A Brief History of Distance Education
Posted by David Madison
Distance education has afforded generations of students the
opportunity pursue their educational goals outside of the
traditional school system. It has allowed countless students the
ability to further their education, while allowing them to
maintain their obligations to their families and employers.
While distance education is not for everyone, it has certainly
stood the test of time. The following is a brief timeline of
events related to distance education.
* 1840 - Isaac Pitman begins teaching shorthand by
correspondence in the UK.
* 1858 - The University of London creates its External Program.
* 1883 - New York State authorizes the Chautauqua Institute to
award degrees earned via correspondence.
* 1891 - The Colliery Engineer School of Mines renames itself
International Correspondence Schools.
* 1892 - The University of Chicago starts administering the
first university courses by mail.
* 1906 - The Calvert School of Baltimore becomes the first
primary school in the United States to offer correspondence
courses.
* 1916 - The National University Continuing Education
Association is created in the United States.
* 1921 - Pennsylvania State College begins broadcasting courses
on the radio.
* 1933 - The University of Iowa begins broadcasting courses on
television.
* 1950 - The Ford Foundation begins offering grants to create
and develop educational programs for television broadcasting.
* 1967 - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is created.
* 1970 - Walden University is established.
* 1974 - California State University offers a Masters degree via
correspondence.
* 1982 - The National University Teleconferencing Network is
established.
* 1984 - The personal computer is named "man of the year" by
Time Magazine.
With the advent of the personal computer and the development of
the internet, distance education has evolved into an extremely
important element of modern education. Most every university in
North America offers courses online, while an entire cottage
industry has formed around the concept of online education.
There are countless online courses available to members of the
general public. The wonderful thing about online education is
that there are no borders, and prospective students worldwide
now have access to the same opportunities. Online learning has
the ability to make the world a better place. In some ways, it
already has.
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