In the last decade, distance education applications in rural special education have expanded rapidly with the growing use of telecommunications technologies. Distance education has been used in direct service programs for students with special needs in rural school systems, in preservice personnel preparation programs, and in inservice training programs for teachers working in rural areas. State educational agencies, colleges and universities, and regional and local school districts all have implemented distance education efforts to support rural special education using a variety of new technologies. Distance education will continue to offer exciting opportunities in which the needs of pupils, preservice students, and inservice teachers will be met as telecommunications technologies become more widely available and organizational constraints are eliminated.
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