A workshop for nurse and health educators involved in the development of distance education study materials, methods, and delivery systems was held in February 1987 at the Center for Distance Learning at Gippsland Institute. Goals were: (1) to explore distance education approaches to meet nursing education needs; (2) to develop skills to plan, produce and improve distance education study materials; (3) to have participants experience a broad range of alternative methods for nursing education; (4) to share the problems and the potentials of using distance education in teaching; and (5) to examine the implication of distance education for future nursing education. The proceedings include papers presented during the 4-day workshop on such topics as the efficiency and effectiveness of distance education for nursing education, needs assessment, theory and research in distance education, the Aboriginal Health Program, the Nursing School of the Air, and the role of distance education in training the remote area nurse. Summaries of the four workshops--sessions on writing an effective study guide, the use of non-print components in external study material, the training of clinical teachers and preceptors, and setting up a distance education system--are included, as are comments by participants about each of the workshops. Appendixes include a report on students' experience of external study at Gippsland Institute, materials for use by staff of the Aboriginal Health Program to develop a training program for health workers, and a list of workshop participants. (GL)