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In once sense, the history of online education really runs parallel to the rather short history of the internet. Education is a natural and very practical use for online interaction, so it's not surprising that as online communications became available to more people, education was one of the uses to which this technology was put.
Yet if you look at it in another way, the real roots of online learning can be found in the mail order correspondence courses that were popular in the mid-Twentieth Century. Browse through old magazines and you can find ads for classes in almost any subject you can think of. This may have been very low tech, but it made people realize that you don't have to be physically present to learn.
Of course, the real history of e learning began with the first computers, which were created in the 1960s. While the notion of distance learning was still years away, as soon as people started to see the computer as a learning device they understood that one practical application of this would be to transmit knowledge over distance. This was already being done with television. Computers, however, offer a much more active way to learn, as opposed to the passive experience of watching television or a video.
In the 1980s, we were already starting to see the first widely available modems and electronic bulletin boards. This kind of technology also made it easy for companies to train their employees and customers via computer.
In the 1980s there were also companies around the world experimenting with online learning. For example, NKI Distance Education of Norway began a program of online courses in 1987. Another early example of a virtual classroom experiment also began in 1987, the Colorado based Mind Extension University, which used an early version of email, as well as satellite technology to make tele-classes available at various colleges.
Online education did not really start to become widely available until the internet itself became a primary mass media tool, in the mid to late 1990s. By the 2000s, many colleges, universities and training schools were offering classes and even complete degree programs online. This became more practical as internet access became faster and more affordable.
Probably the most revolutionary change in online learning that has occurred over the last five or so years has been in the public perception and acceptance of it. While the technical aspects of computers keeps speeding up and new tools, such as streaming video are available, what's at least as important is the fact that online education is quickly becoming respectable. Almost all traditional colleges and universities now offer e learning, and at many schools you can get an entire degree online.
As practical as online learning is, it will never replace live classroom learning. The most likely scenario is that the two will become increasingly mixed in the future. Just as many leading colleges now offer online classes along with their traditional ones, many companies now conduct training both on and offline. As technology becomes more connected with our daily lives, it allows us to fill in the gaps that might be present when distance would otherwise be an obstacle.
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