ABSTRACT
Post-industrial distance education, as previously noted, is quite different from its Industrial Era predecessor. This chapter explores those differences. Indeed, especially as it is practiced at the postsecondary level, post-industrial distance education is different enough that it is most commonly referred to as ‘online learning’ to distinguish it from Industrial Era ‘distance education.’ In the discussions which follow, I will accordingly use the term ‘online learning’ to refer to postFordist distance education and ‘distance education’ to refer to its Industrial Age predecessor.
