The Universal Postal Union (UPU) was born in the late 19th century as a response to the increasing need of unifying and regulating postal service around the world, making possible a new concept in education that all of us today know as distant learning.
However, distance learning was formerly known as distance education, and it was Isaac Pitman the first who, teaching shorthand, delivered correspondence courses in the United Kingdom during the 1840s.
Correspondence courses became popular in the earlier decades of the 20th century, decreasing in popularity gradually after the 1960s, falling into lack of credibility in many countries. However, the popularity of home computers in the 1980s brought its rebirth.
People who started distance learning by mail during that decade, suddenly found another option in the 1990's derived from correspondence courses: e-learning, or distance learning via the Internet.
Today distance learning is an option available to anyone around the world, disregarding sex, age, race, color, language, or religion. Where there is an Internet access, there is a candidate for distance learning.
The main advantage of online distance learning is availability. Internet is open 24 hours a day, all year round, so you do not need to wait for the postman delivering your educational package.
Because the Internet is up as soon as you turn on your PC. There is no need for waiting times, as occurs with mail, and the place where you live does not make a difference in comparison with the time that it takes to deliver a correspondence course from the United States to Tanzania, India or China.
Online courses also differ from printed courses. There is no graphic content that can compete with multimedia resources displayed in your screen when it comes to studying. Every curriculum is enhanced with animations to provide a motivating visual experience.
Some of the most popular correspondence courses, language courses, are best taught online than on n paper, enabling students to listen to the exact pronunciation of every word and phrase by native speaker in exciting virtual environments.
Distance learning provides support and feedback, whether by correspondence, via phone, or online. Everything depends on the chosen course and the options provided by the institution endorsing the academic program.
Depending on your needs for interaction, improved learning experience, and faster communication, you can go for distance learning online or traditional correspondence courses, although they are not the only methods of distance education.
In the earlier 1940s, courses were broadcasted by radio and later on TV. In fact even today, there are courses scheduled on many radio and TV stations, as well as cable and satellite channels, while CD-Rom and DVD courses are the result of the post 1990s era.
In all cases, distance education is for anyone who cannot be present in a classroom, but still has the desire to learn. When distance education is online and the chosen institution has the adequate technology, students can attend their classes in virtual classrooms, and sometimes adopt a personality best known as avatar.
In modern times when time is a decisive factor in our lives, flexibility in timetables makes distance education the best option for persons with a busy life.
