What is Distance Education?

How would I define distance education? I guess until now I never really considered what DE is, but rather made assumptions about it according to my personal experience. When getting my undergraduate degree I always thought of DE as kind of a class where the teacher was just far away. Cameras and teleconferencing would bridge the gap and allow teachers to teach from anywhere. I'm not sure why I thought this, but I am sure that is more or less what I thought.

Now I see Distance Education in general as any education where the teacher and class are not all together learning at one physical location. This could be accomplished in many ways. Chatrooms, webpages, video, teleconferencing, email distribution lists, and in the future possibly cell phone. Laptops, the internet, and cheap webcams have all made this much more possible then just a few years ago. Now entire degrees can be obtained without ever meeting a classmate or teacher face to face.

I think as teachers become more comfortable with technology, the internet, and not needed all the face to face contact then distance education will grow even larger. Imagine not needing all the dorm costs and buying all the new furniture for college freshmen. Imagine them simply gettin online and completing introductory classes until they find what they want to do and then move to college to finish hands on work. That sounds ideal for many people. Spend 1 to 2 years at home getting all the core classes finished then go to college to finish the degree. Sounds cheaper and more efficient.

The big catch I guess is that colleges may lose money. So they may raise prices. In response college professors may come together and form their own colleges at minimal costs compared to the larger univeristies. Universities will have no choice but to go almost all online or all traditional stating that the education is better if you attend a physical class. That all may never happen, but it is a possibility.