Module 2: Historical Background

1.       Definition (mine)

A process by which teaching and learning takes place with the use of digital communication tools outside of the traditional “Face to Face” classroom.

There are enough definitions out there that my definition looks similar to some others.  I believe mine will stand the test of time because it is general enough to encompass a wide range of technology, yet it is specific enough that it pinpoints the meaning of distance education.  In addition it is written in plain enough language that it doesn’t require much analysis to understand the definition.  Some of the definitions presented talk about being removed from “space/time.”  Others, like the Delling definition, sound like it was written for some research journal.  While the definition may be accurate, it is important if we are trying to mainstream distance education and push it down into the K-12 environment, we need to make the definition as user friendly as possible.

2.       Historical Perspectives

While distance education has its roots in Europe beginning in the early to mid 1800’s, it did not begin in America until after Reconstruction in the 1880’s.  Until Reconstruction America was a young country that, for the most part, did not even have an organized educational system.  There were a few colleges, but they were offered only to the elite.  In the South, more time was spent in agricultural endeavors and time was not available to study at a campus, let online by correspondence.  In the late 1800’s in America more and more emphasis was being placed on equalizing the middle and lower classes.  The Populist Movement during this time period probably played a large role.  It was still not very popular until courses began to be offered to those in high school.  After WWII with the boom in technological advances from war time machinery benefited the American educational system.  The popularity in the new medium of television went a long way in enhancing the correspondence course system.

3.       Theory

I like this theory.  It seems to me this, so far, has become one of the closest theories that try to make distance learning resemble Face to Face learning in the classroom.