Changing times in research? A speculative analysis of refereed contributions to distance education journal from 1980 to 2003

The paper observes a number of possible changes impacting on the field of distance education research and suggests that these are likely to have lead to an increasing interest in research on computer-based instructional design and delivery, and a concomitant decrease in interest in other areas of distance education research. A fairly simple analysis of contributions to Distance Education since 1980 bears out the suggestion. Some opportunities and some threats to distance education as a field are discussed as a consequence of the analysis.