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Evolution of the synchronous learning environment

Distance education traces its origins to mid-19th century Europe and the United States. The pioneers of distance education used the best technology of their day, the postal system, to open educational opportunities to people who wanted to learn but were not able to attend conventional schools. People who most benefited from such correspondence education included those with physical disabilities, women who were not allowed to enroll in educational institutions open only to men, people who had jobs during normal school hours, and those who lived in remote regions where schools did not exist.

An Englishman, Isaac Pitman, is credited as an early pioneer. He began teaching shorthand by correspondence in Bath, England in 1840. Students were instructed to copy short passages of the Bible and return them for grading via the new penny post system.

American university level distance education began in 1874 at Illinois Wesleyan University where bachelor and graduate degrees could be obtained in absentia. The Chautauqua movement in about 1882 gave the popular push to correspondence education.

The teaching of academic and vocational courses by correspondence became quite popular by 1900 and problems of quality and ethical practice came with the popularity. The National Home Study Council (NHSC) was formed in 1926 in part to address these issues. Accreditation of college and university distance programs fell to the National University Extension Association in 1915.

The invention of educational radio in the 1920s and the advent of television in the 1940s created important new forms of communication for use in distance education. Educators used these new technologies to broadcast educational programs to millions of learners, thus extending learning opportunities beyond the walls of conventional teaching institutions.

The development of reliable long-distance telephone systems in the early 1900s also increased the capacity of distance educators to reach new student populations. But telephone systems never played a prominent role in education until the introduction of new teleconferencing technologies in the 1980s and 1990s. Teleconferencing systems made it possible for teachers to talk with, hear, and see their students in real time - that is, with no delays in the transmissions - even if they were located across the country or around the world.

Distance education increasingly uses combinations of different communications technologies to enhance the abilities of teachers and students to communicate with each other. With the spread of computer-network communications in the 1980s and 1990s, large numbers of people gained access to computers linked to telephone lines, allowing teachers and students to communicate in conferences via computers.

Distance education also makes use of computer conferencing on the World Wide Web, where teachers and students present text, pictures, audio, and video. File sharing and communications tools like email, chats and and audio and video conferencing are integral to the Internet model.
Taken from http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=whatis&pg=3

Where is the current path of technology taking distance learning?

Colleges or schools that teach programs or degrees that do not demand the manipulation of tools like syringes or wrenches can in most cases easily converted their asynchronous or live traditional classroom to a live synchronous distance learning environment quite quickly. The instructor is still the live guide to a course's content and the students still attend regularly scheduled live classes thus the conversion from a live traditional classroom to a live synchronous online classroom is more a perception than a transformation because so much of what makes up the traditional classroom is also found in the synchronous classroom.

There are many advantages for a school to offer the state-of-the-art in distance learning. One significant advantage that all schools would realize if they took the plunge is in their advertising expenditures. Without any distance learning a school's advertising usually reaches way too far. Many potential student's might know of a college or school through its advertising but are unable to attend because of their distance from campus. But with a synchronous learning environment students outside of commuting range can still attend live classes thus the school can truly realizing the full advantage of it's advertiser's reach. The additional attractiveness of a synchronous distance learning environment for the student is the security of knowing that very few outside factors can actually derail their plans. There are literally no external obstacles to attending class when one only has to stay at home, put on a headset and login to class to enter the classroom.

It is now an irrefutable fact that more woman start and complete their college degrees than do men. The live communicative environment and scheduled class times of a synchronous distance learning environment have long been touted by female students as conforming to their interactive learning styles. The sense of community and camaraderie of a synchronous learning environment is usually mentioned as being more important to the success of women in distance learning than men. With childcare usually falling on the woman's shoulders in most families the availability of accessing a live college classroom from one's own home greatly assists in removing many potential roadblocks to the female student. Transportation, food, and extra social expenses are not required when classes are offered live in one's own homes. From the college/school's perspective any way in which an institution can help reduce a student's stress and assist them getting to class on time is a options worth heavy consideration, if only they knew of the availability of such an environment.

The synchronous learning environment offers many advantages to both the student and the college. But finding a user-friendly, intuitive and reliable synchronous learning environment is currently the single greatest challenge most colleges and students have. Currently the asynchronous model of distance learning dominates the landscape as it has since the beginning of the concept.

While synchronous may not, in the near future, be as ubiquitous as asynchronous there is still a very large market for it. One view is that the market is concentrated in bachelors degree and lower programs for students looking for a first or new career; it is not focused in the bachelor degree programs and higher or for students looking to get ahead at their current job. The current online guru's believe the market for live synchronous distance learning is; students looking for a first or new career and High School.