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Distance Learning Education
Thomas L. Russell has summarized more than 350 research studies that found No Significant Difference in learning between distance education and traditional (face-to-face) instruction. A number of other web sites can also be utilized to research the topic of online education.
The Origins of Distance Learning
How and when distance learning education began obviously depends on the definition used. In an article entitled Distance Learning, the Internet, and the World Wide Web (http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-1/distance.html), Sandra Kerka states, "In the beginning was the word -- the printed word. In its earliest form, distance education meant study by correspondence." By this definition, distance learning education began long ago. A Biblical example of this would be the letters of Paul, which were sent on a circular route to multiple churches throughout the known world, teaching them early Christian church principles.
Obviously, distance learning education is not a new phenomenon. Distance learning education was originally a form of correspondence study, made popular by the postal service. Correspondence study took place through the mail, was managed by a school or other qualified institution, and kept students and instructors in touch through writing. The United States was not the only country involved with correspondence courses however. European countries offered courses in shorthand and languages as early as the 1840's.
As early as 1892, William Harper established the first college-level courses by mail at the University of Chicago. 1921 saw the first distance learning education radio licenses issued. Then, in 1934, already one of the first colleges to offer radio courses for credit, the State University of Iowa becomes the first educational institution to broadcast courses via television. Distance learning education was on the rise.
Ken Freed writes in A History of Distance Learning (http://www.media-visions.com/ed-distlrn1.html), part 1 of 3 (The Rise of the Telecourse) that, "most agree the first true educational television program was Sunrise Semester, based in Chicago. From 1959 into the early Sixties, Sunrise Semester featured a single broadcaster, a teacher, standing before a class with a camera." Later in the article he notes, "California funded a two-year task force (1970-1972) to design the television course or 'telecourse' of the future, an effort led by Coast Community College vice chancellor, Dr. Bernard Luskin." In part 2 (Advent of Educational Pay TV), Freed states, "In 1987, [Glenn] Jones launched Mind Extension University, M/EU, a cable channel carrying varied educational programming."
Enter the Internet
With the advent of the Internet in the early 1990's, distance learning education began to change even more rapidly. Ms. Kerka's article notes that in the October 1995 issue of INTERNET WORLD, examples given in The Internet in Education include "online degree programs offered by traditional institutions such as Penn State and Indiana University as well as nontraditional entities such as University Online and the Global Network Academy." Mr. Freed's part 3 (Interactive Distance Learning) notes this change, "The explosive growth of the Internet, in fact, changed the essential character of delivering educational content to remote students. The Internet is becoming the medium of choice for educators." He notes that the Internet provides all the elements vital for distance learning education.
Indiana Wesleyan's distance learning degrees currently offer opportunities for graduate distance learning as well as undergraduate. In the future, distance learning education will evolve in form and in quality. Use of the Internet for education will continue to grow. In addition, ubiquitous computing devices will allow closer, more personal experiences, reducing and even eliminating some of the current technological shortcomings of the online experience.
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