Distance education began with correspondence courses in the 18th century, but the development of technology has led to a variety of communication methods between students and teachers. The internet has allowed for fully or partially interactive online classes, while interactive television allows students to talk to instructors in different locations. Distance education is becoming increasingly popular and may become the preferred method of education for many.
Distance education needs a reliable means of communication between student and teacher. Therefore, the history of distance education begins at the point where a reliable method of communication is established. Most historians date distance education to the eighteenth century, when some professors began offering what were called correspondence courses. For the next two centuries, this remained the main means by which distance education was delivered, although in the late 18th and early 20th centuries, considerable diversity in the means by which students and teachers could communicate led to a tremendous expansion.
In the 18th century, there are records in Europe and the US of early correspondence courses that were generally informal or not necessarily sponsored by any accredited school. The introduction of film in the early 20th century led to hopes that film would be used to create a wide variety of distance education programs. Even the radio was used as a means of communication.
Neither cinema nor radio could function as a point of communication between teacher and student, and their initial role in the history of distance education was limited. While both could instruct, they could not accept feedback. However, especially cinema was useful in a variety of settings, as part of teachers’ curricula, and several educational films were made.
The development of television was most promising in the history of distance education. More people had access to a television at home, and some schools broadcast educational programs. Another development a few years later was the videotape machine. The use of a tape circumvented the difficulties associated with broadcasting material and also gave students the opportunity to study their schedules. In the 1980s and 1990s, many students watched course materials at home, read class materials, and then took exams at proctored locations or by mail.
What remained similar in the history of distance education was that students still needed to use the mail system or go to a physical campus from time to time to interact with professors. As the Internet developed, the ability to communicate became noticeably different. By the late 1990s, there were many college campuses and other educational programs that were leveraging meeting sites like MOOs (Multi-Object Oriented) and MUDs (Multi-User Domains) to deliver full classes that could be watched on a student’s computer. and offered complete interaction between student and teacher. With the growth of the web, other interfaces became possible.
The history of distance education began with letter writing and can still include this today in the form of emails. However, the expansion of technology has created many more possible options for how distance education can be conducted. People can join online classes that are fully or partially interactive. Another popular type of distance education is the use of interactive television (ITV), where students can talk to an instructor who is in a different location.
The early form of mail classes has been largely subsumed by these more advanced technologies. Also the initial opinion that correspondence courses were somehow less rigorous than bricks and mortar classes began to change dramatically. Studies suggest that most students take at least one online class, and usually at least one per semester. Several renowned schools are now offering distance learning programs. Trends suggests that distance education will continue to expand and may become the preferred method of education for many people.
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