The Effect of Cultural Differences and Educational Technology on Distance Education in the South Pacific

Innovations in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the development of global-knowledge-based economies are presenting higher-education institutions throughout the developing world with both opportunities and challenges. New opportunities for remotely located institutions are opening up, but the challenge is to ensure that these innovations can be utilized in a culturally appropriate manner at the local level. Despite a relatively low population base, the scattered geography of the South Pacific region has resulted in wide cultural variations between the different island groups. This makes the South Pacific an ideal region in which to explore the impact of cultural differences on online learning. This research investigates the opportunities offered by online learning; the focus is on the use of e-mail as a mechanism for encouraging Web-based interaction among students in two distance-education institutions with a culturally and geographically diverse student body. Subjects were drawn from business information systems and computer information technology classes at the University of the South Pacific and Central Queensland University. Three research questions were addressed: