The higher education participation and success rates of students in low socio-economic status (SES), regional, rural, remote, and isolated areas -- who often attend university later in life -- is a persistent concern in Australia and beyond. This article focuses on mature-aged students in low SES, regional and remote areas in Tasmania, Australia,…

Transfer of patients from rural emergency departments to tertiary centers can improve outcomes. The transfer process is complex and often ad hoc, inefficient, duplicative, and frustrating to both patients and providers. Suboptimal transfer undermines quality of care, raises costs, and delays services. Unfortunately, the same barriers that make…

In large continental landmasses such as Australia, forms of education, including correspondence schooling, emerged in the early twentieth century that allowed children in remote regions to access education. To make such schooling possible, other "technologies" of state provision were mobilised such as the postal system, rail network, and…

How can students in an online classroom of one, often sitting in solitude in front of a computer, experience community? The authors suggest that in part, the answer lies in creating invitational online educational spaces through the use of Artistic Pedagogical Technologies (ATPs), particularly Photovoice (PV) a teaching strategy. A Zen paradox (or…

Distance learning, open source courseware, e-books, wikis, and many other innovative technologies have impacted the education fields by connecting any topic in any discipline to any learner in any place. Drexel University's School of Education capitalized on these possibilities earlier this year by hosting its second annual live and online Virtual…

Distance education strategies for remotely deployed, highly mobile, or institutionalized populations are reviewed and critiqued. Specifically, asynchronous, offline responses for special military units, Native Americans on remote reservations, prison populations and other geographically, temporally or technologically isolated niche populations are…

Connecting with other education professionals is important in supporting teacher learning. Teachers in remote locations in Australia experience a professional isolation due to geographic isolation that makes it difficult to engage in sustained collaborations with other teachers. In a national project ICT was used to assist these teachers by…

This paper provides information on the background to the two pilot investigations into "interactive distance e-learning" [IDeL] following the introduction in New South Wales and in the Northern Territory of Australia of satellite-supported two-way broad-band internet services for school-age and adult distance education. The context is…

Despite problems of isolation and lack of resources, studies show rural physicians are uncomfortable with distance education technologies for continuing education. A Penn State pilot project is testing use of desktop conferencing equipment in doctors' offices to deliver continuing education via the World Wide Web. (SK)

In response to the expense and unreliability of radio and telephone communications, the New South Wales (Australia) Department of Education and Training undertook a trial of satellite technology to deliver interactive lessons to elementary students in remote areas. The Gilat satellite system developed in Israel is described, including equipment,…

Explains the development and delivery of a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree as a distance education program at James Cook University (Australia). Topics include physical isolation; distance and access; resources; financial costs to students; course development; scheduling clinical placements and residential schools; student expectations;…

An Australian "School of the Air" teacher describes his experiences teaching isolated rural students in grades 3 and 4 via radio and teleconferencing. He discusses lesson materials, exceptional student work, "classroom" techniques for delivering Air lessons, home visits, parent involvement, and his own learning experience. (SV)

In the past, small states and provinces were outclassed by big metropolitan regions in the quest for economic development. However, small outlying regions, such as New Brunswick, Canada, can now compete with big urban centers since information technology has made higher education a global enterprise through online courses. Various countries and…

Describes the author's experience teaching a class of remote and isolated children using Air (broadcast) Lessons and Distance Education lesson materials. (WRM)

Valdosta State University (Georgia) uses audio/video conferencing in its teacher education program, a low-cost alternative to travel that enables student teachers to access the expertise of their supervisors more frequently; supervisors to observe student teachers; simultaneous interactions between supervisor, student teacher, and mentor, or among…