I have always been fascinated by history, be it the history of art, music, religion, culture, or education. In reading about the history of virtual learning environments, I was shocked to see the time-line begin in 1728, however after reading the entry I find that if fits quite neatly into the tapestry of distance learning.Correspondence schools have been well documented in both film and literature. These early versions of distance learning have formed the image many people have of virtual learning environments. As the name implies, these involved written assignments being submitted by mail to an invisible instructor, who would then grade and return them by mail. This model is still in use today as seen with "The American School."
As television became universal in the 1950's and 60's, virtual learning environments expanded to include visual material. School began subscribing to on-air classes through public broadcast channels. This was a model I participated in during elementary school. I attended a small parochial school that housed two grades per classroom. The classroom teacher was responsible for teaching all subjects to two different grade levels. Science, in particular, would see one grade level going to the media room (the only one with a television) to partake of a televised science lesson. We would return to the regular classroom to write an essay on what we had learned. We really looked forward to these sessions, and thought them quite good at the time. They were quite well-done and a lot of fun, but offered no opportunity for student involvement or interaction.
This week's reading also covered the early online classes. These apparently followed a similar video approach to education, much like the early PBS shows. The end result must have been similar to merging correspondence classes and PBS videos to form a class that involved a video presentation of the material with a submitted written response from the student. The primary advantage to the original correspondence model would be better instruction for visual learners, and quicker feedback response from course instructors.
In the 1990's, the prevalence of affordable home computers and access to the internet created a market for technology assisted virtual learning environments. The marketplace now had a demand to create an integrated learning management system that could deliver education at least equal to, or possibly superior to on site instruction. While many campuses developed class schedules to accommodate work schedules, there was no way to overcome the difficulty of distance in meeting the needs of students who had jobs or families. This was always one of the reasons, in my opinion, for the popularity of distance education, and this is one of the areas that make the new online learning environments so enticing.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments_1990s
http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/
I am absolutely fascinated with our history as well, Sharon. I find the history of VLE's to be quite eye-opening as well. The history of a subject not only shows where it has been, but also what we can learn from it, and where it might be headed in the future. I enjoyed your comments about actually taking part in those PBS science programs in school. I bet you looked forward to them so much because it was such a departure from the "norm" of a classroom lecture.
ReplyDeleteI think that is what drives so many of us as students in our online program. We get to be a part of something new, something that is quite a departure from the "norm" of educational models. I loved your post and can resonate with it quite a bit.
I think it is so neat to hear you say you participated in the public broadcasting channel science programs. I'll bet at the time that was pretty exciting and out of the ordinary for your class. It is amazing how interactive and engaging some of these programs have become, but they had to start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear that you had experience with this in your early education. When I was reviewing the history of VLE's I took note of higher education distance courses beginning in 1874 at Illinois Wesleyan College. It too, struck me that there is quite a history, I was expecting a very short history of VLE's.
My comments to Sharon Jones:
ReplyDeleteSharon, I too, remember PBS broadcasts in the classroom. However, the broadcasts were few, and far between each other, to really make an impact. I recall more reel-to-reel lessons than watching the television.
Within the reading assignment, which covered the history, and time-line of the virtual learning environment, I had felt the time line was inconclusive, and to a point misleading. For example, you wrote a simple statement in the first line of the third paragraph, stating that, “As television became universal in the 1950's and 60's, virtual learning environments expanded to include visual material. “ Thus, indicating to me, where the reading material had become misleading.
“Visual Materials” were introduced to, what was known as Distant Learning (now as Virtual Learning) many years prior to television’s induction. Where I found the reading material to be inconclusive, was the omission of time where visual materials where first implemented within the Distant Learning era.
It is phenomenal that you were able to participate in the public broadcast program. It must have been somewhat difficult however, for students who may have had issues processing the information the first time, to return to the classroom and write an essay from only one viewing. VLEs have definitely evolved to a more differentiated approach appealing to multiple learning styles. Also, as you noted, our family structure has changed in our country, and the world, where people don't necessarily hold the 9-5 job, and have 2.5 kids, 2 cars, a cat, and a white picket fence around their residence. VLEs allow ease of access to information and content based on individualized schedules.
ReplyDeleteI too remember getting to watch documentaries in school, but I remember them more as a "get out of work" activity. It wasn't until college that I took advantage of televised classes, but still there was no interaction between the 100's of students and the little man on the stage in front. Even in high school, my family had a computer, but it was so slow on dial up that I only used it as a type writer.
ReplyDeleteIt is very exciting to see how far VLE's have come. My own children have the opportunity to take elementary classes in virtual school for credit. It is my hope to begin teaching virtual school in the next year, so that I can allow my own kids to attend virtual school full time.