DISTANCE EDUCATION IS IN A CONSTANT state of change as new technologies avail themselves to the field and old technologies mature. No one is sure what the future holds for distance education. Its future will depend on the development of new media, new methodologies for learning and information gathering, and the development of government telecommunications policies.

There are numerous emerging technologies that are likely to have a major impact on the field of distance education. These technologies promise to change the way we think, work, learn, and process information: CD ROMs, Electronic Networks, Personal Digital Assistants, Personal Computers , Video Servers/Digital Video, Virtual Reality. 

Most multimedia presentations are CD-ROM-based, since video, audio, and graphic files require enormous amounts of storage space. As digital video compression improves, CD-ROMs could replace videotape and laser discs as the most popular medium for distributing full-motion video programming, films, and telecourses. In the future, entire academic courses could be packaged on one CD-ROM (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996).

Using browser applications such as Netscape, learners search databases worldwide for information. These browser tools help learners not only explore a rapidly expanding universe of information, but also publish their own work globally.

The ultimate goal of these electronic networks is to create a simple, inexpensive means of communication between people around around the globe. Shared on-line public databases such as "virtual libraries" form the beginning of a comprehensive worldwide knowledge resource that is becoming available to anyone with access to a network gateway. (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996)

PDAs provide a screen that can interpret what is written on it with a stylus and convert that to text. These handheld devices currently are used to send and receive fax messages via cellular telephone technology, store calendars, store telephone numbers, and dial them for voice communications, and the devices can send and receive data with the users' desktop computer.

These devices will eventually become information appliances that eventually will allow users to communicate wiht others, control home and office environments, and most importantly of all, access most of the world's information at any place and at any time. 

At the center of all these emerging technologies is the personal computer. PCs supply the motor giving these new technologies a platform from which to run.

The additional portability of laptops makes it possible to carry all files, papers and other text-based materials with them wherever they go. As protocols are standardized, one personal network can become seamless as processors control fax, copying, and telecommucicatons functions, as well as environment and power utilization (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996).

A video server is a large hard drive fast enough to play back the digitized video signal. Currently one minute of full-motion video and audio requires about 6 Mb of storage space. One example of a video server is the touchscreen kiosk.

Future digital servers will provide access to information on demand. Instead of the 500-600-channel cable television, learners will need only one channel running into their homes. By simply dialing one phone number, they'll have access to thousands of video databases from which they can order telecourses, documentary footage, movies, shows, and news over fiber-optic cable.

McIsaac, M. S., & Gunawardena, C. (1996). Distance education. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology (p. 148). New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan. 
Rachelle Zani ，Graduate Student ，Department of Educational Technolgy ，San Diego State University