Still think an online degree is sub par when compared to a traditional university setting? Not so. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Asia, where students and educators have embraced online education, with top quality in mind.

In fact, in Asia, distance education using information and communication technologies (ICTs) is proving to be an efficient way of delivering high-quality education using course materials often developed by the best faculty teams. And by making higher education affordable and accessible, it is helping to address equity issues.

Thus was born PANdora's Box, a model for online education to be used throughout Asia.

"You can't just steam-roll out an educational system and expect it to work," says Malik. "We need to learn lessons from previous online projects. We need to develop access models and understand how they work and in what circumstances. What instructional activities are most effective for distance learning education? Would the approach that works best for sociology also work best for engineering?"

Malik is certain that distance learning is making a significant contribution to human resource development in Asia. "One only has to look to India's emerging power to see the value of a population with more access to higher education," he comments.

(IRDC Photo)