The article presents the conceptual differences around distance and virtual educational modalities in Colombia, analyzing the legal context under Law 30 of 1992 and Decree 1295 of 2010 that established two modalities in distance education: traditional distance and distance education. In addition, Decree 1075 of 2015 and 1280 of 2018 as a regulatory framework for higher education and its modalities, on the other hand, a historical journey is made highlighting the incidence of technological development, the use of ICT, offer of programs and indicators evaluation of the quality of both modalities.