Most countries participating in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are faced with rapid economic and socio-cultural changes and growing demands for education and training. Postsecondary education faces the challenge of providing high-quality education for all adults who need it in a cost-effective manner. One of the most promising ways seems to be to develop self-directed learning at a distance. The status of distance education versus face-to-face education is changing rapidly for five important reasons: (1) the cost of self-instruction will be lower than that of comparable face-to-face courses over the long run; (2) although open and flexible learning institutions are gaining acceptance, distance learning has been seen as peripheral and of lower status than traditional education creating obstacles for the mobility of students between modes; (3) distance learning institutions have pioneered pedagogical innovations and forms of cooperation by teams of university teachers to design interdisciplinary courses; (4) good distance learning programs afford better student-teacher interaction than traditional lectures; and (5) technology is breaking down barriers of distance allowing students involved in the same course to communicate and form a virtual classroom. Technology is not only transforming distance education, but also conventional face-to-face education, by providing students with new possibilities for self-instruction. The introduction of technology in both distance and face-to-face education is a complex process that will be influenced by the combination of factors like ethos and culture. Contains 29 references. (KP)