Creating Virtual Classrooms for Rural and Remote Communities

Abstract

Students in remote communities face many challenges to get an education. This is especially true for indigenous and native people. To train teachers for these populations, the authors used web-based conferencing, which avoids some of the technological challenges of communicating with students in these communities. The virtual classes also were organized to take students' cultural preferences into account and to create learning communities among students.

Promoting Engagement and Success at University Through Strengthening the Online Learning Experiences of Indigenous Students Living and Studying in Remote Communities

“…Yet for these students and their communities, success in education constitutes more than achieving a score within a unit of a program of study. Success is encouraged when it is recognised that learning is not an individual activity; that in traditional communities, information is shared and negotiated with others and passed down from Elders; that traditional learning is important learning; and that many Indigenous learners prefer to work collaboratively, valuing community and kinship, and eschewing individual isolation (Calma 2009;Rao et al 2011;Stoessel et al 2015).…”

“…Two commonly cited technical challenges for students studying in geographically isolated rural and remote communities are slow or no Internet connection (due to the paucity of telecommunications infrastructure) and a lack of technology skills (Anthony and Keating 2013;Rao et al 2011). The paucity of technical access is further compounded by the need for students to be able to afford and maintain and be willing to use a webcam and microphone in order to take part in online classes.…”

“…University educators developing curriculum must possess cultural knowledge and capacities, and the delivery must be flexible enough to support remote learners (McMullen and Rohrbach 2003). Rao et al (2011) identified one of the main challenges in online pedagogy in the context of Indigenous learners as 'achieving empowerment in ways that consider their worldviews, cultural knowledge, and traditional community-based lifestyles ' (p. 4). Some elements of online course design they suggest may help to achieve this include virtual meetings for cross-cultural exchanges, creation of online learning communities, 'visual instruction' -use of multimedia to clarify complex topics and promote visual exploration, and going beyond reliance on text-based materialsmany have strong oral traditions that rely on verbal exchanges for communication whereas writing/reading can be discouraging.…”

Students Veterans’ Preference for Traditional Versus Online Course Formats: A Case Study at Two Midwestern Universities

“…For instance, instructors teaching rural students should consider their unique situations, as they deal with the factor of being remotely located, which may limit their access to digital technologies (Parkes et al, 2015). Moreover, with rural groups, it is important for students taking online courses to engage in collaboration as they draft essays (Eady & Woodcock, 2010) and to participate in video conferencing to connect with those from cultures having an oral tradition and a focus on community (Rao, Eady, & Edelen-Smith, 2011).…”

Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities: Narratives from North of Sixty / Concevoir pour favoriser la participation active à l’apprentissage dans les communautés éloignées : récits d’Au nord du soixantième parallèle

“…Arctic communities have typically favored more collectivist forms of knowledge building, rather than the individualist and competitive approach favored by most Eurocentric schooling traditions (Rao, Eady, & Edelen-Smith, 2011). Pedagogies within Indigenous communities tend to be, by nature, more learner-centered and experiential, and grounded in communal, familial, and, sometimes, essential survival needs (McGregor, 2010;Nakashima et al, 2012;Seyfrit & Hamilton, 1997).…”