In 1919, the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) established the Elementary Correspondence (EC) School to provide formal education for children living in rural areas with difficult access to a school. Through children's letters, this paper interrogates the concept of place, a key one for placed-based approaches to environmental education.…

Using a collection of settler family letters to the Elementary Correspondence School (ECS) in British Columbia, the first provincial government--supported "schooling by mail" arrangement of its kind in Canada, I highlight the efforts of rural families to secure an education for their children in the period between the First and Second…

In this paper, I examine the provenance of distance education or "teledidactics" in Australia. I take as my case studies the New South Wales Correspondence School and the School of the Air and suggest that their emergence was underpinned by a desire on the part of educational and broadcasting bureaucrats to increase the equity of school…

Each school, district, or state has a unique set of circumstances and obstacles to deal with in implementing a one-to-one laptop program. That is especially true of Denali Borough School District in Alaska. Located in the Alaskan interior, it encompasses Denali National Park (with North America's tallest mountain), covers more than 12,000 square…

Begun in 1933 to serve rural regions of New South Wales (Australia), the Postal Sunday School Movement (PSSM) now offers over 200 nondenominational lessons via mail about the Bible, Christianity, and practical aspects of Christian life. PSSM employs approximately 130 teachers from various church backgrounds; enrolls about 2000 students, preschool…

Described is a program created by the Shanghai Medical College to combine correspondence education in medical science with public health reform in rural areas and to associate the revolution in education with the revolution in health work. (Author/DB)

The Centre was originally funded in 1980 for three years to undertake research on major issues and problems in rural education, to publish and disseminate results, and to act as a source of advice to government and private authorities as well as communities. Funding for the Centre has been extended through 1985, and its activities continue to be…

This report describes the activities of the first 5 years of the Lesotho Distance Teaching Center, which uses distance teaching methods to bring education to more people in Lesotho. Also described are the Center's internal organization, its relationship to other organizations in Lesotho, its costs, and some evaluation findings. Background…

This paper examines the frequency and purpose of interactions between rural students and teachers at the Brisbane School of Distance Education. Research regarding distance education indicated that: (1) both the school community and rural community significantly influence teacher-student interactions; (2) the student population represents diverse…

A comparative study is presented from the results of a questionnaire on rural education submitted to 71 countries. Information is given on administrative organization, criteria used to determine rurality, rural-urban differences, special courses for rural areas, curricula for rural education, staff distribution and preparation, and centralization…

Overview of the interactive technologies used by the Northern Territory Secondary Correspondence School in Australia: print media utilizing desktop publishing and electronic transfer; telephone or H-F radio; interactive television; and interactive computing. More fully describes its interactive CD-ROM courses. Emphasizes that the programs are…

The process of establishing a correspondence teaching institution is described in the document, and is largely based upon experience gained from the National Correspondence Institution, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Beginning with the initial conception and discussion for establishing such an institution, the document examines all planning and…

This paper discusses how economic, social, and political factors influenced the provision of education in isolated areas of North Queensland (Australia) during 1919-1939. The educational system of that time was characterized by central control of the state that provided education and close supervision of the nongovernment schools. Technological…

Reporting on educational conditions and facilities for children in isolated areas of Australia, this document presents findings and recommendations submitted by the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts as per their two-year investigation. Areas considered in this report are: extent of the problem; schools in isolated…

This study of educational provisions in Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometers with a mere 1.2 million inhabitants, provides a broad picture of the complex, difficult, and expensive undertaking of providing education to a small, widely-spread population which differs in demographic, economic, and cultural characteristics. The…