ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some perspectives on distance education so that view geographical dispersion as an asset may enrich pedagogies, curricula, and student's educational experiences. There are many reasons why distance education remains, at least in perception, a second citizen to the traditional classroom. Nonetheless, even if it is only in the pedagogically generic or more informal aspects of courses that teachers work to ground their students, they still are taking important steps toward transforming distance into substance. The chapter shows how students reflected in their course work, but courses also lend themselves to making students the subject of inquiry. For students at different receiving locations, interactive videoconferencing (IVC) technology has a disembodying effect that exhibits itself throughout the semester. If one can accomplish the work of bringing the university to the students and connect it to the regions they call home, then they will have transformed distance into substance.
