Educational technology transfer in newly independent states: developing a medical multimedia laboratory in Lithuania.

This paper discusses the development of an interactive multimedia computer laboratory within the Vilnius University Medical Faculty involving transfer of hardware and courseware developed in the USA. The contexts in which the laboratory was developed are described and factors helping and hindering successful technology transfer are identified. The future of the laboratory and its potential role in international distance education and information access are discussed. While this paper does not focus on international distance education in the traditional sense of offering courses or training from one or more source institutions to individuals off-site, it has implications for providing education internationally, especially in the Baltic and other newly independent states of the former USSR.