Web-based Corporate Learning in Siberia: Reflections on an American Model

Educational theorists have long associated distance education with self-study. In recent years, however, increasingly advanced technologies have made it possible to conduct distance education in ways that give primacy to other aspects of learning. Simonson et al. (1999) have developed the notion that these new approaches may have a particular relationship to US cultural and pedagogical traditions. They argue that new classroom emulation approaches are the result not only of advances in technology but also of American educators beginning to urge that we use technology to conduct distance education in ways that retain traditional aspects of American education. If classroom emulation programs are particularly reflective of the America, it becomes worthwhile to examine what directions others take when they develop distance learning programs. Toward that end, this paper examines Web-based distance education programs developed for corporate training in the Irkutsk Region of Siberia. Particular attention is given to ways in which culture and technology are shaping corporate training.