Is distance education a faustian bargain?

The Internet is a hospitable medium for distance learning. Some geography e ducators fear. that distance education confronts the discipline with a mora l dilemma, however. One, in particular acknowledges some of the advantages of distance learning, but contends that it cannot convey the sense of place that is 'the essence of what it means to be a geographer'. This paper is c oncerned with the morality of distance learning. In particular it considers educators' obligations to deliver quality education, and to make it as wid ely accessible as possible. The paper stresses that the key distinction bet ween distance learning and traditional resident instruction is not the mode of delivery, nor is it the distances in time and space that separate stude nts and teachers. Rather, it is that distance learners are a qualitatively different, older population, with different educational needs from traditio nal on-campus undergraduates and graduate students. The paper argues that g eography educators have a moral obligation to serve lifelong learners, an o bligation that should take precedence over our allegiance to conventional n otions about what constitutes the essence sf our field.