Many people think of distance learning in terms of the Internet, but distance learning has actually been around for over a century. In the nineteenth century, European universities began correspondence programs in which their students could study on their own and mail their assignments to their professors. Correspondence courses soon became widely accepted in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Many universities began granting external degrees, so that students could earn a college degree without ever stepping on campus.
Distance Learning in the United States
In 1892, Penn State University, along with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago began correspondence studies for students in isolated rural areas. These three state universities were among the first in the U.S. to establish distance learning programs. More American schools soon joined these three universities in offering distance learning.
By the early 1970s, three state universities were established which would be dedicated only to distance learning. New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York established: Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, and Regents College (now Excelsior College) respectively. These schools focus on the needs of adult college students and are still in existence today.
Rise of Radio courses and Telecourses
In the 1920s, Penn State was one of the first schools to offer courses over the radio to students across the country. Other schools also offered courses broadcast by radio. In 1951, City Colleges of Chicago began offering courses by television, which allowed students to earn a degree solely by televised courses.
The idea of televised courses became wide spread. The University of Iowa opened its own broadcasting station in 1950 and began offering televised courses, as did several other schools. These courses were not universally accepted. While many World War II veterans wanted to use their GI benefits for telecourses, the Veteran’s Administration felt that this would allow cheating on benefits and would not authorize payment for a televised course. Occasionally, disabled veterans were granted permission to use their GI benefits for telecourses.
Early telecourses consisted mainly of lectures. Elementary and secondary schools also entered the world of televised instruction, but their efforts were at first confined to classroom lectures, rather than entertaining demonstration that would engage the students.
In the 1970s, several organizations began preparing sophisticated television presentations which would give students an educational experience they could not enjoy in a traditional classroom. In cooperation with various universities, public television stations became leaders in producing telecourses. Today, telecourse presentations are frequently used in conjunction with online instruction.
Rise of Online Education
The University of Alberta began using online courses at its campus in 1968. Once the Internet as we know it began, the opportunity for online education expanded. Corporations began using online instruction to train their employees. In 1981, an online program was offered at the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in California. Innovative technology for offering online courses continued to be developed throughout the 1980s, particularly by the UK’s Open University.
In 1984, the New York Institute of Technology offered some of the first online courses in the United States. By the mid 1990s online courses were coming into their own. Thomas Edison State College was one of the first to offer online courses using the Blackboard system. Traditional campus based universities also began offering some online programs and there was an explosion of new schools which offer only online programs.
Today, anyone desiring the flexibility of a distance education has thousands of online programs to choose from. Degrees ranging from the associate’s level to the doctorate level are all available online. Distance education does have some drawbacks over traditional classroom instruction, such as the lack of face to face interaction in many programs; however, most distance students will tell you that distance education is a great value in terms of time, money, and satisfaction.
Author Resource:
Carli Alexander is an editor for the Directory of Online Learning. She specializes in knowledge of the options for Online Psychology Degrees. You can learn more about how to earn a college degree online in the field of psychology. http://www.directory-of-online-learning.com/online-psychology-degrees
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