Distance learning dates back as far as 1728 when Caleb Phillips, a teacher in Boston, Massachusetts, offered shortland lessons to students via weekly mailed lessons.
In the early 1840s, Isaac Pitman, a British educator, also taught shorthand through correspondence courses. Distance learning and education have a long history, but its popularity increased a hundred fold as more advanced technology and communication mediums became available in the late twentieth century.
Distance education first took hold in the 1930s, with over 25 state boards of education, 200 schools systems and several colleges and universities offering educational programs broadcast over public radio. However it wasn’t until the advent of the Internet in the early 2000s that the availability and popularity of distance learning programs skyrocketed. Computers and the internet made distance learning faster, easier and much more convenient. By 2008, web-based, online education programs were available in most states in the US at the k12 level.
Nowadays, enrollment in distance education programs at every educational level is common place. Private, public, non-profit, and for-profit secondary, post-secondary and higher education institutions, including high schools, colleges and universities, now offers distance education programs in just about every field of study imaginable. From basic literacy to doctoral programs, distance education courses at available at every level of instruction.
The Internet
Online distance learning, via the Internet, is now the norm while distance education programs are offered via a large variety of communication mediums. In 1996, Jones International University was the first higher education institution to launch a fully online accredited degree program. In the following years, most major colleges and universities quickly followed suit. Reputable higher education institutions such as Harvard University and Stanford now offers distance learning programs for their students entirely online. By 2011, about a third of all college students had at some point taken an online course.
Even though for-profit universities have been the quickest to adopt and exploit Internet technology to offer online degrees to the masses, the majority of public colleges now offer their academic programs completely online as well. Common fields of study pursued online include, but are not limited to, programs in business, psychology, criminal justice, health sciences, computer science, design and liberal arts.
Distance learning has quickly been adopted as the training and education method of choice among busy working professionals. Online distance learning programs offer the most affordable and convenient means of earning a degree, improving skills and pursuing a higher education.