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Caleb Phillips and the Boston Gazette
"The earliest record of this type of educational opportunity [distance learning] comes from an advertisement in the Boston Gazette on March 20, 1728, in which a shorthand teacher by the name of Caleb Phillipps offered to send weekly lessons to prospective students who lived in the country and wished to learn shorthand." Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). From correspondence to cyberspace: Changes and challenges in distance education. New Directions For Community Colleges, 2004(128), 5-12. -
Universities Step In
"[T]he first evidence of an established institution of higher education offering distance education came over one hundred years later, in an 1833 advertisement from a Swedish university extending the opportunity to study composition via the post." Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). From correspondence to cyberspace: Changes and challenges in distance education. New Directions For Community Colleges, 2004(128), 5-12. -
Isaac Pitman picks up where Caleb left off
"[A]n Englishman named Isaac Pitman adapted his system of shorthand to fit on postcards, which were then mailed to students. The students were instructed to use the shorthand to transcribe Bible selections and to return the transcriptions to Pitman for correction. A few years later the Phonographic Correspondence Society, which later became the Sir Isaac Pitman Correspondence Colleges, was formed to continue his work" Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). [space limits full citation] -
London Calling
"The University of London becomes the first university to offer distance learning degrees." The History of Distance Learning. (2013). [Infographic illustration created by Anglia Ruskin University]. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/the-history-of-distance-learning-infographic -
Naming the process.
"The term 'distance education' is first used in a pamphlet by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA" The History of Distance Learning. (2013). [Infographic illustration created by Anglia Ruskin University]. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/the-history-of-distance-learning-infographic -
Enter the phonograph
"Having pioneered the use of the term, the University of Wisconsin begins recording lectures and sending them to students in phonograph form." The History of Distance Learning. (2013). [Infographic illustration created by Anglia Ruskin University]. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/the-history-of-distance-learning-infographic -
Enter the radio
"Advances in technology, as well as postal system limitations such as time delays, lost mail, and cost, eventually led to the use of radio transmissions and audio recordings to teach students at a distance. According to Simonson and colleagues, during the 1920s almost two hundred American radio stations delivered distance education to the masses" Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). [space limited citation] -
Enter television
"Although experimentally broadcast in the early 1930s, televised courses were not officially implemented until the 1950s when Western Reserve University became the first U.S. institution to offer a regular series of television courses" Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). From correspondence to cyberspace: Changes and challenges in distance education. New Directions For Community Colleges, 2004(128), 5-12. -
Distance Ed Programming
Sunrise Semester EpisodeSunrise Semester was an American television series which aired on CBS from 1957 through 1982. It was produced in conjunction with New York University (NYU)...Sunrise Semester was one of the first examples of distance learning, telecourses, or MOOCs. Lecturers presented NYU credit courses in studio on a wide range of academic subjects, and these broadcast courses were offered for credit to anyone who paid the course fees." Sunrise Semester (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 19 2013. -
Enter satellites
"...satellite technology introduced in the 1960s...expanded distance learning options by allowing for two-way live transmission of educational courses. These new technologies came with high price...Advantages such as interactive education, however, have radically changed the face of distance learning and have been well worth the cost of the new technologies" Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). [space limite citation] -
Open University movement begins
"...the founding of the British Open University in 1969 can be said to mark the modern movement in distance education. The Open University offered 'full degree programs, sophisticated courses, new media and systematic systems evaluation'." Bower, B. L., & Hardy, K. P. (2004). From correspondence to cyberspace: Changes and challenges in distance education. New Directions For Community Colleges, 2004(128), 5-12. -
Enter the web
"At Penn State University...Jerrold Maddox teaches the first course delivered over distance via the web. It is called 'Commentary on Art'." The History of Distance Learning. (2013). [Infographic illustration created by Anglia Ruskin University]. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/the-history-of-distance-learning-infographic -
Khan Academy
"In late 2004, Salman Khan began tutoring his cousin Nadia in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad. When other relatives and friends sought similar help, he decided it would be more practical to distribute the tutorials on YouTube...Khan Academy has eclipsed MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) in terms of videos viewed. Its YouTube channel has more than 283 million total views, compared to MIT's 52 million. It also has more than twice as many subscribers, with 1,233,000" Wikipedia [space lim] -
The Year of the MOOC
The New York Times dubs 2012 "The Year of the MOOC" "Traditional online courses charge tuition, carry credit and limit enrollment to a few dozen to ensure interaction with instructors. The MOOC, on the other hand, is usually free, credit-less and, well, massive." Pappano, Laura. (2012, November 2). The Year of the MOOC. The New York Times.
