Educators have a remarkable range of options open to them once they have determined the programme objectives and the general strategy that they intend to adopt.
As information technology develops, there is a temptation to concentrate only on approaches that use electricity, computers, and television. But advances have also been made with respect to the application of low-tech options suitable for developing countries. The wind-up radio, for example, is only one of the more recent options available. The job of the educator is to use the most appropriate technologies to achieve the objectives in the most cost-effective and efficient way.
This section of the topic area provides a range of programme elements and suggests ways in which these can be used, some of their limitations, and ways in which they can complement one another.
The sections include the following:
There are programmes that start with the most obviously available materials or media. Educators should, though, be cautious in jumping to conclusions. It is essential that the initial programme assessment be done before selecting from amongst the programme elements that are available.
Educators around the world are designing voter education programmes with increasing creativity, both with respect to the range of media being used and the manner in which they are being used, from paper balloons in Japan to large national civic education coalitions in central and south America. There is no reason to think that this will cease, and the samples made available in this topic area are only a small selection of what is available (see Sample Materials).
