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First official notice of mail service
History of the United States Postal SystemsThe first organized mail service began when colonists established the use of a tavern in Boston as the official "repository" of mail coming in from oversees or going out. Mail was a medium used to get information from one place to another. -
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Technology and Distance Education
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Trains and Mail Service
Railway Mail ServiceThe Post Office Department used the railroad to carry mail from Philladelphia to Lancaster in Pennsylvania. The use of trains sped up the process of delivering mail from one place to another. -
The Pitman Shorthand Courses Offered through Correspondence
Pitman Shorthand, & The First "Correspondence Course" It wasn't until 1852 that the Pitman shorthand courses began in the United States, but Sir Isaac Pitman began offering his training through correspondence in England as early as 1840. This concept of using correspondence to train a person in a skill allowed adults the benefit of entering the workforce. It was especially beneficial to women in enabling them to learn a skill and apply themselves into the workforce during World War I. -
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Theoretical Advances in Distance Education
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Typewriter Patent
History of typewriters, typing, and qwerty keyboardsThe typewriter was invented as early as 1714, but Christopher Sholes was successful in patenting the first numbering machine in 1866. The development of the typewriter inabled a person to compose information in print quicker than by handwriting. It also established easy to read font or script. The QWERTY keyboard is still the most commonly used. -
Telephone Patent
The History of the TelephoneAlexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. This invention took the transmission of information from telegraph to voice waves. A person could now hear a voice from a distance. -
Origination of "Home Study" or "Independent Study"
A Brief History of Distance EducationMoore and Kearsley inform us in Chapter 2 about the Bishop John Vincent and the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. With the ability to send supplemental readings to reinforce learning at the Lake Chautauqua summer school, the concept of students learning independently began. This concept corresponds with the railway which provided mail delivery cheaply and reliably. -
Radio and Wireless Communication
The Invention of RadioRadio was developed because of the technology of the telegraph and the telephone. It was developed to provide telegragh services through wireless transmission. While many men experimented with the use of radio waves, Guglielmo Marconi was the first to send and receive a radio signal. -
Television and the Cathode Ray Tube
Television HistoryWhile the invention of the television can be attributed to many who experimented and invented various forms, the picture tube that is used in most modern television sets was invented by a German scientist, Karl Braun in 1897. -
Airmail
Airmail
The US Postal System allowed Earle Ovington, a pilot, to be sworn in as a mail carrier and carry mail between Garden City and Mineola New York using an airplane. The realization of speedy mail delivery was formed. -
Computer Age
The First Freely Programmable Computer
Konrad Zuse created a series of automated calculators to assist him with his lengthy and intense engineering calculations. This became the premise of the first computer. -
The Theory of Andragogy
Learning Theories/Adult Learning TheoriesMalcolm Knowles is known as the "father" of adult education. He compared the theory of andragogy which investigates the art and science of helping adults learn versus pedagogy which is the art and science of helping children learn. This theory was originally measured in the adult face to face classroom, but understanding how adults learn versus children learning is also very important in the distance education format. -
Exploring Space
Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age With the launching of the Sputnik Satellite, countries, including the US, realized that there was a whole other area to be explored and used to advance technologty and science. -
Beginnings of the Systems Approach in Distance Education Development
NON-TRADITIONAL LEARNINGCharles Wedemeyer was the director of the Articulated Instructional Media Project at The University of Wisconsin. This project began what is now known as a systems approach to adult learning. This approach uses various types of learning in conjunction for a more interactive learning experience. -
Development of the Internet
The History of the Internet While the military developed the first internet Advanced Research Projects Agency Networks, the World Wide Web (www) development was led by Tim Berners-Lee. -
Continuing Professional Education in a Distance Learning Format
Continuing Professional Education in a Rural Context: Does Interactive, Distance Education Meet the Need? Robert Cervero in 1990 investigated the need for the use of distance education in providing continuing professionl education to those who were in rural communities. -
Wireless Fidelity
Who Invented WiFi?With the discovery of wireless fidelity and the creation of the 802.11 standard, which is the wireless frequency, a person can receive internet connection anywhere and at anytime. That person can receive this connection on any device that can communicate over a wireless signal including mobile phones, the ipads and computers.
