ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two general issues of concern and importance in the further development of distance methods, relevant at whatever level the methods are being used. These are: the potential impact of distance-education methods on other sectors of education and training and the issue of centralised mass-production of learning materials, and the implications of this for the nature of the educational process experienced by the student. Distance-learning institutions such as the University of Waterloo Correspondence Programme and State University Resources for Graduate Education (SURGE) at Colorado State University make available to a wider audience the courses developed by traditional university departments for conventional campus-based students. A cost study of SURGE undertaken by Wagner showed a very low cost per student contact hour of US$5.60 at 1972 price levels. The cost advantages of systems are significant, in the sense that the courses can be provided to new groups of student at very little additional cost.
