In a series of three workshops in 1981, a group of experienced home study educators, education technologists, and informed people from state and federal government, private industry, and trade associations tackled the questions, "What lies ahead in home study, for 'distant education,' in the next 20 years? How should educators plan for the future?" From these discussions a number of predictions, including the following, were made: (1) Distant education (D/E) enrollment will be part of a more complex living-learning-working-recreating social pattern, with mid-career changes accepted, people living longer, and recruitment to D/E being either through leisure time minicourses or through convincing people that D/E can help them better themselves financially or otherwise. (2) Print correspondence text materials will be the key component in the D/E education package of 2001, but educators will make use of radio, telephone, and audiovisual devices in conjunction with the printed materials. (3) D/E students will continue to want contact with instructors on a regular basis; D/E educators will admit that not all students can be served by this method, but it will become increasingly popular as the cost of attending resident schools climbs. (4) Professionals will be able to earn credentials in their fields via D/E. (5) Providers of D/E will make materials and services available wholesale to companies, professional organizations, and schools, and employers will play a greater role in financing D/E activities for their employees. (The major part of the report consists of more than 40 brief essays on the future.) (KC)