The ever-changing needs of society justify the necessity for teachers to engage in continuous learning. Teachers are encouraged to participate in professional development activities that will help them develop the knowledge and skills that are required to meet the needs of a 21st century society.

In institutions of higher education, faculty members are increasingly being asked to teach their courses online, usually without any prior experience in this environment or any systematic training to teach in this mode. Faculty require professional development activities aimed at equipping them with the key competencies needed to teach in the online environment. Moving professional development activities for faculty from the face-to-face to the online environment has been explored as a way to increase access by making training more convenient to faculty.

Scholarship in digital media and education emphasises the potential of technologies to revolutionise learning in formal, non-formal, and informational settings. Yet, studies in informal learning largely focus on American and European contexts. This article contributes a regional perspective from the Caribbean, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Trinidad to argue the importance of the informal strategies individuals adopt to enhance learning experiences.

This paper present case studies of distance education (DE) at two universities of the English-speaking Caribbean. It outlines the initation, development, implementation and outcomes of: (i) programmes offered by the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education of the University of Guyana and: (ii) the Certificate in Education offered by distance via the University of the West Indies Distance Education Experiment.