This paper describes various types of distance education technologies and their use in rural Australia. Communications and information technologies may be categorized as distributive or interactive. Correspondence education is a distributive form of distance education, involving the postal service and, at times, educational television or radio. This mode has been considered second-best because of long lags in feedback and the lack of live interaction. Interactive technologies include teleconferencing, computer mediated communication, and in-house multimedia systems. Teleconferencing includes audioconferencing (voice-only telephone links), audiographics conferencing (transmission of voice plus graphics using telephone or narrow-band telecommunications), computer text conferencing, interactive satellite television (requiring a transmitting studio and satellite receiving dishes), analogue videoconferencing (interactive visual and audio communication using television transmission systems), and compressed videoconferencing (digitization and compression of video input to allow transmission through the telephone network). Examples are provided of Australian programs and applications of these technologies. Computer mediated communication includes electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, access to libraries and databases via Internet, computer text conferencing, and file transfer. Interactive multimedia courseware may be delivered by laserdisk, CD-ROM, or online servers. Criteria for choosing technology delivery options are discussed that consider the needs of learners, program objectives and content, teacher skills, and costs and feasibility. Applications are listed for education, administration, support services, access to resources, research, and entertainment. (SV)