The Origin of Online Learning
In 1960, researchers and programmers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign developed a system they called PLATO. The acronym, which has become familiar in educational environments, stands for Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations. PLATO systems were in use in online learning programs at colleges and universities until the mid-1990s. Online learning options came about over the past 40 years in answer to the problem higher education was having in providing education to adult learners who had busy schedules and found it difficult to attend traditional classes.
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Precursors to Online Learning
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Even before the PLATO systems were developed, many variations on educational delivery broke from the tradition of the teacher in front of the classroom. These delivery methods included correspondence courses, courses on tape or CD, courses through television networks, and even courses taught over the radio. The most notable of the radio-based courses were n the Outback in Australia, where students on the far-flung cattle stations were able to connect with their teachers via radio. While not online in the sense we know today, the radio courses used technology to connect to students in remote locations.
The Role of the Internet
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By the early 1990s, terms as 'surfing the Internet' were starting to be used, attesting to increased use of the Internet to access information. Schools and universities started paying attention to how people were using the Internet and some started offering courses online. Some resistance came from traditional education, especially the long established ivy-league schools. They had concern that the student would not be actually learning something unless he was in a classroom with a teacher and other students. Some businesses were reluctant to acknowledge the validity of a degree earned online, but time has proven the assumption that an online education was 'second class' to be wrong.
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Increase in Demand
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With an increase in knowledge and skills necessary to qualify for jobs that are more complex, the demand for education has increased. The people seeking to update their knowledge and skills, however, are typically working full time or raising families, therefore they do not have time to attend class in a traditional school. Online learning has been around for some time. However, more schools are adding online options to their curriculum in order to meet the increasing demand for education that students can obtain at a convenient time and location.
Online Delivery Options
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Technology constantly changes, which makes it difficult for education to keep up with it. Traditionally, education moves slowly, taking time to carefully evaluate curriculum, spending lots of time in committee discussions, and updating the courses infrequently. The advent of the Internet and online delivery of content has changed that, forcing educational institutions to update curriculum and delivery options frequently. The first online courses were typically slow, fraught with access issues and technology failures. Today's online courses are moving away from point-and-click techniques to interaction through virtual classrooms, accessing materials using iPods, and even cell phones.
Continuing Potential
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Although the term Online Learning is becoming obsolete because of changing delivery methods, the concept of learning at a distance of both time and space is not going to change. Teachers will still deliver content, and students will still study that content, even though they may never meet each other face-to-face. Traditional learning will also never completely go away as people will always have a need for hands-on, face-to-face learning.
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