ABSTRACT
Conclusions There are wide variations in distance education systems, both in their size and in the range of technologies they use. In sharp contrast to Daniel's (1995) focus on the mega-universities, Hallak (1990: 187) points out that although the large-scale distance education systems enjoy a great deal of visibility, only one in three (35 per cent) of institutions teaching only at a distance and listed in the International Centre for Distance Learning's database in 1989 had more than 10,000 students, while one in four of these (25 per cent) had less than 1000 students; of the dualmode systems, only 1 per cent had over 10,000 students, and 60 per cent had under 1000 students. Structurally, the majority of institutions teaching by distance means are mixed mode, using distance education as one delivery system among a range of possible options, including traditional classroom-based teaching. In such institutions, the distinction between class-basedand resource-based, and on-campus and at-a-distance education, is being eroded as institutions seek the most appropriate way to achieve further efficiencies (Section 13.4). This merely continues a process of searching for efficiencies in education that began a long time ago (Section 1.1).
