The Name of the Game

Since the integration of Internet technology into postsecondary education, the boundaries previously defining distance-delivered and face-to-face instruction have blurred. Consequently, multiple new terms that attempt to label our teaching and learning activities have been introduced into the language of distance education. In addition to causing confusion and impeding productive dialogue, the inconsistency of terminology among researchers and within the literature dishonors past practices and slights distance education’s pedagogical heritage. In this paper, while discussing the use of new terminology, we consider its implications and encourage those who work in the field of distance education to be both thoughtful and deliberate when naming their enterprise.