Some Observations on the Possibility of Implementing Distance Education in Transition Countries

Technologies for developing distance education processes are progressing at an extremely rapid pace. These developments have made the computer a dynamic force in distance education, providing a new and interactive means for overcoming time and distance in order to reach students. Each country has developed its own model of distance education in accordance with local resources, the audience targeted, and the philosophy of the organizations providing instruction. Successful distance education systems involve interactivity between teacher and students, between students and the learning environment, and among students themselves, as well as active learning and teaching in the classroom. Rich history of evolution is found as each form of instructional media evolved – from print, to instructional television, up to modern interactive computer technologies. In this paper we analyze the development and realization of some projects of distance education for different educational levels in developed Western countries. We especially consider the Internet as a place to talk, to get organized information as well as to organize and put information. We propose a model for building a distance education system and substantiate it with our experience in developing both on-site and distributed versions of an intelligent hypermedia authoring shell.