The History of Distance Learning
Distance learning dates back more than 100 years to Europe, Africa, and Asia, where open universities offered external degrees. In Australia, the University of Queensland offered an external degree program as early as the 1890's. Today, higher education institutions in Australia incorporate distance learning into many of their programs, making Australia a leader in distance education worldwide. Many students use scholarship awards and grants to pay for distance learning classes.
The well-known British Open University began in 1971 and now serves more than 200,000 undergraduate and graduate students worldwide. It is one of the largest distance learning schools in the world and is ranked among the top ten universities in the United Kingdom. At a speech in Ankara, Turkey, Sir John Daniel, the Vice Chancellor of the Open University, reported that his research had discovered eleven distance learning "mega-universities" around the world with more than 100,000 students each. Anadolu University in Turkey was the largest university in the world when measured by the number of degree-level students of 570,000. The China TV University System is a close second with more than 550,000 degree-level students in its distance learning programs.
Canada is a world leader in distance education. Because of its vast expanse and sparsely populated areas, nearly all provinces have developed various media to bring university programs to remote areas that might not otherwise have access to a university education. In addition to the distance learning programs offered by conventional universities, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec have each developed an open university based on the British model. They have liberal admission policies and use home study, television, teleconferencing, printed materials audiotapes, and videotapes, among other delivery methods.
Distance learning in the United States began in the late nineteenth century with correspondence courses, such as the on offered by Isaac Pitman in 1840 to teach his system of shorthand. Columbia University and other colleges offered radio courses in the 1920s and 1930s and televised courses in the 1960s. Since 1890, about 100 million Americans have taken courses at a distance, including well-known people such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walter P. Chrysler, Walter Cronkite, Barry Goldwater, and Charles Schulz.
The first exclusively distance degree program in the United States was developed by the University of the State of New York in 1970. Ewald B. Nyquist suggested the formation of the Regents External Degree Program sponsored by the university's Board of Regents. That program has awarded more than 56,000 degrees and was known as Regents College until changing its name to Excelsior College. In early 1998, Excelsior College became chartered as an independent member institution with the University of the State of New York.
Today, technology-based distance education has emerged as an increasingly important component of higher education in the United States. Many states have developed innovative distance learning programs that are on the cutting edge of technology. One good example is the Western Governors University. Formed by the governors of the states in the western United States, WGU is a "virtual university" with no campus and a heavy reliance on technology. It brings the resources of numerous colleges, universities, corporations, and other organizations together to provide degrees and certificates to students around the world.
