DESMOND KEEGAN (editor), 1994: Otto Peters 
on distance education - the industralisation of 
teaching and learning. Routledge, London and 
New York, NZ$194.95. 

This is a book for the serious student of distance 
education, a collection of mostly theoretical 
essays by the German educationalist Otto Peters. 
Desmond Keegan's edited collection of Peters' 
work brings to the English speaking world an 
important figure in the world of distance 
education who has much to offer in terms of 
both theory and practice. The essays collected 
here range from 1965 to 1993 and effectively 
span the history of distance education and 
provide the reader with an overview of the 
important issues in its development. One of the 
main reasons for reading this book is for the 
insights it provides into the major issues that 
have always faced those who teach and learn at 
a distance. In his introduction to this collection 
of essays, Desmond Keegan notes that'For over 
20 years Professor Otto Peters' research on 
distance education has been extensively cited 
and referred to by writers in English. His work 
sets out fundamental landmarks in this field of 
study that require consideration in any scholarly 
treatment of the subject or in any course on 
distance education.' This collection of Peters' 
essays on distance education is in four parts. The 
first part of the collection is labelled 'data 
collection' and covers the earliest period of 
Peters' work covering the notions of distance 
education by correspondence schools, 
university-level distance education and, of 
particular interest to the many universities at 
the present time considering adding a distance 
education dimension to their teaching, a chapter 
on models of univer sity-level distance 
education. Although written in 1971, the chapter 
on models of university-level distance education 
introduces what at the time must have been a 
new notion - a 'technological model of distance 
education', a 'model' with which readers today 

Book Reviews 

will be very familiar. This part of the book is of 
historical interest and provides a snapshot of the 
way that the field has changed over the last 
thirty years. 

The second part of the book contains three 
essays under .the heading 'Analysis', one of 
which, 'Distance Education and Industrial 
Production', appeared in English in an earlier 
collection (D. Sewart, D. Keegan' and B .  
Holmberg, Distance Education: international 
perspectives, 1983. This is an important essay and 
one with whic\1. some readers will be frun_iliar. It 
provides a good introduction into the nature of 
distance education as seen by Otto Peters: 

Distance education can be defined as the 
most industrial form of teaching and 
learning. This definition points to a 
general characteristic of the new form of 
teaching and learning, it illuminates its 
structural peculiarity, and separates it 
sharply from all conventional forms of 
face-to-face instruction. It applies to all 
forms of distance education as it can be 
more or less industrialised - just like the 
production process. 

Peters' views of the nature of distance education 
are summarised in the subtitle of this book, 'The 
industrialisation of teaching andlearning'. In a 
later essay (1989) called 'The iceberg has not yet 
melted - further reflections on the concept of 
industrialisation and distance teaching', Peters 
notes that there has been a number of 
misunderstandings about the concept of 
industrialisation and distance teaching and in 
responding to these, he has adopted the 
metaphor of the iceberg for three reasons: 

First: Icebergs break away from their 
original surroundings and often drift into 
new areas where they do not normally 

Journal of Distance Learning, Vol2, No.1, 1996 (c) Distance Education Association of New Zealand 

62 



belong. The use of characteristics relating 
to the industrial process in explaining the 
teaching-learning process in distance 
study was certainly new and unheard of 
and in the minds of some not even 
appropriate or desirable. Second: 
Icebergs are often seen as a 
danger . . .  people have strong reservations 
as they feel that something entirely 
unfamiliar and dangerous has entered 
education. Third: Icebergs change their 
appearance and become smaller. 

He proceeds to explain a number of 
'misunderstandings' of his concept of 
industrialisation based on the metaphor of 
icebergs. 

The final two essays in this collection, 
'Understanding Distance Education' (1990) and 
'Distance Education in Post-Industrial Society' 
(1993), provide the reader with a contemporary 
analysis of the direction of this aspect of 
education. The 1990 essay considers the various 
meanings of distance education at the present 
time. I find this interesting as for some time now 
I have had the feeling that the term 'distance 
education' does not accurately reflect the reality 
of those who teach and learn at a distance in the 
late twentieth century. Peters provides a range 
of ways of considering what it is that distance 
educators and distance learners are really 
�ngaged in the late twentieth century, including 
open learning, home study, guided self study, 
study without leaving production and, 
interestingly, the Russian term ' Zaochny' 
meaning 'distance' in distance education. 
According to Peters this term means, in Russian, 
'without eye contact' thereby implying 'the 
decisive criterion according to which distance 
education can be distinguished from 
conventional teaching and learning.' So far this 
term has not yet found its way into discourse in 
E ngli s h-language discussion of distance 
education. 

Not all English-speaking readers will be 
comforhible with the ways in which distance 
education have been conceptualised in this 
collection. However, it is a collection of essays 

that is of interest on several levels: for insight 
into the development of distance education 
itself, for an evaluation of a variety of major 
issues that still confront those who teach and 
learn at a distance and for Peters' perspectives 
of the theory and practice of distance education 
in industriali�ed Europe. Of particular interest 
to me is the insight that Peters provides in this 
collection into distance education in the former 
Soviet Union as well as in his native Germany. 

In spite of its high price, this is a collection of 
essays that should have a place in the library of 
any distance teaching institution. It is a useful 
collection of largely theoretical essays by an 
important and, in the context of Europe, an 
influential figure. Otto Peters on Distance 
Education will have particular value i n  any 
consideration of educational policy in which 
distance education is to play a part. As distance 
education becomes increasingly mainstreamed 
in educational institutions, the thesis of this 
book -the industrialisation of teaching and 
learning -is likely to be debated in future. 

Ken Stevens 
Victoria University of Wellington 

BORGE HOLMBERG, 1995: Theory and practice 
of distance education (second edition). Routledge 
(Routledge Studies in Distance Education), 
London, xi, 246pp, NZ$95.00. 

This second edition of a well known foundation 
text in distance education which was originally 
published in 1989 is another addition to the new 
Routledge Studies in Distance Education series 
edited by Desmond Keegan. The Routledge 
series is growing steadily and, with the addition 
of high quality volumes like this one, seems set 
to become the premier collection of writings in 
the field. As increasing numbers of traditional 
tertiary education institutions consider the 
possibilities of distance education for the 
delivery of their courses, comprehensive 
theoretical and methodological studies on the 
subject like Holmberg's should find a ready 
place. 

Journal of Distance Lel,lrning, Vol2, No. 1, 1996 (c) Distance Education Association of New Zealand 

63 



Ho�mberg takes the reader through distance 
education in eleven chapters, beginning with a 
chapter on 'Today' s Overall Picture of Distance 
Education'. Beginnil)lg with the concept of 
distance education itself, Holmberg ·outlines 
how the field has evolved, identifies major 
international distance education institutions and 
provides a section on 'the presumed potential 
of distance education.' The development of open 
learning_ in Australia is unfortunately only 
covered in two sentences which does not really 
convey an adequate picture of the significant 
changes that are taking place in that country at 
the present time in terms of the national and the 
international delivery of education at a distance. 
This section points out some of the 
characteristics of distance education students 
and provides the reader with a broad overview 
of some of the major considerations of learning 
at a distance. A brief chapter gives a background 
to the study of distance education in 
psychological terms, focusing on issues relating 
to teaching and learning. 

Holmberg is very thorough in covering a wide 
number of considerations in the process of 
course planning: presenting distance education 
materials, conducting tutorials at a distance, 
preparing materials that are appropriate to a 
student's learning level, developing study 
guides, guiding choice of media for distance 
education courses and presenting material in 
appropriate ways including G,onsiderations _of 
style, matter, layout, language, illustrations and 
oral and video presentation. Much of the 
material in the first part of this book on course 
design ·should be of interest to the increasing 
numbers of professionals who are considering 
developing courses in distance education mode. 

The latter part of the book covers such issues as 
the organisation and administration of distance 
education, the services required, administering 
course development, managing student -
teacher interaction and the distribution of course 

· materials. I found the chapter on 'theoretical 
approaches to distance education and their 
practical consequences' of particular interest. 
This is a section that I anticipate will generate 
discussion by other writers on distance 

education. To date there has not been a lot of 
attention by scholars of the calibre of Holmberg 
to the theoretical aspects of teaching and 
learning at a distance. Holmberg brings to the 
theoretical section of this book a considerable 
range of educational theory for examination 
from which he hp.s worked toward his own 
theory of learning and teaching in distance 
education, followed by a series of hypotheses 
derived .about distance learning and distance 
teaching. There is perhaps a challenge implicit 
in these hypotheses to other scholars of distance 
education to test. 

This second edition of a successful distance 
education text by one of the leading figures in 
this field will be welcomed by many people. It 
is a comprehensive and extremely well­
organised anal,fsis of an aspect of education that 
is both complex and changing rapidly. It is, 
however, essentially a reference book for the 
distance education professional. I find Theory 
and Practice in Distance Education valuable as a 
broad overview of the field, something that few 
people could successfully undertake, but also 
for the theoretical, methodological, 
organisational and evaluation aspects of 
teaching and learning at a distance that it 
provides. It is a book that is and will remain a 
cornerstone in any collection of distance 
education materials. Finally, it must be pointed 
out that Theory and Practice in Distance Education 
contains a particularly comprehensive list of 
references, which, in addition to the 
considerable range of material in this volume, 
provides a useful guide to scholarly writings in 
a field that is not yet well endowed with 
collections such as this one. 

Ken Stevens 
Victoria University of Wellington 

J. TIFFEN and L. RAJASINGHAM, 1995: In 
search of the virtual class-e ducation in an 
information society. Routledge, London, xviii, 
204pp. NZ $56.00. 

The authors acknowledge that this is likely to 
be a controversial book. Personally, I found 

Journal of Distance LeQrning, Vol2, No. 1, 1996 (c) Distance Education Association of New Zealand 

64 



reading it an interesting and informative 
experience in which many familiar but, for me, 
imprecise concepts and technologies associated 
with modern communications were clarified. 
On another level, this book has considerable 
value for the insights it provides in terms of how 
information and communications technologies 
are likely to develop during the next decade and 
the implications they will have for education. 
For these reasons the book should be read by as 
many people involved in education as possible. 

Tiffin and Rajasingham provide the lay reader 
who has little background in communications 
theory or technology with simple and well­
illustrated explanations of terms and concepts 
that most of us use in our daily lives without 
having precise understandings of all of them. 
Many people today are likely to have some 
familiarity with such concepts as virtual reality, 
artificial intelligence, ISDN, computer assisted 
instruction, teleconferencing, e-mail and 
hypermedia without being able to explain 
exactly what they mean. The book explains these 
and many other modern communication 
concepts and technologies and, in my case, 
introduced me to some that until reading In 
Search of the Virtual Class were far from well 
understood: nanotechnology, televirtuality and 
cyberspace. While many readers will, like me, 
improve their understanding of developments 
in communications through reading In Search of 
the Virtual Class, the book is really a journey in 
itself about education in an information society. 
The reader is invited to consider the example of 
Shirley, clad in a datasuit, being educated in a 
virtual classroom. The story of Shirley's 
education is returned to in places throughout 
the book and for parents and educators, she 
raises the question of how far from present 
reality her learning experiences really are. 

In Search of the Virtual Class takes the reader from 
the virtual class as it exists with today's 
communications technologies to the virtual class 
of tomorrow. The virtual class of today is largely 
defined by computer and telecommunications 
technologies which have been the basis of such 
applications as audioconferencing and 
computer-managed instruction. These are forms 
of virtual classes, the authors argue, in that they 

are classes without the reality of the classroom. 
According to Tiffin and Rajasingham a 
classroom is: 

a communication system that makes it 
possible for a group of people to come 
together to talk about something they 
want to learn, and look at pictures and 
diagrams and text that help them 
understand. In a conventional classroom 
this is made possible by the walls which 
provide protection from outside noise and 
interference so that everybody inside the 
classroom can hear and see one another 
and can also see, on a whiteboard or 
blackboard, words, diagrams and pictures 
about what is being learned. The question 
is, can information technology provide an 
alternative communications system for 
learning that is at least as effective? 

Tiffin and Rajasingham point out that the idea 
of a virtual class is that everyone can talk and 
be heard and be identified and everyone can see 
the same words, diagrams and pictures, at the 
same time. This calls for the use of 
telecommunications and computers. 

In the virtual class of tomorrow, the new 
technology of virtual reality (VR) is outlined and 
explained. This technology 'seeks to create the 
effect of actually being inside a simulated 
reality.' VR as a computer technology can be 
linked to telecommunications systems: 

One person sits in front of a screen and 
puts on a pair of glasses and a glove. This 
makes it possible for them to interact in 
a virtual room with another person who 
is sitting in front of a screen in another 
place who has the same equipment. They 
are linked by telecommunications. They 
see each other apparently sitting around 
a table in a conference room. They are 
actually looking at computer graphic 
images of each other, but the image is 
three-dimensional and their faces move 
as they speak they can also use their gloved 
hand to manipulate virtual objects within 
the virtual room or to change the virtual 

Journal of Distance Learning, Vol2, No. 1, 1996 (c) Distance Education Association of New Zealand 

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