In 2017, SPERA [Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia] members and supporters were surveyed on their views of rural education. Forty-two participants responded to the online survey through targeted and snowball recruitment. Participants shared their opinions of the main issues in rural education, the challenges facing rural…

At the Western Institute of Technical and Further Education (WITAFE) in New South Wales (NSW), vocational education and training (VET) courses are being delivered to students in isolated homesteads and remote Aboriginal communities by Interactive Distance eLearning (IDL). IDL provides satellite-supported two-way broadband voice, one-way video and…

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,…

Developed in the early 1980s, the Hill Areas Education project provides basic education to children and adults of Thailand's six ethnic minority groups, who live in the remote mountainous region of northern Thailand. The project delivers a locally relevant curriculum, equivalent to the six compulsory grades of the formal education system; promotes…

The access to postsecondary education that is offered to students in rural areas differs significantly from the access available to urban students. An overview is given of the various factors and structural obstacles influencing rural access to postsecondary education, including aspirations, college preparation, socioeconomic characteristics of…

Outlines the policy framework for vocational education and training (VET) in New South Wales (Australia), provision of VET through distance education to isolated learners and students in small rural schools, issues related to the child-to-adult transition of isolated students, and the varying educational needs of students following five different…

A survey in isolated areas of Australia examined education-related attitudes of 122 parents of children with mild or moderate disabilities. The survey covered demographic data on respondent and child, degree and type of disability, location and providers of educational program, distance from school, resources at home, support needed, impact of…

The Scottish Executive Education Department has pledged to achieve universal provision of preschool education for 3- and 4-year-olds, whose parents want it, by 2002. The particular factors affecting delivery of preschool education in rural areas were examined through telephone interviews with local education authorities and voluntary preschool…

Discusses the impact on rural Australian schools of recent developments in distance education, including new communication technologies, changes in the concept of Distance Education Centres, the advent of open learning ("open" college courses delivered electronically by a consortium of universities), and interinstitutional networking.…

Distance education has potential to overcome barriers to rural women's participation but must consider women's attitudes toward technology and ways of knowing. Strategies are outlined for developing gender-friendly models of distance education. "Value-added" distance education requires rethinking traditional instructional settings and…

The Western Brokering Project (WBP) is a cooperative effort to share resources and programming across educational institutions in the western United States. Administered by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, the WBP works with 6 community colleges and universities…

Distance education can improve rural education by alleviating geographic isolation of small rural schools and increasing educational opportunities for both students and teachers. In Australia, distance education technologies include telecourses for staff development and an electronic mail and bulletin board system linking schools. (LP)

In rural Alleghany County (North Carolina), one of the state's seven "cyber campuses" provides an expanded curriculum and advanced placement college courses to high school students and an array of community college and 4-year college courses to residents, who otherwise would be deterred from further education by their isolated location.…

This article describes the formation of an educational partnership developed in a rural, Appalachian, coal-mining community. Williamson Main Street, Inc., a downtown revitalization program, and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (Southern) combined their efforts to create the Tug Valley Economic Development Institute (TVEDI).…

Two models for using information and communication technologies to teach physics to students in remote areas of Canada and Russia are described. In Canada, an intranet electronically links schools in a Newfoundland school district to the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Advanced placement physics is delivered via the Internet. Newfoundland has…