Abstract

This paper complements another ED-MEDIA 2008 presentation which explains how e-learning has helped to reduce the isolation of rural and remote Australians as they engage in interactive distance e-learning via satellite through School of the Air lessons or vocational training courses. What is not yet known is whether the use of satellite-based technology is fundamentally improving the quality and range of educational opportunities available to school-aged students in remote rural areas of the Northern Territory (NT). That is the key problem to be investigated. The focus of this paper is on research into the use of the Remote Education and Conferencing Tool (REACT©), the interactive software program used to conduct School of the Air lessons. A mixed-design approach (Creswell & Clark, 2007) is being employed to investigate this research problem and to answer the six main research questions associated with it. The theoretical framework for this research project is principally derived from activity theory (Cole & Engeström, 1993; Engeström, 1999).

Citation

Devlin, B. (2008). The REACT© software program: a promising way to surmount the technical and educational challenges associated with interactive distance learning in Australia. In J. Luca & E. Weippl (Eds.), Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2008--World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications (pp. 74-83). Vienna, Austria: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 26, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/28378/.

© 2008 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

Keywords

• Educational Technology
• Interaction
• Schools