Creating Better Definitions of Distance Education

Overview & Synopsis

Distance education across all levels of education is growing at a rapid rate. As institutions and governments attempt to guide distance education, working definitions and their meanings conflict. Perhaps this is in part because administrators and practitioners are working from definitions that are decades-old. This paper suggests new definitions are needed to help guide and understand distance education for today. First, the current state of distance education will be highlighted, then distance education will be defined historically, then these definitions will be used to bring understanding to a current online university Title IV case. Finally, this paper offers three potential definitions for distance education: "Virtual Network Education," "Cloned Content Education," and "Remote Classroom Education."