-
Period: to
Out of the Dark and Into the Virtual Light: Evolution of Online Learning
-
Microsoft is born!
Bill Gates and Paul Allen form a partnership and create Microsoft.
https://www.wired.com/2011/04/0404bill-gates-paul-allen-form-microsoft/ -
The first virtual campus is created at Coastline Community College.
Coastline Community College out of Fountain Valley, California, offers its degree program through telecourses which includes telephone, television, radio, and etc. https://www.campustours.com/college/112385/Coastline-Community-College/ -
EUN is Established
The Electronic University Network (EUN) is established. This allowed colleges and universities to expand and incorporate online courses. Students had to communicate over the telephone because the world wide web hadn't been invented yet. (Goralski and Falk, 2017) -
The first accredited online graduate program is offered by Nova Southeastern University.
-
The first website is created by Tim Berners-Lee
The world wide web (www) or W3 is open to the public. http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html -
Gore's High Performance Computing Act is passed
The High Performance Computing Act (HPCA) is passed in 1991. It is also known as the Gore Bill. It was introduced by then Senator Al Gore. He allocated $600 million towards high performance computing. This bill laid the foundation for the internet as we know it today. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/31864/high-performance-computing-act-of-1991-hpca -
Justin Hall Blog Pioneer
Justin Hall, a Swarthmore student, creates the first personal blog, see his personal bio here: http://www.links.net/vita/, which he refers to as his homepage. -
JIU is first full web-based accredited university
Jones International University—the first fully web-based, accredited university—launches. Unfortunately, the school closed. It graduated its last class in 2015. Visit their website here for more information: http://www.jiu.edu/ -
Blackboard Launches
Blackboard Course Management (http://www.blackboard.com/index.html) software launches, effectively opening the market to a wide range of online options that were previously considered too unwieldy to handle. This was a move for instructors and educators away from the brick and mortar model. Instruction is broken down into modules and deadlines for the completion of the modules and activities. (Pearcy, 2014) -
Papal Created
Paypal Holdings Inc., also known as “Paypal,” is created. Visit here to learn more: https://www.paypal.com/us/home -
Google is Born.
Google is developed: https://www.google.com/
Read the history behind the logo here: https://expresswriters.com/the-history-behind-the-google-logo/ -
Aaron Swartz Creates Creative Commons
Computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, 15 years old, builds Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/). -
Make Room for Wikipedia
Jimmy Wales launches Wikipedia, the free e-encyclopedia: https://www.wikipedia.org/. -
Mark Zuckerberg Launches Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg, along with a team of fellow classmates from Harvard, launched Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/). It initially was meant as a collegiate social chat site. -
Provisions to Title VI of the Higher Ed Act (1965)
Title VI of the Higher Education Act (1965) is reviewed and amended. This provision tackles affordable education. It is designed to foster diversity among the different campuses. The review board concluded, however, that the Department of Education was failing in terms of it being vulnerable to bias and monetary gain. Read more here at the U.S Department of Ed's website: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html -
Online Colleges Required to Adhere to State Requirements
The Department of Education issues new regulations. Online colleges are required to satisfy all state-level educational requirements. Regulatory measures mandate a strict rubric using credit hours to measure learning, instead of competencies or other measures. In this same year, www.TheBestSchools.org launches, offering assessment of online college and rankings. -
Beginning of MOOCs
Udacity launches Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs on behalf of Harvard and MIT. Their MOOC was named edX. Prior to this, Harvard offered MOOCs for their online computer science courses. Other institutions begin to follow suit afterwards. (Pearcy, 2014) -
First Full Online University
University of Florida becomes the first online-only public university.
