Recognizing the roles of new technologies and new media, the article puts its emphasis on the cognitiveaspectS of distance education, and points out that there is a cognitive jump from “teaching” to “not teaching”.Hence, there comes the possibility of “three generations in one class”. The author POsits that there are “fourcognitive steps” rather than “three” in distance education. Accordingly, he also analyses the six principles ininstructional design of distance education, to provide choices for different teaching modes to meet the variouslearner needs.
