Historical Review of Distance and Online Education from 1700s to 2021 in the United States
From Correspondence Education to Online Education in the United States
We begin the first part of the historical review with correspondence education and then explore the evolution of distance education through advancements in technology including radio , television , telephone , computer assisted instruction , satellite , personal computers , the World Wide Web , and the Internet . We conclude with the emergence of learning management systems , mobile devices , social media , and applications .
Correspondence Education
Distance education dates back to correspondence study , which allowed learners to engage in education through postal mail ( Bower & Hardy , 2004 ). The earliest record of correspondence education in the United States is March 20 , 1728 , when Caleb Phillips placed an ad in the Boston Gazette in Massachusetts to send weekly lessons to students who wanted to learn shorthand ( Bower & Hardy , 2004 ). Communication between the instructor and the student included written assignments that supported teaching and learning .
During the 19 th century , correspondence study expanded both in the United States and worldwide . In 1840 , Sir Isaac Pitman offered correspondence courses for shorthand in the United Kingdom ; students mailed in transcribed Bible selections on postcards and received feedback from him ( Bower & Hardy , 2004 ). Pitman ’ s work continued , and Sir Isaac Pitman ’ s Correspondence Colleges later formed to continue his work ( Schlosser et al ., 2009 ; Bower & Hardy , 2004 ). The University of London became the “ first University to offer truly distance teaching from 1858 , when the residential requirements previously in place for Universities were abandoned ” ( Gaskell , 2018 , p . 85 ).
In the United States in 1873 , Anna Eliot Ticknor founded the Society to Encourage Studies at Home in Boston , Massachusetts ( Kentor , 2015 ). Over a 24-year period , the Society to Encourage Studies at Home , based on the correspondence school model , provided instruction to thousands of members , primarily women ( Casey , 2008 , p . 46 ). Toward the mid-1870s , correspondence education for adults emerged during the Chautauqua Movement ( Kentor , 2015 , p . 23 ). In 1874 , Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent started a summer training program that evolved , by 1878 , into the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle ( CLSC ) in Chautauqua , New York . CLSC was the first adult education program and also the first major correspondence school in the United States ( Casey , 2008 ; Kentor , 2015 , p . 23 ; Scott , 2005 ). CLSC became Chautauqua University in 1883 , offering extension courses , correspondence courses , and summer terms ( Kentor , 2015 ).
In 1891 , the International Correspondence Schools ( ICS ) founded in Scranton , Pennsylvania , enrolled over 190,000 students in coal mining correspondence courses within the first eight years ( Watkinson , 1996 ). In 1892 , the
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