The History of Distance Education

Chris Davis, M.S.Ed., Ph.D.(c)

Correspondence Courses• The first type of

distance learning courses

• Offered through the mail

• Instructor mailed students materials

• Students completed materials and mailed back

• Existed until the early 1990’s

Isaac Pitman

• The “Father of Distance Learning”

• 1840 - Began teaching and offering correspondence courses in England for people to learn shorthand

University of London• 1858 - Allowed

students to take course examinations without taking the class

• Paved way for distance prep courses

• Today this is called CLEP

• It is available on almost all college campuses

William Rainey Harper• 1880 - Developed

first college level correspondence courses at Chautauqua College

• 1892 - Became President of University of Chicago

• Instituted correspondence courses at University of Chicago as well

Other College Correspondence

Courses• Early 1900’s -

Hundreds of American colleges offer correspondence courses

• Gave colleges and universities ability to reach students who could not come to campus

Ice Cream?

• 1977 - Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield learn how to make ice cream through a Penn State correspondence course

• May 5, 1978 - First Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream store is opened in Burlington, Vermont

Other Early Forms of Distance Education

• 1910 to 1920 - Several universities attempted distance education through radio

• None succeeded

• 1948 - Five universities began using television in teaching

• University of Iowa was first

The Use of Television

• 1950’s - 17 educational programs were using television as part of the curriculum

• 1961 - 53 schools were affiliated with the National Education Television Network

• The network shared instructional films

Sunrise Semester

• 1957 - New York University began to offer courses via television

• Students could get NYU college credits by paying course fees and passing exams

• Aired at 6:00am

• Was on air until 1982

The “Flying Classroom”

• Purdue University flew an airplane over several central US states transmitting educational programming

• This preceded Internet or satellite

• Programs targeted elementary and middle school students

Educational Media

• Schools began to offer instruction on audio tapes and CDs

• Instruction soon followed on VHS and DVD

Great Books Program

• Started in 1946

• Organized by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins

• Introduced students to the classics through a four year correspondence course

• Still exists today

• Done online

The Teaching Company

• Founded in 1990

• Thomas Rollins

• Chief Counsel of US Committee on Labor and Human Resources

• Offers college courses via DVD and VHS

• All subject areas

Early Online Education

• Began in 1990’s

• Empire State University

• Thomas A. Edison University

Today’s Online Education

• Almost all colleges and universities offer online courses -- some specialize in it

• University of Phoenix

• Walden University

• Kaplan University

• Capella University

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry%27s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise_Semester

Maeroff, G.I. (2003). A classroom of one: How online learning is changing our schools and colleges

http://www.digitalschool.net/edu/DL_history_mJefferies.html

http://www.teach12.com/