Abstract: Under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, there is a movement in Japan in recent years to develop educational practices in ways suitable to new forms of knowledge, emerging technologies, and a changing society?in other words: to re-think ‘education’. In response to this, Chitose Institute of Science and Technology (C.I.S.T) has begun to explore ways of utilizing its existing on-line courses (Information/Media, Maths, and English) to extend its reach into the broader community: first, high-schools, and later, to organizations and the general public. This paper gives an overview of the first steps in this process: materials and objectives, and culture-specific factors.