The world is presently experiencing a shift in student bodies that is affecting not only the content of education, but the methods of presentation to the student. In the Western world this shift is seen as a change in the mean age of the student body from the 18-24 group to the 25-40 group. The Third World students are in need of educational programs at all levels starting with basic numeracy and literacy skills up to and including college, graduate, and lifelong learning programs. These needs, due to a number of different factors, are not and could not be met by the traditional educational system.
Distance education is one alternative that could alleviate the need for educational programs for both urban and rural populations. Unfortunately, distance education has had a history of repeated failures that has prevented the widespread adoption of distance education techniques.
The purpose of this study was not to dwell so much on the errors of the past--important though they are--but to look at two distance education projects that are succeeding and to find their common factors. The Alaskan project serves a dispersed, rural, non-white population while the Open University serves a concentrated urban-based group.
These projects had the following factors in common: (1) an 8-10 year planning period; (2) a budget largely independent of political changes; (3) comprehensive planning involving many government agencies; (4) a modern communications infrastructure; (5) a population familiar with electronic technology; (6) a major emphasis on course design and evaluation; (7) a trend toward interactive educational technology with a history of passive technologies.
Since these factors have been those that successful projects have in common, it would be wise to take them into consideration when designing distance education systems in the future. In addition, this paper documents some of the current trends in technology that have a bearing on distance education systems. These trends are in the areas of computer cost and capability, satellite and earth station equipment, fiber optics, photovoltaics, battery technology, and wind power generation. This information will, hopefully, aid designers of future distance education systems.
