Three interesting facts I did not already know about distance ed

1) I did not realize that there were over 2000 "corporate universities" and that their number is likely to exceed traditional universities within a decade.
2) I did not know about the concept of "transactional distance" and that it is a function of structure and autonomy. I think it is common to think of the "distance" in "distance education" to refer to the separation between learner and instructor in physical distance and time, but at the same time, perhaps unconciously, we realize that distance education also involves more learner autonomy and a corresponding structure to accommodate or restrict it. It was eye-opening to see it expressed in defined terms and identified so clearly.
3) It was surprising to me how many layers of systems are involved in distance education. As I read about the nested sub-systems of course I recognized them and knew that they existed, I had just never thought about how many there were and in what hierarchical order they were arranged.