History of Distance Education

By ltulley

  • 1st correspondence courses

    1st correspondence courses
    One of the earliest distance education courses offered was a short hand correspondence course advertised in Boston Gazette.

  • Isaac Pitman offered short hand instruction via correspondence

    Isaac Pitman offered short hand instruction via correspondence
    After the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded, it was the precursor to Sir Isaac Pitman's Correspondence Colleges.

  • London University offered degrees via distance learning

    London University offered degrees via distance learning
    London University offered distance degrees via distance learning through its External Programme.

  • First correspondence school in United States

    First correspondence school in United States
    The first correspondence school in the United States, created by The Society to Encourage Studies at Home founded by Anna Eliot Ticknor, this correspondence school aimed to provide educational opportunities for women.

  • Radio courses

    Radio courses
    Pennsylvania State College broadcasts courses over the radio.

  • First TV classes

    First TV classes
    The University of Houston offered the first televised college credit courses.

  • Distance education program by telephone

    Distance education program by telephone
    The University of Wisconsin began a telephone-based distance education program for physicians.

  • Virtual College

    Virtual College
    Coastline Community College became the first "virtual college" delivering courses in a fully televised format. It began as a distance learning college with no physical campus.

  • University of Pheonix

    University of Pheonix
    The University of Phoenix Online was developed as a hybrid institution consisting of both courses online and in the classroom.

  • Satellite School

    Satellite School
    The first educational satellite school, Learn Alaska, was created to offer daily television instruction to 100 villages in Alaska.

  • Online Program

    Online Program
    An online program for the School of Management and Strategic Studies at the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in La Jolla, California was started.

  • Learning Management System

    Learning Management System
    Blackboard Inc. was founded. This was one of the first learning management systems, revolutionizing course delivery and management, communication, and recording and analyzing students' assessment results.

  • Youtube created

    Youtube created
    Youtube was created. This is a video sharing website.

  • Khan Academy

    Khan Academy
    Khan Academy was launched as a non-profit website offering a free online collection of mini lectures and video tutorials.

  • MOOC

    MOOC
    Massive Open Online Course - is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs).