At one level, media are at the very heart of the distributed learning process, because the various forms of media enable distributed learners to engage in educational courses or programs. Without media (particularly if print media are included in the definition), no distributed learning would take place. ‘Conventional’ education is bounded by place and by time, usually taking place face-to-face and in an educational institution. Media enable teachers and learners to be spatially separated—they do not have to be co-located for educational processes to occur. Further, some media (such as books, tapes, and disks) enable teachers and learners to be temporally separated—learning can happen whenever it is suitable for the learners. These spatial and temporal qualities describe the delivery functions of media as the means ...