Timeline1

Online Education Historical Highlights

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    Correspondence Courses

    The first correspondence course surfaced in the 1700s.
  • First documented correspondence course

    First documented correspondence course
    Issac Pitman, in the UK, offered the first shorthand course via mail postal service (Kentnor, 2015). Pittman translated the Bible and mailed the transcriptions on postcards (Kentor, 2015).
  • First established distant learning university

    First established distant learning university
    The University of London was the first institution of higher education to offer college degrees via correspondence (Debtor, 2014).
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    Radio Invention

    Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio in 1894, leading educators to communicate and reach out to their learners (Kentnor, 2015).
  • Distant Education by Radio

    Distant Education by Radio
    The University of Wisconsin dedicated the first radio station to education (Kentnor, 2015).
  • Televised Education

    Televised Education
    Iowa State University launched the first televised education program (Kentnor, 2015).
  • Period: to

    Information Age

    The mid-1990s through the Present America is continuing to experience a digital revolution.
  • Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations

    Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations
    PLATO or Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, developed by the University of Illinois, was the first computer-based system that offered educational learning to students from K-12 through college (Etherignton, 2017).
  • Period: to

    The intervention of the Internet

    The beginning of the Internet Age
  • Period: to

    Growth in Computer-based Education

    This time period was characterized by enormous growth in the use of computers for learning. The University of Pheonix started to use CompuServe, the first online service for consumers. (Kentnor, 2015)
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    Information Age

    The mid-1990s through Present
    Starting in the mid-1990s, America continues to experience a digital revolution - Wikipedia
  • World Wide Web

    World Wide Web
    The invention of the World Wide Web was created which made higher education available online (Kentnor, 2015).
  • CALCampus.com

    CALCampus.com
    The Computer Assisted Learning Center or CALCampus was the first complete online school offering instruction in realtime (Tom, 2017).
  • Blackboard Learning Management System

    Blackboard Learning Management System
    Blackboard software was launched to manage online educational environments centralizing online learning tools (Ferrer, 2019).
  • YouTube Launched

    YouTube Launched
    YouTube/EDU brings the video element to millions bringing college courses to over 5 million (Ferrer, 2019).
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    MOOC

    Massive open online courses (MOOC) are online courses that offer unlimited participation and open access via the web. This availability will continue to change the methodology of online education in the future.