The Evolution of

1921 Colleges begin delivering education through live radio shows.more

The Federal Communications Commission grants the first educational radio licenses to the University of Salt Lake City, University of Wisconsin, and University of Minnesota. The FCC grants these licenses to some 200 colleges between 1918 and 1946.

1964 The University of Wisconsin creates the Articulated Instructional Media (AIM) Project. more

The AIM Project is the first attempt to identify, categorize, and systemize distance learning practices. It also provides guidance on how to create and incorporate multimedia materials into distance learning.

1980 Learn/Alaska is created, becoming the first state educational satellite system. more

Students in 100 villages can watch six hours of instructional television daily.

1991 Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web. more

It catalyzes online education over the information superhighway, which later is renamed the Internet.

1996 John Bourne establishes the Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) Web. more

The Alfred P. Sloan-C Foundation supports development efforts. "Asynchronous learning networks" refer to the ability to deliver education anytime, anywhere through the Internet.

2002 MIT launches its OpenCourseWare proof-of-concept sitemore

OpenCourseWare is a free, web-based publication of MIT course materials, including lecture notes, exams, and videos. Its launch marks the historic moment when an elite higher education institution shares materials from its curriculum freely and openly on the web.

2008 The ALN Web becomes the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C). more

Sloan-C is an institutional and professional leadership organization focused on improving the quality and integration of online education into mainstream higher education.

2010Babson Research Survey Group and College Board report that 6.1 million students have taken at least one online education course.more

This is an increase of more than half a million students over 2009, illustrating how online education is mushrooming. As a result, 65 percent of higher education institutions say online education is now a critical part of their long-term strategy, according to Babson Research Survey Group and College Board.

2013 Awareness begins to grow around the importance of students being agents in their educational journeys. more

A renewed narrative around the importance of self-directed learning inevitably evolves from the opportunities that the web and online education provide, and institutions that understand how to support and encourage learning agency are better helping learners meet their educational, career, and personal needs. Flexible, innovative, and collaborative online education play a crucial role in this shift.

Steve Hargadon
Creator of the Classroom 2.0 social network
Director of Web 2.0 Labs
Host of the Future of Education interview series

2015Online education courses become even more interactive.more

The instructional design community creates online education courses that use multimedia to immerse students in motivating, participatory, virtual learning activities. The rapid evolution of design tools, gaming, and simulation capabilities within learning management systems exponentially expands the ability of online education courses to interactively engage students.

Don Mroz, Ph.D.
Provost and Dean of The Malcolm Baldrige School of Business at Post University

2027 Technology is no longer in the classroom; technology becomes the classroom. more

Virtual education, or tele-education, provides tremendous improvements in the availability and quality of education, at far lower costs to society. The "tele-generation" is changing physical socialization into virtual socialization.

Dennis Bushnell
Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
Member, National Academy of Engineering
Advisory Board member, Post University Master of Education degree program