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Distance Learning From correspondence to online courses Distance learning (or distance education) is not new. The earlier correspondence courses were a form of distance learning. The medium of delivery was the postal system. Today it is known as online courses and the medium of delivery is the Internet. Distance learning originated in England in the 1840s for the teaching of shorthand. The University of South Africa was the first to offer correspondence degree courses in 1846. The largest university that offers only distance learning is the Open University in the United Kingdom. In distance learning the students are not physically present in classrooms on the college or university campus. Given this condition, two possible models exist. One is in which the students though at different locations take the course at the same time. The radio and the television are the media for delivering this kind of distance learning. Today video conferencing adds another dimension. In the other model students at different locations can study at different times according to their convenience. Correspondence courses and online courses are examples. Most distance learning institutions provide a degree, diploma or other certification after testing the student. The more reputed institutions have credible accreditation, but there are many who just go through the motions of teaching and dish out certificates. These are called diploma mills. The evaluation of students has been a problem for distance learning because it takes place in an unsupervised environment and therefore is open to the use of unethical means. Various methods have been adopted to counter this problem. One way out is asking students to assemble at some place so that supervised tests can be conducted. Another is to conduct online tests in such a limited time frame that the students do not have time to refer to their course material. A more common method is to test understanding rather than knowledge by asking students to answer longer research oriented questions. Whatever the form, distance learning has come to stay and as technology evolves so will distance learning.

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