-
Period: to
1700-1900
The Written Era -
1728
The first known mention of distance education was an ad in the Boston Gazette stating that Celab Phillips, a teacher of the new method of Short Hand, was seeking students for lessons to be sent weekly-all of this was to be achieved through mail correspondence. -
1804
Weaver and merchant Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents the punch card loom (Computer). The punch card method of programming would later be used in early IBM computers. -
1892
University of Chicago is first educational institution to offer correspondence courses -
1913
Film and Slides were used by many universities as a new method of distance education and off campus education. -
Period: to
1920s-1965
The Radio Era -
1922
Penn State begins offering courses through the radio -
1925
By 1925, over 200 colleges and universities have been granted radio broadcasting licenses. -
1965
The first statewide, telephone based education program is offered by the University of Wisconsin -
1968
Stanford University founds the Stanford Instructional Television Network, offering instruction for part-time engineering students. -
Period: to
1968-1971
The TV ERA -
1969
U.S. Department of Defense creates the Internet (ARPANET) -
1971
Social critic Ivan Illich writes "Deschooling Society" which describes computer based education -
1976
University of Phoenix is founded to give working adults flexible higher education options -
Period: to
1976-1994
The Online Era -
1982
CALC (Computer assisted learning center), a computer based learning center for adults is established -
1992
The Electronic University Network offers a Ph.D. program via America Online -
1994
The first completely online curriculum is introducted by CalCampus -
1995
Western Governors University is founded by 19 U.S. governors to help western states maximize educational resources through distance learning -
Period: to
1995-Present
The Modern Era -
1997
CVU (Calfornia Virtual University) a consortium of California colleges offering more than 1,000 online courses, is launched. -
1999
The world is introducted to a host of new educational tools, including Blackboard and eCollege -
2001
Advances in online educational tools continue Moodle.com begins running Moodle -
2002
The OpenCourseWare project, a resource of free online course materials from MIT, becomes available -
2003
81% of colleges have at least one online class -
2006
Michigan requires "online learning experience" for high schoolers. Also the Berkman Center and Harvard Extension School offer the first University course through SecondLife, a 3D virtual world platform wildly popular at the time. -
2007
First ever MOOC, Advanced Learning interactive Systems Online (ALISON), is created -
2008
Khan Academy is founded. StraighterLine is founded and begins connecting online students with high-quality, affordable, and transferable online college courses. -
2009
The number of students taking at least one course online reaches 5.5 Million -
2010
83% of CEOs and small business owners in the United States consider online degrees to be as credible as traditional degrees. -
2012
Approximately 30,000 public school students participant in online learning -
2013
77% of academic leaders rate the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those as in face to face instruction, up from 57% in 2003. Also the first online-ONLY public university in the United States, UF Online, was announced for launch in 2014. -
2013
Legislation passed to allow 5-12 graders to enroll in up to two online courses. -
2014
98% of public colleges and universities offer online programs
