Distance education is becoming increasingly global, creating myriad new alliances as traditional educational institutions join with businesses, foreign governments, and international organizations to offer and use distance learning. Developing countries now have new opportunities to access knowledge and enhance their human capital.
Technology is a major contributor to the dramatic transformation of distance learning.
Although many developing countries still have limited access to these new technologies, major new investments in telecommunications and information systems are going to dramatically improve their access. Uses And Purposes Distance education is used in a variety of settings and for a broad range of purposes. Various technologies have been used for distance education, but print-based correspondence courses have been, and will continue to be, the dominant delivery mechanism in both the developed and the developing worlds. Print is still the cheapest technology, and, even if the costs of using high-tech dissemination tools fall below those of print, it will be some time before many countries have adequate infrastructures. Within the university setting, some institutions offer only distance education, while others provide both distance and conventional education.