The Reading Writing Hotline was originally conceived as phone support for viewers of an educational TV series. Celebrating it's 30th anniversary next year, it has evolved to become a national referral service for learners, as well as an information and advisory service for industry and community. It recorded a significant increase in call numbers…

Surprisingly, distance education is quite an old concept. Its origins date back to the first correspondence-based course, which took place via the postal service in Boston, USA, in the 18th century. Rapid technological developments, especially in video and audio streaming, have increased the availability of such courses and moved learning into the…

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…

Reports on programs in Western Australia where interactive educational television is being used in broadcast modes for distance education and open learning courses. Discusses the impact of the interactivity on the quality of the broadcast programs from an instructional perspective. (Author/AEF)

Educators have been critized for being unable to develop any firm plans for the use of Australia's Domestic Communications Satellite (AUSSAT). However, conferences, talks, and papers have resulted in some significant achievements. First, it is now possible to raise issues of communications and telecommunications planning at the very highest…

This study was conducted to examine the reactions of children, parents, and teachers to the Loan Video Programme in Western Australia, which supplies videocassette recordings of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) school broadcasts to primary Distance Education Centre and School of the Air students in remote locations. Findings reported…

This extensive report describes activities of the PEACESAT AUSTRALIA Project (the Kangaroo Network) which parallels, on the Australian continent, the endeavors of PEACESAT (Pacific Educational and Communication Experiment by SATellite), and other Pacific Basin ATS-1 networks. An executive summary reviews the development of the project and its…

This report on a 2-day workshop held in 1987 on the role of television in learning begins with a summary of points made or discussed by the participants, including: (1) whether educational programs for adults should be given greater attention; (2) the ways in which programming for children is influenced by market forces; (3) the costs of producing…

Examines the effects of Australia's Video Loan Programme, which provides videocassette copies of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's educational broadcasts to primary school students living in isolated areas and reviews teacher, student, and parent attitudes, viewing patterns, integration with the curriculum, and educational concerns about…

Produced by the Rural and Distance Education (RADE) database of the Queensland (Australia) Department of Education, this bibliography is designed to support research studies and to aid teachers, administrators, support personnel, and policy makers. The 1,965 citations, which include both monographs and journal articles (some of which are already…

In September 1981, the Research Branch of the Department of Education in Queensland, Australia was asked to carry out a brief survey of the opinions of all parents or supervisors of Preschool Correspondence (PC) children. (PC is a home based early education program for families with 4- to 5-year-old children who live in geographically isolated…

Discusses the development of educational television broadcasting in Australia; the role of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; state sponsored educational broadcasting services in Victoria and Western Australia and aspects of their services; and possible future educational broadcasting developments and factors that will influence such…

This publication is devoted to distance education. "The Future of Distance Teaching Universities in a Worldwide Perspectives" (John S. Daniel) examines challenges likely to face the various countries and regions of the world in the next decade. "An Australian University's Approach to Distance Education--Formal and Non-Formal"…

This article presents the author's personal view of interactive digital television and describes how he used digital television to learn. The author describes how he was simulating digital TV while watching analogue TV. The author stresses that interactive digital television has great potential for education and training in the twenty first…

This technology survey provides an overview of the educational technology options specifically available in the distance education and open learning arena. It examines technological options and their delivery modes in the context of each application. For each option, a definition is provided. Costs are estimated for each application; and…