The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web

摘要

In this issue, we ofer our readers the second nof a three-part series on distance education. nTe growth of online distance learning (e-nlearning) is explosive in almost all sectors, and nin many developed and developing countries. nWe believe that the dominant approach now nrealizes very little, if any, of e-learning’s trans-nformational potential, nor can we be assured nthat high instructional quality is recognized and nvalued. nTe challenge for ID professionals is not nonly to evolve the feld, but also to assure that nthe products of sound professional design prac-ntice lead the e-learning enterprise. nIn the frst of these three articles (Tech-nTrends 52.3), we described the major e-learning ntrends that we have observed in the training sec-ntor. Te next issue will focus on e-learning in nthe K-12 environment. We ofer our arguments nas opinions on how each sector is afecting (or nought to afect) the ID feld. Our hope is that the nthoughts presented here will be the beginning of nmany dialogues on the future of ID and e-learn-ning—not the last word.