, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University only offers its courses in Thai language, so students must be proficient. In the future, this institution plans to offer international programs (for non-Thai students), but that may be many years down the line.
