Classic Theories of Distance Education

Abstract

This chapter explores the influence of three of distance education’s classic theorists—Otto Peters, Börje Holmberg, and Michael Moore—on its subsequent conceptualization and practice. The classic theorists’ understanding of theory and theorizing is discussed critically in the context of the articulation of each’s particular theory. This is then contextualized in terms of the history of the development of distance education and its institutions, from Pitman’s correspondence courses on shorthand, through correspondence schooling and higher education external studies, to the rise of the United Kingdom Open University in the 1960s. The latter’s subsequent powerful influence on the theory and practice of open and distance education internationally is described as stimulating a fertile context for the classic theorists’ endeavors. Finally, consideration is given to more recent scholars’ interpretations and adaptations of the classic theories of distance education. This leads to a concluding reflection on the authors’ engagement with distance education theorizing and the prospects for the future of distance education’s theorizing and practice.