Proximity is easily defined for purposes of this argument. Proximity learning requires that learners have regular, face-to-face contact with each other. They are proximate to each other. This implies that the full range of human interaction, unmediated by any technology, is important in the process. To quote technology critic David Noble (Education column of the New York Times, January 6, 1999), "Education is about self-knowledge and you don't get that sitting at a computer. You get it through other human beings." On the other hand, proximity learning also requires that learners are proximate to sources of information. In today's world of networked information, this makes technology an integral part of our definition, for it is through the computer that information is located and retrieved. It is also through the networked computer that online discussions take place with remote content specialists.

We believe that this quality of engaged, active learning cannot take place without regular face-to-face meetings. While learning certainly takes place during the intervals between face-to-face meetings, many students "coast" in between. Assignments usually ensure that academic work continues in these intervals, but we have also found great value in selected technologies (web-based discussions, listservers, etc.) that sustain engagement with the content outside of class meetings. The Chronicle of Higher Education (January 15, 1999) reported on the success of Ohio University's online M.B.A. program in part because of regular face to face meetings. Michael Brint, writing in the Proximity Learning web, agrees suggesting that "Rather than becoming less so, the physical and social environment may become more important as distance learning tools become more available."