ABSTRACT
At the end of the 1980s, the vast majority of distance education throughout the world was still primarily print-based. Print itself is, of course, a technology, and one subject to considerable technological change. Few institutions rely entirely on print, and several of the more influential institutions made considerable use of other media, such as television and audio. Nevertheless, from a student perspective, the bulk of their studies, and at least their perceived main source of material for assignments and examinations, was the printed word.
