K-12 online distance education is growing rapidly and many organizations focus on virtual schooling in Canada. The centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI) was established in 2000 in Newfoundland and Labrador and has been offering numerous opportunities to rural high school students through online distance education. In this paper, the…

In many school districts, rural life in British Columbia continues to be a geographic and economic fact. Delivering equal school services and ensuring equal educational opportunities to areas with thinly scattered populations continues to be a challenge for the provincial government and school districts. Rural schools offer many positive benefits…

In this paper, the author has attempted to provide an overview of some of the issues and challenges confronting rural educators and parents in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. He has chosen to focus on three of the most pressing at this point in time: (1) declining enrollment and its consequences; (2) the continuing pressure on…

Explains how interactive television is expanding course offerings in two remote, sparsely populated Northern Michigan school districts (Cheboygan and Mackinaw City), how interactive television works, and how the programs were made operational in less than two years. Offers reflections about the program and plans for expansion. (NEC)

Describes high school courses, K-12 student enrichment programing, and inservice teacher training offered by interactive (two-way audio) instructional television satellite systems. Outlines the benefits of live, satellite television instruction for rural and small schools. Contains 11 references. (SV)

This handbook presents a snapshot view of the use of telecommunications technologies to deliver instruction to distant audiences of K-12 students in the United States. The information is intended specifically for people who work in and with small, rural, or remote schools. Available technologies and programming vary widely in offerings and…

Distance education technologies can help rural schools overcome the disadvantages of geographic isolation by expanding course offerings and learning opportunities and by connecting teachers with resource materials and training programs. Classroom-focused distance learning is distance insensitive and implies simultaneous instruction of several…

In 1987-88, advanced placement courses were offered by only 39 of South Carolina's 58 small rural high schools, compared to 100 percent of all other high schools. Distance learning systems, such as the Star Schools Project, provide a feasible option to expand the curriculum in small rural high schools. (SV)

"Planting the Seeds: Growth in Rural Education [Two]... A Series of Choices" outlines nine effective practices in programming for small and rural schools. The nine projects are described and additional resources, contacts, and references are provided for each. The nine projects include an outreach school partnership, the use of a mobile…

An art course was adapted from the Manitoba curriculum for grade 9 and delivered via teleconferencing to three small, geographically isolated schools in Birdtail River School Division, Manitoba. Participants included 1 adult planning to study art at a community college and 38 students in grades 8-10 at a German-speaking Hutterian K-10 school, a…

Rural teachers have few opportunities to learn specific strategies for developing computer literacy among boys and girls in their classrooms. This paper describes an inservice program for rural Kansas teachers that taught skills such as programming, software evaluation, word processing, building a database, and creating lesson plans that involve…

In 1985-86 several small school districts in rural New York State began cooperating to offer advanced high school courses via audio-graphic telecommunications. Evaluation of the Tele-Learning project's second year used a case study approach to examine four diverse programs: advanced placement English, advanced placement calculus, Spanish III, and…

A national survey of 130 single-campus, K-12 public schools enrolling fewer than 300 students revealed that half of the schools reported implementing some type of distance learning program, that satellite-based programs were the technology of choice, and that the mean dollars expended for distance learning ranged between $6,838 and $19,335. (LP)

This book provides information supplemental to the accompanying videotape regarding the implementation and use of two-way, full-motion interactive television. Based on a study conducted by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, "Local Heroes" describes in detail how citizens have implemented the technology in small rural…

This proceedings record contains 87 presentations, including 65 complete or edited transcripts and 22 abstracts. Eighteen papers address the conference theme of creative collaboration, describing cooperative agreements between universities and school districts to provide enhanced high school curricula, college preparation courses, and…