ABSTRACT
Distance education is nicely characterized by Keegan (1990) in terms of five defining conditions: quasi-permanent teacher-learners separation; the central involvement of a formal (bureaucratic?) organization; the use of technical media; the provision of two-way communication; and quasi-permanent separation of the learner from a learning group. The quasi-permanent separation of teacher and learner is, as Keegan has demonstrated, where the crux of the problem and the opportunity in distance education lie.
