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This chapter demonstrates the inadequacy of multicultural and internationalization instructional design models as the solution for equitable outcomes in the learning, credentialing, and employment stakes in the 21st century. Internationalizing learning and teaching eclipsed multiculturalism as the acclaimed strategy when Western universities entice international non-English-speaking-background students to their campuses or offer degrees to such e-learning students who reside in their own countries. Global and Western businesses establishing niches in overseas countries also use the concept of internationalizing their e-learning materials for the cultural training of staff. In their place, a theoretical model of multiple cultures provides the rationale and strategies for creating and adapting e-learning resources for local, national, and international e-learning contexts.

The Remote Area Teacher Education Program (RATEP) is a successful and innovative distance education programme. Curriculum design demands the meaningful integration of traditional distance education materials and strategies with other electronic technology and interactive multimedi a computer courseware. RATEP is more than 'two-way schooling' for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander distance education students studying in their home communities. Centred within Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development, the interactive multimedia computer courseware is informed by the intersecting set of the various cultural contexts: academic culture embedded in Western culture; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and that of the computer. Illustrative examples from generalist and mathematics content and curriculum subjects demonstrate the effectiveness of culturally contextualising instructional computer-student interface design in order to promote learning through interactive multimedia.

Since 1990, the School of Education at James Cook University has produced and delivered a successful offcampus Bachelor of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their home communities through the Remote Area Teacher Education Program (RATEP):A community-based teacher education program for Indigenous peoples. This paper examines five key areas. One is the intersystemic management structure that has majority representation from Indigenous communities and peak education bodies as well as representation from the other three stakeholders: Education Queensland, the School of Education at James Cook University and the Tropical North Queensland Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE). A second area is RATEP’s innovative use of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning. A third theme is its dynamic evolution from (a) two dedicated RATEP sites in the Torres Strait to 12 sites throughout Queensland; (b) geographically remote sites to a combination of remote, rural, and urban sites; (c) a principle where students gather at a dedicated site with its own teachercoordinator to clusters where a number of students are living in different locations and the coordinator travels between these; (d) movement of sites from location to location depending on need and demand; and (e) a fixed program to a highly flexible one that allows multiple entry and exit points, including honours. A fourth area is the critical insights generated from research into the program by Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. The final theme is the retention of graduates from RATEP within the classroom and their promotion into the administrative and advisory teaching sectors.

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