Conclusion / Summary

The applications for Distance Learning are potentially limitless. Educators are finding that even subjects that seemed beyond its scope, such as surgery, are now being successfully taught in Distance Learning programs:

…even some aspects of medicine and surgery have proved to be subjects suitable for this form of education. The distance education work done by the Centre for Medical Education of the University of Dundee in Scotland testifies to this. (Holmberg, 1995: 14)

Distance Learning is an education delivery system that has come of age. The technology now exists to provide an effective and efficient distance education delivery system that overcomes the barriers that prevent individuals from achieving all they can through education: The barriers of distance, time, educational resources, and cost are being overcome with the continued refinement of distance learning programs.

What will higher education look like in the first decade of the twenty-first century?… The question is not whether a new higher education paradigm will develop but rather how fast it will occur. Although we cannot yet fully answer the question…, we can begin to see an outline of higher education that is easier to access, unconstrained by barriers of space and time, student centered, and cost-effective. For now, that appears to be a sufficient answer. (Cyrs, 1997: 12)

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