Educational Technology: Its Place in the Process of Lifelong Education in Tanzania

Abstract

This article describes and analyses some aspects of Educational Technology currently being employed in Tanzania to develop lifelong education. In Tanzania the concept of lifelong education implies a complete re‐appraisal of the purpose of education. Included in this view is an attempt to make education become part of the ongoing development of the community. It also includes the formation of new attitudes, values and aspirations and the building of an informed, active citizenry where each member is concerned with his own individual well‐being, and that of the whole community. The identification of these new needs has engendered a new educational philosophy and a new pedagogical system whose aims are: to liberate the individual so as to make him acquire the ability to act and come to terms with change; to make him autonomous and responsible so that he acquires the ability to assess pre‐established models of development, and to help an individual find ways of articulating his needs and those of his community, mobilising the available resources to meet these needs. The greatest challenge facing the educator in the developing nations is to study the existing community educational opportunities which can facilitate the realisation of such aims.