After a brief review of the characteristics of distance education, this paper provides a review of the literature covering the research of the 1980s on teaching, learning, educational planning, organization, and policy formation as it relates to the use of communications technology in contemporary distance education. The main focus is on interactive telecommunications media, i.e., audio, video, and computer teleconferencing. The broad field of education is reviewed, including higher and continuing education and K-12 (children's) education. The issues that are identified and discussed are not those concerned with the effectiveness of communications media per se, but the effects that their use has on certain educational variables, particularly on learners' achievements and attitudes, on teachers' achievements and attitudes, on course design and curriculum issues, on cost, administration, and organization, and policy making in education. Discussions of the implications of the research findings include the need for strategic planning, media selection and usage, the quality of interaction, documentation, and policy research. A 94-item annotated bibliography is provided. (DB)