There are many definitions that have been written and can be found as applies to distance education.  One of the simplest and easiest to understand, for both the student and instructor is: ”Learning that occurs when the student and instructor are separated either by time or distance and some medium is used to convey information and evaluation” (Moore, 1994).  In this program we will use the term distance education, as defined above, and include the particular medium that will be used for instructional, collaboration and evaluation purposes.  That medium is the World Wide Web (WWW).

One of the more important differentiation’s to make is whether or not an individual is involved in education or training.  Education, as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is described as a general activity rather than a specific one: “organized and sustained instruction designed to communicate a combination of knowledge, skills and understanding valuable for all the activities of life”.  Education is often looked upon as learning that is undertaken voluntarily in pursuit of personally identified and meaningful goals.

By contrast, training is generally though of as being focused on the development of a narrow and carefully defined set of competencies and skills which will be applied to a specific task.  This definition is usually applied to situations where students/employees engage in continued learning as part of their career advancement or in response to changes in technology.  These two definitions are becoming more intermingled as organizations provide more education to employees in order that they may adjust to the rapidly changing technology society we are in today, as opposed to just learning specific skills.  Many programs that are promoted as training have components that can be applied to educational programs and therefore, it is becoming increasingly harder to differentiate between these two separate, but closely united terms.

Another way of determining whether a program is education or training is by looking at who makes the decision to attend.  Training, which is done by an organization, will have participants chosen by the sponsor who determines if it is relevant to job tasks or not.  The individual who is participating in an educational experience , as sponsored by an educational institution, generally makes the decision to participate or not.

These same definitions regarding education and training can be found in discussions regarding distance education.  One distinction is that you will find both terms often used interchangeable, but yet mean the same thing.

 The other major distinction between education and training, as applies to distance education, is the setting in which it occurs. Training that is organized by an employer or organization is generally delivered within the confines of the institution or at a contract site .  This training is generally the by-product of the companies goals and serves the primary function(s) of the organization.  Institutions that are primarily involved in education and participate in distance education has as their mission that of education and want to provide this instruction at a convenience to students.  It is important to remember that this distinction also is becoming blurred as more and more companies contract to institutions of higher learning to develop, deliver and evaluate specific programs of instruction in furtherance of the organizations goals.  And, much of this training will be done using a computer and the WWW as the delivery medium.