Distance education is fast developing a role world-wide and there is now a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Effective teaching materials are critical to success and much teaching still depends on print. How can distance-education programmes ensure that teaching materials are of the highest quality and are produced on time? The answer lies partly in training, partly in developing sound management structures. A report by the International Research Foundation for Open Learning focuses on two complementary strands of research: how to train the writers of distance-learning materials and how to reward them.