Physics and Distance Education

Distance education (DE) – the method of teaching and learning in which there is a quasi-permanent separation between students and their teachers – is playing an increasingly important role in the higher education provision of many countries. This article considers in turn the motivations for teaching at a distance, the nature of distance education, the particular challenges of teaching physics at a distance together with some specific examples of how those challenges have been met, and some of the less obvious benefits and opportunities that arise as a consequence of providing distance education in physics. Most systems of distance education rely more or less directly on the available means of communication, so considerations of information and communications technology (ICT) will play an important role in much that follows. The article draws on examples from a number of institutions, but there is a particular emphasis on projects with which I have a personal familiarity, particularly those at my own institution, the Open University of the UK.