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Article Series: Online Degrees
Is An Online
Degree Program For Me?
Online
Degrees: A History
An historical timeline of long distance education
will tell you that civilization has been inching towards ultimate
convenience with every passing year.
Despite online education being frowned upon by some sticklers,
the basic concept of it is nothing new. Long distance
education as opposed to “online” has been around in some form
for 250
years. An online school would be virtually the same thing as
a national school, one that offers classes through correspondence
courses as opposed to a physical classroom, and recruits students
from all over the country. The “online” factor has only recently
begun to be discussed with the advent of the Internet. However,
long distance schools have always offered the latest innovations
in learning.
Many years ago, correspondence was done only through postal
deliveries. Consider an historical timeline of long distance
education.
The first subject taught by a correspondence was the “Pitman
Shorthand”, a tool of stenography, and was first introduced
in 1837 by Isaac Pitman.
In the United States, the idea of an all-in-one curriculum,
or home education for youths, first began in 1906 when the
Calvert Day School of Baltimore, Maryland made school textbooks
available in a local bookstore and ran an advertisement in
National Geographic Magazine. From those humble beginnings
came the format for the “school-at-home” primary education,
and today millions of children are home schooled.
As far as universities go, one of the oldest long distance
universities is the University of South Africa, which has offered
home courses since 1946. In the United Kingdom, the Open University,
another correspondence school, was founded in 1969. These universities
pioneered the idea of a national teaching facility, thereby
eliminating the need to physically attend a college.
As years progressed, the teaching became more sophisticated.
Whereas originally only textbooks were offered, soon VHS tapes,
audiotapes and telephones were used as tools of learning to
provide the student a more interactive experience.
Radio broadcasts have been used in the past, and continue
to be used not only in college education, but also in science
education, and agricultural education for farmers.
With the advent of the home computer, new technologies were
explored. CD-ROMs along with video and audio software were
offered with pricier courses.
When the Internet became popular, that is when long distance
learning truly changed and begun its most successful venture.
Thanks to Email and the World Wide Web, students would no longer
have to wait weeks to correspond with their instructors; progress
and reports could be given instantaneous.
The next level of technology came when broadband network connections,
both wired and wireless (meaning a connection without a physical
phone line attached) allowed learning not only to be instantaneous,
but mobile and nearly flawless.
The next generation of technology that seems to be affecting
long distance learning (now commonly referred to as online
education) seems to be pocket PCs and pod casts. A mobile student
has access to his schooling virtually anywhere in the world
at any given time.
Another feature currently being explored is live conferencing,
in which through video cameras and broadband connections, students
and teachers are able to physically see each other through
the computer screen and speak and listen to each other’s comments.
A “virtual learning environment” is such a powerful tool, not
only are online schools using the technology, even traditional
colleges use live conferencing when necessary.
But with new technology also comes new ways to scheme and
exploit others for material gain. While many long distance
universities are legitimate places of learning, and their history
is long-standing, the new century has also seen the rise of
phony universities, or “diploma mills.”
One can see a historical timeline of falling scruples when
one looks at what college education originally represented
and what some companies make it today. Unlike accredited long
distance learning courses and traditional colleges, these companies
offer to sell student degrees based on the buyer’s life experience.
These phony degrees are not valid, nor do the majority of employers
and educators recognize them.
There is a great variety in “online educational programs”
and the curriculum they offer. Some online programs offer fair
to average training on a particular subject, only offering
a diploma of achievement. Others can offer a bachelor’s degree
or even a master’s degree online. Not only are long distance
learning courses using Internet technology; now many regional
colleges—traditional schools—are offering their curriculum
online, allowing students the convenience of home education
but with the same depth of an authentic on-campus education.
The historical timeline of online colleges, once called long
distance schools, has progressed a lot through the centuries.
Now nearly three million people are pursuing their degrees
online, and there are nearly 700 (properly) accredited schools
offering online degrees.
The online and technological era has not only changed long
distance learning forever; it has altered the educational system
itself, from elementary to high school learning, from online
universities to national trade schools.
A new era of convenience has arrived. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2007
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