Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

distance education 153disk array See raid.distance educationDistance education (also called distance learning or virtuallearning) is the use of electronic information and communicationtechnology to link teachers and students withouttheir being together in a physical classroom.Distance education in the form of correspondenceschools or classes actually began as early as the mid-19thcentury with teaching of the Pitman Shorthand writingmethod. Later, correspondence classes became part ofChautauqua, a movement to educate the rural and urbanworking classes, taking advantage of the growing reach ofmail service through Rural Free Delivery. In correspondenceschools, each lesson is typically mailed to the student,who completes the required work and returns it forgrading. A certificate is awarded upon completion of courserequirements. A few universities (such as the University ofWisconsin) also began to offer correspondence programs.By the middle of the 20th century, radio and then televisionwas being used to bring lectures to students. Thisincreased the immediacy and spontaneity of teaching. Theinvention of videotape in the 1970s allowed leading teachersto create customized courses geared for different audiences.However, the ability of students to interact with teachersremained limited.In the 1960s computers also began to be used for education.One of the earliest and most innovative programswas PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic TeachingOperations), which began at the University of Illinois butwas later expanded to hundreds of networked terminals.PLATO in many ways pioneered the combining of text,graphics, and sound—what would later be called multimedia.PLATO also provided for early forms of both e-mail andcomputer bulletin boards.Meanwhile, with the development of ARPANET andeventually the Internet, a new platform became availablefor delivering instruction. By the mid-1990s, courses werebeing delivered via the Internet (see World Wide Web).Modern Distance EducationAs broadband Internet access becomes the norm, more Internet-basedlearning environments are taking advantage ofvideo conferencing technology, allowing teachers and studentsto interact face to face. This helps answer a commonobjection by critics that distance education cannot replicatethe personal and social dimensions of face-to-face education.Distance education technologies such as this Polycom video conferencing software enable teachers and students to see, talk, and interact witheach other. Here, Manhattan School of Music student Wu Jie of the Zukerman Performance Program demonstrates her violin technique toMaestro Zukerman. (Photo by Andrew Lepley for Business Wire via Getty Images)