Using Interactive Television to Deliver Professional Development Programs in Rural Victoria

In 1991 the Regional Telematics Educatiou Consortium (RTEC) was established to promote and co-ordinate the telematic delivery of education and training programs in rural Victoria. 'Telematics' is defined as all electronically-delivered communication, including audio and audiographic conferencing, and one or two-way video transmission. Interactive television programs were first trialled in 1991 in the Loddon Campaspe Mallee Region, and expanded to over twenty programs in 1992. While many of these programs consisted of only one or two sessions, the Promoting Effective Teaching and Learning Program (PETL), a professional development course of six ITV sessions supported by one initial face-to-face session, provided more data on presenter and participant initial perceptions and responses. Eleven presenters delivered PETL to two hundred and forty-one teachers at twenty-three sites in the Loddon Campaspe Mallee Region during 1992.