Distance Learning Timeline

By jvillan2

  • Caleb Phillips.

    Placed an advertisement in the Boston Gazette offering shorthand lessons.

  • Isaac Pitmon.

    Recognized as the Pioneer of Distance Education. Teaching shorthand by correspondence in Bath, England.

  • The Penny Black Stamp

    Introduced in the UK. Enabled common people to send letters and materials via the postal system, opening the way for correspondence.

  • University of London

    Offers Distance Learning degrees.

  • Anna Eliot Ticknor

    Founded the "Society to Encourage Studies at Home" in Boston, MA.

  • John Heyl Vincent

    Established the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in Chautauqua, NY.

  • Chautauqua Institute

    New York State authorizes the Chautauqua Institute to award degrees earned via correspondence.

  • William Harper Rainey

    Offered college-level correspondence courses at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago started administering the first university courses by mail.

  • Dwight Lyman Moody

    Moody bible institute provides courses via correspondence study.
    Timetoast

  • The Calvert School of Baltimore

    Becomes the first primary school in the United States to offer correspondence courses.

  • Educational Broadcasting

    1920's was the beginning when colleges and universities went beyond transmitting educational matters and entered the social broadcasting of sporting events, concerts, dramas, and college lectures.

  • Pennsylvania State College

    Begins broadcasting courses on the radio.

  • National Home Study Council

    The National Home Study Council was established (its name changed to DETC in 1994).
    Timetoast

  • Ohio School of the Air Program

    The OHIO School of the Air Program, developed by the Ohio State Department of Education offered daily science, literature, history, and music programming.
    NBC (National Broadcasting Company) started RCA (Radio Corporation of America) educational hour. Called “The Music Appreciation Hour,” introduced symphony orchestra and music to children.

  • Columbia Broadcasting System

    CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) started the “American School of the Air.”
    The founding of IER (Institute for Education by Radio) in Columbus, Ohio, which concentrated on techniques used in educational broadcasting.

  • NACRE

    Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation organized and funded the NACRE (National Advisory Council for Radio in Education).

  • NCER

    NCER (National Committee on Education by Radio) was formed. Dedicated to using radio for educational broadcasting and coordinating efforts on the part of the institutions and stations.

  • CAI

    Computer Aided Instruction (CAI).
    Timetoast

  • FCC

    632 channels were reserved. 1/3 were licensed to state and local educational systems, 1/3 to colleges and universities, and final 1/3 to community organizations.

  • Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

    The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 established the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting). The mission of CPB was “to encourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting, including the use of such media for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes.”

  • M.G. Moore

    Distance education first defined and first theory in English
    [Timetoast](EDDL5101_W9_Moore_1991.pdf (tru.ca))

  • California State University

    Offers a Masters Degree via correspondence.

  • MAC

    The Macintosh Computer was developed. Steve Jobs and Steve Wazniak designed the first MAC and brought it to market a year later.
    Timetoast

  • Desmond Keegan

    Keegan’s definition, which would become “the most widely cited definition of distance education.”
    [Timetoast](13.pdf (aect.org))

  • Ron Gordon

    Atari’s former president launched the Electronic University Network to make online courses available for people with access to personal computers.
    Timetoast

  • Michael G. Moore

    The first director at “the first center of its kind in the United States.” The American Center for Distance Education was founded at Penn State.

  • USDLA

    = “The United States Distance Learning Association” was the first nonprofit distance learning association in the US to support Distance Learning research, development, and praxis across the complete arena of education, training, and communications.

  • World Wide Web

    The WEB (World Wide Web) was unveiled. The University of Phoenix became one of the first to offer online education programs through the Internet.
    = DEOS (Distance Education Online Symposium) – the world’s first online journal and discussion forum for distance education is established.

  • Alfred P. Sloan

    The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (a respectable philanthropic, not-for-profit, grant-making institution) developed the ALN (Asynchronous Learning Networks), to explore alternatives for those unable to attend traditional classes in the classroom.

  • Jones International University

    The Jones International University opens in Centennial, CO, becoming the first fully web-based accredited university.

  • California Virtual University

    The California Virtual University, a consortium of almost 100 universities and colleges in California with nearly 1,600 online courses, opened.

  • MIT

    MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) launches the Open Course Ware Project to provide free MIT courses to people worldwide.
    Timetoast

  • IMDET

    International Museum of Distance Education and Technology was founded.

  • MOOC

    Dave Cornier and Brian Alexander coined the term Massive Open Online Course.
    Timetoast

  • MOOC

    Massive Open Online Course, a free online course resource, becomes available through Udacity and enables learners to take classes asynchronously at their own pace.

  • Covid-19

    The COVID-19 pandemic forces nearly every college and university to switch to online learning rather than hold classes in person.