What should be even moreevident though is thatthere will often be aneed for both highqualitypre-prepared, permanentmaterial, and for two-waycommunication betweenstudents and tutors, toenable students tointeract more effectively.
There is also agrowing recognitionin distance teachingof the importanceof adequate local orinter-personal student support,in terms of direct contactwith both 'human'counsellors and tutors,and with otherstudents. This is leading to evengreater importancebeing placed on localstudy orlearning centres. Thisenables more sophisticatedtwo-way equipmentto be usedthan could beused for purelyhome-based students.However, once again anumber of issuesarise from theplacing of equipmentin local centres.Quite difficult policydecisions need to bemade about therelative importanceof course deliverythrough local centres or athome, and the extent towhich'students should beobliged to attend local centres.There are alsomajor cost and