Distant Education

Distant education allows students across the world to participate in educational degree programs without the confinement and constraints of physical locations. The idea of distance education is not a new concept; however, it has been revolutionized by technology and the internet. 

Before the internet, distant learning took place in the form of correspondence through the mail or on television (Blount, 2018) which allowed the student to participate in learning which did not require a physical classroom setting. Blount (2018) cites Kentor (2015) stating that in 1957, the New York University Sunrise Semester offered educational lectures via television and students earned credit.

During the late 1980’s one of my universities offered courses which students would check out VHS videotapes, and the class was taken at home. Each week a videotape was assigned; the student would take an on-campus test at the end of each week. There was a traditional mid-term and final also assigned on campus. During this time students were only able to take two classes in this manner. The university had testing labs that were used for the placement test as well as these courses.

Today, traditional universities are joining online schools by offering degree programs that can be taken online. The advantage to these types of programs whether the classes are mix or completely online is that the graduate's degree does not specify how much of the work was taken online.

Reference

Blount A. (2018, October 21). Re: Main Post [Online discussion group]. Retrieved from https://class.walden.edu