Tonga, a geographically isolated developing nation in the South Pacific was chosen as the site for a pilot implementation of Internet-assisted distance learning. As a high context, traditional society, and the last kingdom in the Pacific, with a monarchy and social traditions stretching back more than a millennium, distance learning in Tonga could only be implemented by taking into account its history and culture as well as technical and educational issues. Educational issues encountered were computer literacy, teaching-learning styles, delivery mode, availability of off-the shelf courses, language barriers, curriculum alignment, remote and onsite functions, virtual office hours, and evaluation/assessment. Social-cultural issues included social protocols at a distance, conflict between new and traditional teaching-learning patterns, access to resources, security, and tribal mentality. The issues addressed appear to be some of those that will arise in other places pursuing the goal of ubiquitous education through distance learning, whether in geographically remote nations such as Tonga or in isolated locations within a larger high-context nation, such as China.

• Ronald Mellado Miller(Brigham Young University - Hawaii)
• Clayton Hubner(Brigham Young University - Hawaii)