What are the issues relating to technical and vocational education at a distance?

Two main factors have led to an explosion of interest in and use of distance learning in technical and vocational education:

• The growing need for continual skills upgrading and retraining
• The technological advances that have made it possible to teach more and more subjects at a distance.

Distance teaching has been developed for initial training, upgrading, and retraining of skilled workers. Workplace training is one of the fastest growing areas in distance teaching.

Distance education programs also have frequently been used to meet the growing need to help teachers in the field increase their instructional rather than their technical skills.

• Helen Parker, Technical and Vocational Programmes Through Distance Education

• Arun K. Mishra, Technical/Vocational Education in India