ABSTRACT
A first key issue is the use of concepts in distance education. Most participants in the scholarly debate seem to agree with me that the term ‘distance education’ covers the various forms of study at all levels which are not under the continuous, immediate supervision of tutors present with their students in lecture rooms or on the same premises, but which nevertheless benefit from the planning, guidance and tuition of a tutorial organisation. Distance study denotes the activity of the students, distance teaching that of the tutorial organization, particularly its authors and tutors (Holmberg 1985a: 1). This working definition implies that, while distance study may well be supplemented by face-to-face sessions, only mediated contact, i.e. non-contiguous communication, is taken to be a characteristic of distance education per se.
