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33,378 BCE
Cave Painting
This is the earliest known cave painting currently. It is the earliest surviving attempt (known) by man to educate someone outside of their presence. [1] -
3100 BCE
Written Language
Written language was the next step needed to establish a lasting record of knowledge that could be passed to others. [2] -
400 BCE
Pigment Writing Utensil
The Egyptians are thought to have had the first capillary-action pen. This technological advancement allowed for information to be made available and highly portable on varied types of mediums [3] -
105
Modern Paper
Ts'ai Lun is credited with inventing paper as we know it today. Paper was the first medium that was easy to create, use, and transport. This allowed for a much broader dissemination of knowledge than ever before. [4] -
868
First Printed Book
The Diamond Sutra is the oldest known book. the "invention" of books made it possible to present a great deal of knowledge in one compact unit. This information would stay organized and coherent regardless of how many hands it passed through. [5] -
1000
Invention of Moveable Type
Moveable type was credited to Bi Sheng and was made out of baked clay. Moveable type allowed for many different papers/books to be created from the same tools. This allowed for an explosion of books available in China. Eventually Gutenberg came upon metal type and further revolutionized access to printed knowledge. [6] -
Recording of sound
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville figured out a way to capture sound (although he had no idea how to play the recording). This new ability would open the door to a new opportunity of distance learning by voice, rather than the written word alone. [7] -
First True Television Transmission
John Baird sent the first transmission of a live human face. Television, or the transmission of images and sound, would revolutionize the distance learning field. [8] -
First Course Taught Over "Internet"
The University of Toronto offered a fully online class in 1984. The Internet opened up the entire world to the possibility of effective, reflexive and connected distance learning. [9] -
ZOOM Becomes a Thing
Zoom version 1 was launched and would forever change the face of distance learning. It is not the only teleconference software, nor is it the oldest, but it did become synonymous with distance learning during the worldwide Covid pandemic. [10]