Distance learning and education as place

In this article we examine the role of the educational environment as a place with unique characteristics. By examining distance education, or distance learning, we can make assumptions about the effectiveness of correspondence education and the contemporary desire to privatize the educational experience, thereby changing the nature of schools as public places. The physical dimension of the concept of distance and the social-psychological dimension of distance is important for evaluating the individual's educational experience. The sensory involvement of face-to-face communication is greater than in the context of any form of mediated communication; therefore, education by means of technology will be a qualitatively different experience. A basic definition of distance education is the delivery of the educational process to receivers who are not in proximity to the person or persons managing or conducting the process (Lewis, Whitaker, & Julian, 1995, p. 14).