Distance Learning

Origins and Evolution of Distance Learning

Distance learning has been available in one form or another for hundreds of years. One of the earliest examples of distance learning occurred in England in the 1840s. The Pitman Company offered training in shorthand through a series of lessons mailed to students across the country. In hindsight, this was very much a one-way, noninteractive approach to distance learning.

Until recently, public interest in distance learning was especially high only where there was a widely distributed student population. One of the more famous modern examples of distance learning took place in Australia. Beginning in 1951, the School of the Air officially opened to broadcast, by radio, lessons to the children of the Outback. Beginning with one-way transmissions, coordinators soon added a question period to follow the broadcasts. Interactivity, even in the beginning stages of technology-enhanced distance learning, was highly valued.

Today, many institutions of higher education, both public and private, are making use of distance learning to broaden the reach and scope of their particular curricula. Of course, it is very important that students who participate in distance learning are self-motivated and able to work independently, but teachers also have a particularly vital role to play in the process of distance learning and its overall evolution.

Basic Features of Distance Learning

Distance learning and distance education programs are experiencing a boom of sorts with the advent of the Internet and the ability to transmit increasingly large audio and video files over increasingly available and accessible bandwidth. A proper examination of distance learning must begin by determining how distance learning differs from face-to-face learning. In fact, many research studies focusing on the efficacy of distance learning compare it with face-to-face learning. For that reason, researchers view many of the tools and affordances of modern distance learning [Page 262]as supplements to or extensions of traditional or face-to-face learning experiences.

...