The University of the West Indies Distance Teaching Experiment (UWIDITE) is an example of a conventional institution with a distance teaching department. The UWI is one of two regional universities serving a region covering 17 countries. Some countries are fairly prosperous; others are suffering severe economic difficulties. All the territories are culturally diverse, but their continuous political and economic ties with Britain have left the mark of the British on their educational systems. Governments have been critical of UWI's failure to respond to needs of the various territories. UWIDITE has enabled UWI to respond to the challenge of making education accessible. The system consists of a telephone link-up among seven countries. Each UWIDITE Center has a teleconferencing room equipped with microphones, loudspeakers, slow scan television, a telewriter, a scrambler, and a microcomputer. A priority of distance teaching has been teacher training, and a program leading to a Certificate in Education has been offered since 1983. The same lecturers who teach the conventional courses teach the UWIDITE courses and develop the materials. The program has not attracted as many students as expected. Student performance is not as high as that of students in conventional programs. Hardware maintenance, material development, and student feedback need to be improved. (13 references) (YLB)