Is Distance Education About Education or Technology?
Complicating the issues of goals and learner segments even further is the tendency to see distance education as a technology issue. Certainly the advent of new technologies has enabled institutions to think quite differently about distance education. However, distance education should be an educational issue rather than a technology one. Some strongly believe that new distance education possibilities have the potential to alter (and perhaps transform) our traditional institutions of higher education; others argue that this technology may lead to a reduction in educational quality. Conclusion Determining the nature and purpose of distance education and defining its appropriate role can be difficult because it requires that institutions locate themselves in the midst of multiple issues: technological advances, pedagogical change, business model change, organizational adaptability, knowledge management, and increased access to education. Some assert that distance education represents a st
