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John Marie Jacquard created the punch card loom (computer). This type of programming would be used in early IBM computers (Frerrer, n.d.).
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Charles Babbage created the 1st prototype of a "modern" style of he analytic engine and is sometimes referred to as "father of computing" The International Charles Babbage Society (later the Charles Babbage Institute) took his name to honor his intellectual contributions and their relation to modern computers (Who was Charles Baggage, 2019.)
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The University of London offered the first full degree through Distance Learning.
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The University of Wisconsin-Madison is the 1st USA school to use the term "distance learning"
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The Univeristy of Wisonsin–Madison sends course materials and lectures on phonograph records to distance learners, as a means of distance education and setting the stage for online learning
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Pennsylvania State University is the first college or university to broadcast courses over the radio
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It is said that the fully automated electro-mechanical programmable digital computer is created by German Konrad Zuse.
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The University of Houston begins offering course credit for television correspondence courses
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Inranet system is create at The University of Illinois
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Leonard Kleinrock, Lawrence Roberts, and Thomas Merrill create the first wide area computer network.
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Charley Kline transmitted the first internet signal.
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The first virtual campus, Coastline Community College offers the first virtual campus to students.
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The Osborne 1 is the first commercially successful portable computer and Western Behavioral Sciences Institute offers the first online college program.
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The Electronic University Network is created to promote access to onlline courses. Long before MOOCs, mobile learning, and learning management systems, the project, started by former Atari president Ron Gordon, was a leading innovator in online education (Etherington, n.d.)
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The University of Phoenix launches its online degree program.
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Al Gore invents the internet and the World Wide Web opens to the public
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CALCAMPUS offers the first online college courses with real–time instruction and participation
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Salman Khan founds Khan Academy. Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom (Kahn Academy, n.d.)
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President Barack Obama announces $500 million in grants to community colleges, the bulk of which supports the development of online learning resources and programs.
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98% of public universities and colleges offer some form of online program
