The History of Online Learning

By mchambliss01

  • First distance learning program

    Instruction was carried out by postal mail.

  • The Telephone

    The telephone became a popular household item and allowed teachers and students of distance classes to reach each other.

  • The Radio

    Pennsylvania State started using it for distance courses as early as 1922

  • The Television

    The University of Iowa became the first college to use it for televised courses in 1934

  • Internet

    The US department of defense creates the internet. (ARPANET)

  • Coastline Community College

    Coastline Community College produced the first fully distance learning program and had no physical campus

  • Computer Assisted Learning Center (CALC)

    The Computer Assisted Learning Center (CALC) was founded in 1982 in Rindge, New Hampshire, as a small, offline computer-based, adult learning center.

  • The Internet/World Wide Web

    The internet/World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee (Casey, 2008). In 1994, California Campus created the first entirely online curriculum, and in 1997, several California colleges teamed up to open California Virtual University

  • Blackboard and eCollege

    The world introduced a host of new educational tools including Blackboard and eCollege.

  • Moodle

    Moodle.com begins running Moodle, an advancement in online educational tools.

  • YouTube EDU

    YouTube EDU introduced with online lessons

  • Online Degrees

    83% of CEOs and small business owners in the United States considered online degrees to be as credible as traditional degrees.

  • The Department of Education

    The Department of Education issues new regulations which require online colleges to satisfy all state-level educational requirements.

  • Internet Reclassified

    The internet is reclassified, on March 12, as a public utility so it can be, legally speaking, more easily regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
  • Period: to

    The Future of Online Learning

    The history of online learning will continue well into the 21st century. There will be many first such as virtual classes with no instructor involvement. The sky is the limit and who knows how far the online education will go.