The third in a series published by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), this booklet reproduces five addresses and one article from late 2006 and early 2007. This collection of speeches is entitled "Learning for Development" because that is the focus of the work of the COL's work. The addresses presented here were given at the opening and…

This paper begins by providing a thorough history and review of the diffusion of innovations research tradition. It then focuses on undesirable, indirect, and unanticipated consequences of innovations based on the dominant paradigm of development. In the case of high-input agriculture, the consequences have affected the quality of the environment…

The paradox of the diffusion of innovations research is that in its efforts to find ways and means of breaking the communication constraint in Third World countries, it has generated many bottlenecks that cumulatively constitute the major constraint: lack of an efficient system for delivering adequate and reliable information, knowledge, and…

A review of the information provided by rural sociologists and agricultural extensionists regarding the adoption of new and/or improved farm practices in Nigeria in order to determine their contribution to the transfer of technology to farmers indicates that a great deal of attention had been paid to communication variables and to personal and…

Modernization is a process of change in the way of life of a person in which he uses available resources and learned techniques to achieve material happiness. Data collected in 1967 and 1972 in the rural communities of India reveal certain characteristics that distinguish the modern person: a keen awareness of his own modernity, highly motivated…

Because Nigeria's original secondary education system transmitted the alien British culture of power and status, it was only able to help a small percentage of Nigerians receive the preparation necessary for their adult lives. The Curriculum Conference of 1969 developed a new national educational philosophy based on prevocational curriculum…

The book contains 28 papers by a variety of authors who deal with technology and social change in foreign countries. The papers are presented under 13 headings: technology and social change in foreign cultures (two papers), technology and values (two papers), technological and social change in history (one paper), the arts and technology (two…

This symposium on learning organization consists of three presentations. "Perception of Learning Culture and Concerns About the Innovation on Use of Innovation: A Question of Level of Analysis" (Rebecca Fatima Sta. Maria, Karen E. Watkins) reports a study of the relationship between organizational members' perception of learning culture…

This document contains four papers on organization development and human resources. "Identification of Key Predictors of Rapid Change Adaptation in a Service Organization" (Constantine Kontoghiorghes, Carol Hansen) reports on the results of an exploratory study, which suggests that rapid change adaptation will be more likely to occur in…