Educational Technology and the World Wide Web in the Pacific Islands.

Abstract

This paper describes technology issues that educators, teacher educators and students in the Pacific Islands confront, specifically in American Samoa (a U.S. territory) and Chuuk (one of the Federated States of Micronesia). We will also briefly mention issues relevant to Yap and Kosrae (two other states in Micronesia), and the Marshall Islands. Knowledge of these issues emerged from our experiences teaching education courses in American Samoa and Chuuk, and working with educators from all of these locations who are presently students at the University of Hawaii (U.H.). We begin by providing a brief general introduction to the regions of American Samoa and Chuuk, then describe some of the challenges of technology use posed in developing regions of the Pacific, and propose areas for further study that would be beneficial to consider as educators plan effective learning experiences for teacher training in island communities.