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Remote and rural education is a resonating issue worldwide, given the new and emerging capabilities of digitization to reduce barriers of distance, time, and space, particularly for Oceania. Issues based on achieving equitable educational access and participation that ameliorates the disadvantages for many students in remote and rural locations of Australasia and the Pacific, compared to those in urban classrooms, are pertinent. Nonetheless, students in remote and rural locations also show great resilience and have built up a trove of informal knowledge from the demands of daily life requiring a high degree of independence and maturity. This is evident in the distance education School of the Air in Australia, the University of the South Pacific, and the Marshall Islands College in the North Pacific. These sites provide insights into strength-based reform strategies intended to improve rural and remote education and training and, consequently, work and life choices.

The implications of current changes occurring in HE for healthcare research and practice are the focus of discussion in this chapter. Building capacity for the implementation and translation of healthcare research is a critical issue in HE. Both sectors have to increasingly negotiate common challenges that include technological disruption, decreased funding, and the need for collaborative partnerships. This chapter considers the role of universities in building the relationships and connections that foster human well-being and build social capital to create societies where all people can participate and have equitable access to healthcare. It explores the importance of research that adds value at the coalface and how industry can support this endeavour through working in collaboration with HE to produce work-ready or profession-ready graduates with the skills and attributes to facilitate and lead the change required of the future workforce in building social and human capital.

At the Western Institute of Technical and Further Education (WITAFE) in New South Wales (NSW), vocational education and training (VET) courses are being delivered to students in isolated homesteads and remote Aboriginal communities by Interactive Distance eLearning (IDL). IDL provides satellite-supported two-way broadband voice, oneway video and Internet access for school-age and adult distance education. Adults commonly access VET courses offered by WITAFE using the equipment provided to their children who are students of a 'School of the Air' or through community facilities in remote Aboriginal communities. By providing lessons via satellite to isolated students TAFENSW is helping to counter long-standing inequities in distance and rural education by decreasing the digital divide and assisting with rural renewal. Through a case study, this paper examines the influence of the provision of IDL and Internet access for adult students in isolated homesteads in NSW and also the benefits and challenges of teaching and learning with IDL.