DISTANCE EDUCATION: A Second Best in Learning?

Abstract

Why people want to learn? Behind demand for learning, utilitarians should search for the need that learning satisfies. This need is highly complicated, including the prospect of social and economic success, personal ambitions and self-respect, enthusiasm or simply obligation. No matter which motive is the strongest, no one denies that education and lifelong training are gaining grounds in the rapidly accelerating world of today. Spectacular changes in technology, economy and work structures increase the need for a high rate of specialization and competitiveness of human forces. At the same time, due to these changes, knowledge acquired in early years of age becomes obsolete several times in the course of a lifetime. For those who want to remain competitive there is an almost permanent, urgent need for more education, for better education and for a longer lasting education. However it is not always realistic to acquire the required knowledge in a conventional way. Distance education (DE) provides a promising solution to this problem...