The third circle: On education and distance learning

Has it been demonstrated that distance learning is as effective as face-to; face learning? This paper, proposing a "three circle" model of postsecondar y education, argues that measurable competence, though a central component of education, is not in itself an adequate indicator of educational effecti veness. The model, supported by research into educational effects, is discu ssed in relation to the distinction between semantic memory and episodic me mory, and in relation to the role of context in memory. Analysis of a widel y-cited summary of 248 studies comparing distance learning and face-to-face learning concludes that these studies, which generally fail to go beyond m easurable competence, and fail as well to support the newer interactive tec hnologies commonly associated with distance learning, do not support any tr ansfer of postsecondary education from the classroom to the screen. The lim itations of distance learning are discussed in relation to their broader so cial implications.