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First recorded advertisement of shorthand correspondence course from Caleb Philips in Boston, Ma. USA -
Pitman sent shorthand texts to his students via mailed postcards and they were required to send them back to be graded and corrected. -
The University of London becomes the first university to offer full degrees through distance learning with an external program in 1858 -
Distance learning is first developed in America in 1873 when Anna Eliott Ticknor established the country's first mail-based correspondence course program called the Society to Encourage Studies at Home. -
William Rainey Harper in 1880 developed the first college-level of correspondence courses at a place called Chautauqua College -
William Rainey Harper becomes the president of the Univerity of Chicago making this the second American institution with college-level distance learning correspondence courses. -
The term "Distant Education" is first used by the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc. in a pamphlet. The University begins recording lectures and sending them to students in phonograph form. -
From the great wars of the 1900s America emerged as the technological leaders of the world, where computers were developed simply to compute formulas and information. These developments lead to the serge of radios and televisions making their way into the homes of every American and it wasn't long until correspondence courses emerged initially via these mediums. -
Unfortunately, the use of radio for correspondence courses wasn't very successful as distance education through the radio did not have much of an audience. Television correspondence courses expanded in popularity as five universities used this platform beginning with the University of Iowa. -
- 1918: The University of the Cape of Good Hope becomes the University of South Africa a dedicated distance learning institution.
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The computer mainframe training of the 1960s and 1970s was the first time employee training would allow large groups of workers within an organization to train without printed materials and face-to-face instruction. The Plator mainframe training system was developed by Control Data and the University of Illinois back in 1963.
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- 1969: The Open University in the UK becomes the first to deliver distance learning only courses using radio and television broadcast.
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- 1970: Athabasca University becomes Canada's first university to specialize in distance education
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- 1974: FernUniversitat in Hagen, Germany, is a public university primarily focused on distance education.
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Many companies began to see the value in creating video networks to train countless employees whether on or off-site. The TV video training became interactive and engaging, allowing Learners to communicate in conference calls with co-workers and address questions and concerns. -
The first release of the IBM personal computer was advertised as an affordable device for use in the home with interchangeable software and recordable floppy disc. -
Sir Tim Berners-Lee introduces his vision for what would become the WorldWideWeb an online document sharing system initially described as a "web of notes with links". -
With the advent of the internet the first two schools to really have online programs were Empire State University in New York and Thomas Edison University in New Jersey. -
The 45th Vice President of the United States Al Gore allocates $600 million for high-performance computing and helped create the NREN (National Research and Educational Network). In addition, the Gore Bill created the National Information Infrastructure (NII) also known as the Information Superhighway. -
Jerrold Maddox teaches the first distance learning course via the web entitled "Commentary on Art" at Penn State University. -
The world's leading electronic companies agree that Wifi should be offered worldwide to provide further access to the internet to the general population.
The Blackboard Course Management program launches as a common virtual learning platform used in our classes today, allowing asynchronous learning networks. -
The Google Search Engine was developed by the Google LLC by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, allowing quick access to search information from the world wide web. -
The expansion of internet technology in the 2000s produced online courses that included pictures, sound, and video, along with the first LMS/Learning Management Systems such as Moodle which was invented in 2002. The "Podcast" was invented in 2004, and soon thereafter "Youtube" was invented in 2005.
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According to Caffery (2020) the increase of online student and faculty interaction from 2014 and beyond has impacted the integration of technologies and pedagogical approaches in online learning education. The technological advancements in hand-held computer devices include smartphones such as the Apple iPhone, tablets, and affordable laptops have allowed more access and participation in online learning, making online learning a mainstream educational resource.