Рубрика:
45
FROM A DISTANCE
A Brief History of Distance Learning
Distance learning - a method of study that involves using electronic means
(computers, Internet, etc.) to receive and send work rather than going to a school or
university
“Knowledge”, according to the proverb “is power”. And nowadays more and more of
our information is gained not in the classroom, but via media such as the Internet,
CD-ROM and cable TV all of which are playing a key part in the distance learning
revolution. Here are three figures in this key educational change which is
transforming our lives in the 21
st
century.
Sir Isaac Pitman
Those who think that distance learning is a relatively new idea might be
surprised to learn that English educator, Sir Isaac Pitman, had the same idea – only
then they were called correspondence courses – more than 150 years ago. Taking
advantage of the development of a reliable postal system in 1840, Pitman began
teaching shorthand (a system for writing down what people are saying using special
signs to represent letters, words and phrases) by mail to thousands of students who
did not have time to attend school. “Lessons” consisted of copying short passages of
the Bible in shorthand, and posting them to Mr. Pitman to be corrected. His brother,
Benn Pitman, introduces the idea to the United States, and the Pitman shorthand
system – which has been adapted to fifteen other languages – is still one of the most
widely used shorthand system in the world.
The Open University
When it was established in 1969, the Open University offered courses via mail,
with the back-up of regular TV and radio programmes shown outside normal
broadcast times. Each student was assigned a tutor who discussed the course work
over the phone, and in group sessions in the evenings or weekends. Thirty years on,
the Open University has expanded to include the Internet, videoconferencing, satellite
broadcast and e-mail. There are no entry qualifications or admission interviews, and
anyone over the age of 18 can follow one of their courses. It is now Britain’s largest
single teaching institution, with more than 200,000 people studying its courses every
year, with another 16,000 in other countries around the world.
John Hendricks and the Discovery Channel
After a successful career in university education, John S Hendricks entered the TV
business and launched the Discovery Channel – the first cable TV channel
exclusively devoted to documentaries and nature programmes – in June 1985. Today
the company’s programmes reach over 150 million subscribers in more than a
hundred countries. In an age where competition for TV audience has never been
tougher, the Discovery Channel’s high-quality, educational approach continues to
defy those who believe that TV is only about mindless entertainment. The BBC
programme Walking with Dinosaurs became the most-watched documentary in TV
history when it was shown on the Discovery Channel in 2000.
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