Distance learning has a surprisingly long tradition of flexibility. Though distance learning has gained most of its support in the past ten years or so, the infographic below tracks its growth from pre-revolutionary America to 21st Century Britain, where almost 400,000 students are currently engaged in distance learning courses.
From lectures sent via phonograph and radio broadcast, to degrees delivered in the digital age, its evolution – and its reach – is staggering. Full-time professionals, housewives and husbands, teenagers, pensioners… members of all of these groups have felt the benefit of a distance learning course.
In case you were wondering, here’s a quick look at what distance learning actually is, courtesy of Wikipedia!
It’s is a mode of delivering education and instruction, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom. Distance learning provides “access to learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both.” Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason (including taking examinations) have been referred to as hybrid or blended courses of study. -Wikipedia
Thumbnail via MyMZone.com and infographic from Anglia Ruskin University
