By Kathleen McGuire
University of California

The use of distance learning technologies has moved beyond a small group of innovative colleges into a national and international mainstream.

Defined most clearly as the process of extending learning, or delivering instructional resource-sharing opportunities, to locations away from a classroom, by using video, audio, computer, and/or multimedia communications methods, distance learning is a way to bring education to the learner.

One of the very first tenets of education psychology is to "start where the learner is." With lectures and discussions and demonstrations delivered to a student's home, education becomes not only an accessible privilege, but a right as well.

Perhaps the most wrenching paradigm shift takes place, though, in the nature of the teacher. Through distance learning delivery systems, and with access to worlds of information, both the teacher and the student tread the same path of learning. The teacher is no longer a gatekeeper at the end of a tortuous road the student must navigate himself. The teacher becomes, instead, a facilitator in the learning process, one who points the direction and helps the student to teach himself.

Generative learning theory, according to Merlin Wittrock, professor of education at UCLA, suggests that students learn best when they make connections, when they make constructs that only they can make for themselves.
Although distance learning is a new response to necessity0rural populations who cannot get to classroom or urban populations who find themselves without the time to lock themselves into prearranged schedules - it brings to the forefront something we as educators have long known about learners: when they work at learning, they learn better.

Students come to college for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are interested in changing careers, or they may simply want to expand their knowledge base; they may want to expand their cultural background, learn a new language, or start a degree program. Their main reason for choosing distance education as a delivery method is that they want to learn at their own pace, and at a time and location that is convenient for them.

For women, staying close to home is often a priority. Other students may be physically disabled and cannot easily travel. Still, others do not have the time, money or educational background to come to a traditional campus.
Distance education can capture an audience that has been virtually untapped. In addition, distance learning can serve younger students. By using technology, a school can offer classes that are usually unavailable because of a lack of qualified teachers, insufficient funding, or a rural location.

Successful distance learning programs include the following ingredients:

• Commitment and financial support from key educational administrators;
• A strong rationale for using distance learning to extend the scope of the institution;
• A clear definition of the audience to be served;
• Support for faculty training;
• Adequate staffing and support personnel.

Technology should merely be a means to make a connection - to deliver to a new and different population. The driving force behind initiation a distance learning program must be found within the definition of whom the institution is willing to serve, where the students are located, and what instructional needs will be met through such a program.

A successful system will use distance learning technologies to enhance the mission of the institution.