All the evidence suggests that many thousands of learners have benefited from their participation in a distance taught course. For employers, distance education has distinct advantages. It is flexible, and staff do not necessarily have to be released from work in order to participate in a course. The cost savings which arise as a result are significant. For governments, distance education offers the possibility of teaching large numbers of students, rapidly, and relatively cheaply, compared to the costs of traditional forms of education.
Distance learning is an extremely flexible method of teaching.
It can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners working on personal projects, groups of learners within a community setting, and very large populations of learners who, while remote from each other, are following a common course. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes and beliefs can all be taught by distance means. It is not possible to see how many of the needs now met through distance education could be met, if at all, by any other means. Course completion is usually taken to imply success. Conversely, drop-out is seen as a sign of failure.