Canadian First Nations, Australian Aborigines, and New Zealand Maori have a shared history of being colonized and marginalized, physically and politically, by the British.  While they bear the label “Fourth World,” many of them live in Third World conditions based on indicators such as lifespan and mortality rate (deWolfe, 2002).

            As these peoples struggle to find their identity and their political voice, they continue to share similar experiences in the area of education.  Specifically, they struggle with the effort to preserve their indigenous cultures while learning skills for survival in their dominant cultures.  Evidence indicates that indigenous students require the support of their own communities, making distance education seem like an ideal solution.  As Western educators collaborate with indigenous people to design courses and programs which are culturally-sensitive, each party can benefit from the other’s point of view by seeing the world “through two pairs of eyes” ( McAlpine, Cross, Whiteduck, & Wolforth, 1990, p. 83)       

           Cross-cultural exchange is not without its issues.  In this website, we examine issues concerning distance education for indigenous people in the following areas:

1.         cultural issues

2.         geographical isolation

3.         material/political constraints

4.         educational background/needs

5.         technological possibilities