Distance learning

Distance learning has been around for a long time of course and used to be called a correspondence course. When I was still at school I did one of my a levels by correspondence course from somewhere called Wolsey Hall and very hard going it was too. Then of course the Open University turned it into an art form and struggling by yourself was enlivened by those amazing printed OU course modules and the TV programmes-not to mention the summer schools.

I'm interested in Sam's comment that you can feel a bit distant from yourself while doing distance learning. I think that is very true for me. When I'm talking to and around other people -bouncing ideas off them etc everything just seems a bit more real (that's a bit sad isn't it?! maybe I should write an assignment about the insecurities of the distance learner). Still its an interesting subject and maybe some subjects lend themselves more to distance learning than others. I must say language learning strikes me as being the very last subject that Iwould want to learn as a distance learner as just by its very nature it is so interactive. Though I suppose if you're very advanced already and brushing up on certain aspects it would be all right though not a lot of fun.