ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book is concerned with the planning and management of distance education. It provides a definition of distance education based on D. Keegan, who identified seven principal characteristics of distance education. The book discusses three educational models, based on Y. Bertrand: institution-centred models, person-centred models and society-centred models. Society-based community education projects raise the biggest problem in relation to Keegan's defining characteristics, since they must involve group-based learning and social-action. The book focuses on institution-centred distance education systems, one theme explored in it has been the differences between those distance education systems that are institution-centred, person-centred, and society-centred. The management of distance education requires a greater degree of hierarchical control than is found in conventional educational systems. New communications technologies may change thif, resulting in a networked as opposed to a hierarchical form of organization.
