As technological changes in the delivery of instruction overtake colleges, thought needs to be given to maintaining the fundamental principles of adult education, especially regarding the role of the learner in the educational process. The trend toward electronically distributed education will make college a network of resources, rather than a place, while the widespread use of new technologies can be expected to improve the quality of instruction and alter the roles and responsibilities of faculty. As part of a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Higher Education, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers doctoral courses via distributed education, which as opposed to distance education is designed to improve the teaching-learning process rather than enhance existing systems. Using computer groupware and a programmed set of questions for discussion, students engage in virtual interaction and collaboration, while the teacher's role is to lead the group through a search for shared meaning. Major features of this form of distributed education include: (1) learning is based on dialogue in virtual interactive groups; (2) participants can access the group at their own convenience; (3) responses, comments, and arguments are written without the pressure of instant response; (4) collaboration is greatly improved over classroom-based instruction, since all students must participate; (5) problems of the classroom approach, such as gender dominance issues, minority barriers, and physical disadvantages, are also eliminated; and (6) poor student performance cannot be disguised. (HAA)