A Teaching Program in Rural Education

Learning Through Experiential Activities

Abstract

This paper describes an innovative rural education project undertaken at Edith Cowan University through funding from the Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching (CAUT). The project sought to create and implement an instructional course based on contemporary learning theories and to enhance learning outcomes in a pre-service teacher education course dealing with rural education. It sought to do so through the use of telematics in teaching and learning. The project involved the development of a module of work that enabled students to experience the technology and to construct their own perceptions of the use of telecommunications as a delivery medium for rural education. It was planned that the students would learn about teaching and learning with telematics by themselves being taught with that technology. The outcomes and initial findings from an implementation of these ideas provided very positive results. The project has demonstrated a powerful alternative to the conventional teaching format, one which is both efficient as a delivery medium and effective in the outcomes that are achieved.