The need for and uses of high technology delivery systems in education are discussed in this paper with respect to the community college level. After part I introduces the topic, part II links the need for new technology in education to the change in the nature of knowledge from a small, relatively static corpus to a large and continually changing one, and to the shifts in the age distribution in the population, which has resulted in increasing numbers of older students interested in lifelong learning and education outside of the traditional school setting. Part III considers the value of distance education, demonstrating its responsiveness to problems such as access, fear of returning to class, cost, student recruitment, and limited resources. Part IV reviews selected distance education technologies, including public broadcasting television, instructional television fixed services, cable television, video cassettes, video discs, teleconferencing, computer-assisted instruction, and data-based instruction. Each technology is considered in terms of its advantages, disadvantages, and uses. Part V analyzes difficulties in implementing these delivery systems, listing start-up costs, lack of faculty time and experience, and resistance on the part of the target group as the primary obstacles to be overcome. Finally, Part VI proposes the retraining of liberal arts faculty in community colleges as a key strategy in overcoming the obstacles related to the implementation of distance education technologies. (LL)