Distance learning and libraries in the Pacific Islands

Abstract

The Pacific Islands until recently were thought by many Westerners to be places where swaying palm trees, sandy beaches and brown-skinned natives lived in spendor, untouched by any form of modernity. This, of course, has been an illusion. Pacific Islanders have indeed been touched by the movement to modernize which swept much of the independent Third World countries. Of the major Pacific Islands,l nine are independent, five are independent states in free association with the United States or New Zealand and seven are territories. This paper excludes distance learning in Australia. Education and training on all levels are seen as high priority needs among most of the governments. Priority for education coupled with technological advancements have helped speed the rate of modernization taking place in the islands. This is especially true in the area of communication and education. For many years the major problem facing educational and national planners was delivering education more fully to those remote areas. Today, this is no longer a barrier because of the continuing success of providing distance learning in the region. Distance learning is defined as any form of individualized learning which is conducted by a tutor separated from students by great distances. Instruction is conducted through various media (radio, television, cassette players, etc.) and correspondence. Radio is the most pervasive, but television offers the greatest potential for teaching and learning.