What does distance education mean?

In simple terms, distance education means teaching and learning at a distance. But, what does this entail? Understanding the system is crucial because it gives you an idea as to what it can offer you and what you can expect from it.
We know that education is available at the primary, secondary and higher levels in the classrooms where students and teachers meet regularly at predetermined timings. Over the years, we believed that for effective learning to take place, teachers and students should have regular face-to-face contacts. In other words, traditionally the belief has been that it is the teachers who make the students learn. It is true, to a certain extent, but not completely and not always. As we know, there are 'good' teachers as also 'bad' ones and they do have students in their classes. In either of these cases, some students perform remarkably well in their studies and some do not. Essentially, this means that students' efforts are paramount for learning to take place. This is not something peculiar to education in this century. The understanding and acceptance of this truth, however, is. Fundamentally, this is the basis of distance education: learning is the onus of the learners.br Are teachers, then, dispensable? No, they are not, but their conventional role-domain can be dispensed with. Since it is basically the learners who learn, they can do so at a distance, independently of teachers. This being what it is, teachers' conventional role of 'teaching', a predominantly teacher-centred activity, gets modified to assume that of facilitating learning, a learner-centred activity. As you know, this is exactly what a 'good' teacher does. As also, distance education. In practical terms, unlike the previous formal learning experience you may have had, in distance education, you are not in regular face-to-face contact with your teachers. Most of the time during the distance teaching and learning process, you are on your own and you will soon find that you do learn, without having to attend regular, on-campus classes. In addition to other student support services, the distance learning materials are designed in such a way as to facilitate learning. However, as we have pointed out, you are efforts are of paramount importance.