Trends for Distance Education: Getting the Big Picture for the Coming Decade.

A number of educational and societal trends are analyzed for their potential impact on the practice of distance education. The trends reflect the various ideologies and values currently found within professional communities and publics at large. How the various trends push and pull in different directions, and how they may lead to alternative futures for distance education are the subject of the paper. Trends are outlined for the following: Technologizing of School Systems; Learner- and User-Centered Philosophies; Moves to Streamline and Automate Instructional Design; The Digital Shift: Advances in Information Technologies; Global Marketplace; and Radical Forces Inspired by Global Connectivity. (Contains 24 references.) (AEF)