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77-714: The college was founded in 1902. Northwestern College was accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. It was located in Bridgeview and then moved to 9400 South Cicero Avenue in August 2022. From June 2020 to December 2021, the U.S. Department of Education placed Northwestern College on a Heightened Cash Monitoring Level 1 and Heightened Cash Monitoring Level 2 from March 2022 until its closure. [1] On July 2, 2024,

154-505: A 2002 report by George C. Leef and Roxana D. Burris of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) argued that the system does not ensure or protect educational quality, while still imposing significant costs. In a 2006 "issue paper", Robert C. Dickeson wrote that a lack of transparency, low and lax standards, and outdated regionalization were among the problems with regional accreditation. Others, such as Edward M. Elmendorf of

231-474: A familiar mode since they are used almost exclusively in campus-based schools. Institutes that offer both distance and campus programs usually use paced models so that teacher workload, student semester planning, tuition deadlines, exam schedules, and other administrative details can be synchronized with campus delivery. Student familiarity and the pressure of deadlines encourage students to readily adapt to and usually succeed in paced models. However, student freedom

308-460: A limited role in higher education accreditation in 1952 with reauthorization of the G.I. Bill for Korean War veterans . The original GI Bill legislation had stimulated establishment of new colleges and universities to accommodate the influx of new students, but some of these new institutions were of dubious quality. The 1952 legislation designated the existing peer review process as the basis for measuring institutional quality; GI Bill eligibility

385-622: A paced format similar to traditional campus-based models in which learners commence and complete a course at the same time. Some institutions offer self-paced programs that allow for continuous enrollment, and the length of time to complete the course is set by the learner's time, skill, and commitment levels. Self-paced courses are almost always offered asynchronously. Each delivery method offers advantages and disadvantages for students, teachers, and institutions. Kaplan and Haenlein classify distance education into four groups according to "Time dependency" and "Number of participants": Paced models are

462-593: A programs of distance learning that provided the city's elementary school students with instruction through radio broadcasts. A typical setup came in Kentucky in 1948 when John Wilkinson Taylor , president of the University of Louisville , teamed up with NBC to use radio as a medium for distance education. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the project and predicted that

539-592: A radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000. Athabasca University , Canada's open university, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern. The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's National University of Distance Education (1972) and Germany's FernUniversität in Hagen (1974). There are now many similar institutions around

616-501: A religious viewpoint and may require students and/or faculty to subscribe to a statement of faith. Additionally, as of 2009, 20 U.S. states and Puerto Rico had some form of exemption provision under which religious institutions can grant religious degrees without accreditation or government oversight. Since 2001, the use of the top-level internet domain , .edu has been restricted to accredited institutions, but non-qualifying institutions can still use .edu domain names obtained before

693-596: A significant part of the history of distance education and online learning. The widespread use of computers and the Internet has made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online. The capacity of the Internet to support voice, video, text, and immersion teaching methods made earlier distinct forms of telephone, videoconferencing, radio, television, and text-based education somewhat redundant. However, many of

770-422: A significant positive relationship with the digital literacy of users. Besides, observability, trialability, and digital skill were found to have a positive significant influence on digital literacy .     The two methods can be combined. Many courses offered by both open universities and an increasing number of campus-based institutions use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement

847-521: A specific program of professional education or training, but in some cases they cover the whole institution. Best practices are shared and developed through affiliation with the Association of Professional and Specialized Accreditors. Both the US Department of Education and CHEA maintain lists of recognized US programmatic accreditors: For broad resources on how programmatic accreditation is managed in

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924-468: Is an exciting place to learn new things, collaborate with others, and retain self-discipline. One of the earliest attempts at distance education was advertised in 1728. This was in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb Philipps, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand ", who sought students who wanted to learn the skills through weekly mailed lessons. The first distance education course in the modern sense

1001-442: Is becoming a pathway for learners with sparse access to physical courses so they can complete their degrees. Furthermore, digital classroom technologies allow those living remotely to access learning, and it enables the student to fit learning into their schedule more easily. Internet technology has enabled many forms of distance learning through open educational resources and facilities such as e-learning and MOOCs . Although

1078-464: Is that the traditional system is limited to measuring "input" factors, such as adequate facilities and properly credentialed faculty, rather than the quality of a school's educational output. In his 1996 book Crisis in the Academy , Christopher J. Lucas criticized the accreditation system as too expensive, onerously complicated, incestuous in its organization, and not properly tied to quality. Similarly,

1155-500: The American Association of State Colleges and Universities , reject these claims, arguing that they are "picking around the edges" of a proven and necessary system for upholding standards. Thomas C. Reeves notes that some schools unable or unwilling to meet the standards of traditional, regional accrediting bodies are closely involved in creating national accrediting agencies with significantly lower standards. At various times

1232-520: The Department of Education . Regional bodies historically accredited institutions in a particular region of the country. National bodies were established to accredit institutions across the country, and sometimes beyond it. Within American higher education, regional bodies were considered more prestigious. (The regional bodies were older, and included the most well established institutions.) In February 2020,

1309-591: The Ford Foundation . From 1970 to 1972 the Coordinating Commission for Higher Education in California funded Project Outreach to study the potential of tele-courses. The study included the University of California , California State University , and community colleges. This study led to coordinated instructional systems legislation allowing the use of public funds for non-classroom instruction and paved

1386-704: The University of Toronto through the Graduate School of Education (then called OISE: the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ), offering a course in "Women and Computers in Education", dealing with gender issues and educational computing. The first new and fully online university was founded in 1994 as the Open University of Catalonia , headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. In 1999 Jones International University

1463-494: The University of Wisconsin–Madison also promoted new methods. From 1964 to 1968, the Carnegie Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought in a variety of communications technologies aimed at providing learning to an off-campus population. The radio courses faded away in the 1950s. Many efforts to use television along the same lines proved unsuccessful, despite heavy funding by

1540-541: The World Wide Web or other network technologies, are recent educational modes in distance education. A number of other terms (distributed learning, e-learning , m-learning , online learning, virtual classroom, etc.) are used roughly synonymously with distance education. E-learning has shown to be a useful educational tool. E-learning should be an interactive process with multiple learning modes for all learners at various levels of learning. The distance learning environment

1617-563: The YMCA school in Boston that became Northeastern University . Private correspondence schools outside of the major cities provided a flexible, focused solution. Large corporations systematized their training programs for new employees. The National Association of Corporation Schools grew from 37 in 1913 to 146 in 1920. Private schools that provided specialized technical training to everyone who enrolled, not just employees of one company, began to open across

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1694-756: The mental health , occupational therapy , family therapy , art therapy , physical therapy , and rehabilitation counseling fields. By 2008, online learning programs were available in the United States in 44 states at the K-12 level. Internet forums , online discussion groups , and online learning community can contribute to a distance education experience. Research shows that socialization plays an important role in some forms of distance education. E-Courses are available from educational platforms such as Khan Academy and MasterClass on many topics and for students of all levels. Most distance education uses

1771-456: The "college-by-radio" would put "American education 25 years ahead". The university was owned by the city, and local residents would pay the low tuition rates, receive their study materials in the mail, and listen by radio to live classroom discussions that were held on campus. Physicist Daniel Q. Posin also was a pioneer in the field of distance education when he hosted a televised course through DePaul University . Charles Wedemeyer of

1848-532: The 1920s and radio in the 1930s led to proposals to use it for distance education. By 1938, at least 200 city school systems, 25 state boards of education, and many colleges and universities broadcast educational programs for public schools. One line of thought was to use radio as a master teacher. Experts in given fields broadcast lessons for pupils within the many schoolrooms of the public school system, asking questions, suggesting readings, making assignments, and conducting tests. This mechanizes education and leaves

1925-552: The 1920s. Enrollment in the largest private for-profit school based in Scranton, Pennsylvania , the International Correspondence Schools grew explosively in the 1890s. Founded in 1888 to provide training for immigrant coal miners aiming to become state mine inspectors or foremen, it enrolled 2500 new students in 1894 and matriculated 72,000 new students in 1895. By 1906 total enrollments reached 900,000. The growth

2002-465: The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, a national accreditor, were occasionally sued for leading prospective students to believe, incorrectly, that they would have no problem transferring their credits to a regionally accredited school. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes the following organizations as institutional accreditors: These accreditors typically cover

2079-821: The Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Management programs were accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education. The Radiologic Technology Associate in Applied Science Degree program was accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology. The Associate in Applied Science Degree program in Nursing

2156-558: The Department of Education eliminated the distinction between regional and national accrediting agencies, creating one unified set of institutional accreditors. The department claimed that the change was intended to encourage cooperation between accredited schools to improve student experiences, uphold quality standards, and reduce the cost of higher education by encouraging transparent transfer of credits and mutual recognition of degrees between schools with common standards. It also claimed that

2233-716: The Higher Learning Commission placed the college "On Notice" because it was at risk of being out of compliance with the Criteria for Accreditation, with a follow-up visit scheduled for no later that December 2025. It abruptly closed days later on Saturday July 6, 2024. Although college officials told students that they had secured transfer agreements with several local colleges and universities, students and local reporters quickly discovered that those officials had lied and there were no such agreements. The Health Information Technology Associate in Applied Science Degree program and

2310-645: The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), with its main office in Oslo, Norway. The Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom was founded by the then Labour government led by Harold Wilson . Based on the vision of Michael Young , planning commenced in 1965 under the Minister of State for Education , Jennie Lee , who established a model for the Open University as one of widening access to

2387-493: The U.S. Department of Education nor CHEA accredit individual institutions. With the creation of the U.S. Department of Education and under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965 , as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the secretary has determined to be reliable authorities on the quality of education or training provided by

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2464-574: The U.S. government has investigated changes to the accreditation system. In 2002 the House of Representatives Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness criticized the system. Accreditation was a major topic of the Spellings Commission , which released its report on September 26, 2006. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognizes that there are criticisms, but has opposed these calls for reform, with President Judith S. Eaton arguing that

2541-585: The US, the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of distance education institutions. In the United States in 2011, it was found that a third of all the students enrolled in postsecondary education had taken an accredited online course in a postsecondary institution. Growth continued. In 2013 the majority of public and private colleges offered full academic programs online. Programs included training in

2618-495: The United States Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured . It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member institutions. It was first undertaken in the late 19th century by cooperating educational institutions, on a regional basis. The federal government began to play

2695-731: The United States (and globally) see Accreditation.org which provides background on the process, accords, agreements, and accrediting bodies related to engineering and computing degrees. Several organizations exist that accredit institutions and which are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or CHEA. These include: Although many schools related to religious organizations hold regional accreditation or secular national accreditation, there are four different agencies that specialize in accreditation of religious schools: These groups specialize in accrediting theological and religious schools including seminaries and graduate schools of theology, as well as broader-scope universities that teach from

2772-409: The United States were overseen by seven regional accrediting agencies established in the late 19th and early 20th century to foster articulation between secondary schools and higher education institutions, particularly evaluation of prospective students by colleges and universities. These seven agencies were membership organizations of educational institutions within their geographic regions. Initially,

2849-510: The University of London. The vast distances made Australia especially active; the University of Queensland established its Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911. In South Africa, the University of South Africa , formerly an examining and certification body, started to present distance education tuition in 1946. In the United States, only a third of the population lived in cities of 100,000 or more population in 1920; in order to reach

2926-664: The benefits and drawbacks of online learning found that students have had a harder time producing their own work. The study suggests teachers should cut back on the amount of information taught and incorporate more activities during the lesson, in order for students to create their own work. Though schools are slow to adapt to new technologies, COVID-19 required schools to adapt and learn how to use new digital and online learning tools. Web conferencing has become more popular since 2007. Researchers have found that people in online classes perform just as effectively as participants in conventional learning classes. The use of online learning

3003-536: The change was intended to allow students to be able to access the best school for their needs no matter what region they reside in. Four months after this change was made, the WASC Senior College and University Commission became the first accreditor to formally change its membership rules and requirements to allow institutions outside its historical geographic region to apply for membership and accreditation. Historically, educational accreditation activities in

3080-559: The classroom is the use of robot proxies including those that allow sick students to attend classes. Some universities have been starting to use robot proxies to enable more engaging synchronous hybrid classes where both remote and in-person students can be present and interact using telerobotics devices such as the Kubi Telepresence robot stand that looks around and the Double Robot that roams around. With these telepresence robots,

3157-485: The closure of the vast majority of schools worldwide for in-person learning. COVID-19 increased the value of distance education although its policies were implemented and formulated among several universities much earlier. Many schools moved to online remote learning through platforms including—but not limited to— Zoom , Blackboard , Cisco Webex , Google Classroom , Google Meet , Microsoft Teams , D2L , and Edgenuity . A recent study showed that Google Classroom

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3234-439: The current rules came into force. A prominent example of such a domain name registered before the current rules came into force is Academia.edu , a for-profit social networking site for academics. Various commenters have written about the role and effectiveness of the American accreditation system. It has drawn particular interest since the rise of e-learning classes and institutions. A frequent point of discussion and criticism

3311-1049: The expansion of the Internet blurs the boundaries, distance education technologies are divided into two modes of delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous learning . In synchronous learning, all participants are "present" at the same time in a virtual classroom, as in traditional classroom teaching. It requires a timetable. Web conferencing , videoconferencing , educational television , and instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio , live streaming , telephone , and web-based VoIP . Web conferencing software helps to facilitate class meetings, and usually contains additional interaction tools such as text chat, polls, hand raising, emoticons etc. These tools also support asynchronous participation by students who can listen to recordings of synchronous sessions. Immersive environments (notably SecondLife ) have also been used to enhance participant presence in distance education courses. Another form of synchronous learning using

3388-871: The faculty set the academic policies. Regionally-accredited schools were required to have adequate library facilities. Except for some specific subject areas such as nursing, nationally accredited schools did not hire many full-time faculty, usually hiring faculty by the course, without benefits and with no influence on the school's academic policies, which were determined by non-academic administrators, and ultimately investors. Their library facilities, if they existed at all, were far inferior to those of regionally-accredited schools. While there were some legitimate and well-intentioned nationally accredited schools, similar to for-profit institutions with regional accreditation, some institutions existed with little educational rigor. Some critics considered national accreditation to be not as reputable as regional accreditation. Schools accredited by

3465-457: The highest levels of degree and doctoral programs. New York University and International University Canada, for example, offer online degrees in engineering and management-related fields through NYU Tandon Online . Levels of accreditation vary: widely respected universities such as Stanford University and Harvard now deliver online courses—but other online schools receive little outside oversight, and some are fraudulent, i.e., diploma mills . In

3542-413: The highest standards of scholarship in higher education and setting up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists, and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation's ( BBC ) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, James Redmond , had obtained most of his qualifications at night school , and his natural enthusiasm for

3619-479: The institutions of higher education and the higher education programs they accredit. Professional schools, which are often graduate schools, have separate organizations for accreditation, e.g. American Board of Higher Education (ABHEC). Institutional accreditation applies to the entire institution, specific programs, and distance education within an institution. Prior to 2020, there were regional and national accrediting agencies, both of which were accountable to

3696-479: The introduction of uniform postage rates across England in 1840. This early beginning proved extremely successful and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country. The first correspondence school in the United States

3773-453: The largest US for-profit universities (e.g., University of Phoenix , Grand Canyon University ) achieved regional accreditation. Regionally accredited schools were usually academically oriented and most were non-profit. Nationally accredited schools, a large number of which are for-profit , typically offered specific vocational, career, or technical programs. Regionally accredited institutions employed large numbers of full-time faculty, and

3850-481: The late 19th century, and its example was widely copied elsewhere. However, the university only provided examinations, not instructional material, leading academics to state that "the original degree by external study of the UOL was not a form of distance education". The External Programme is now known as the University of London Worldwide , and includes postgraduate and undergraduate degrees created by member institutions of

3927-480: The local teacher only the tasks of preparing for the broadcast and keeping order in the classroom. The first large-scale implementation of radio for distance education took place in 1937 in Chicago . During a three-week school closure implemented in response to a polio outbreak that the city was experiencing, superintendent of Chicago Public Schools William Johnson and assistant superintendent Minnie Fallon implemented

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4004-505: The main focus of the organizations was to accredit secondary schools and to establish uniform college entrance requirements. Accreditation of colleges and universities followed later, with each of the accrediting agencies splitting into separate organizations with one or more of those organizations focused exclusively on accrediting colleges and universities. The higher education institutions holding regional accreditation were primarily non-profit institutions, with significant exceptions, as

4081-459: The nation in the 1880s. Starting in Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began opening free vocational program. The International Conference for Correspondence Education held its first meeting in 1938. The goal was to provide individualized education for students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of testing, recording, classification, and differentiation. Since then, the group has changed its name to

4158-533: The next two decades. The affiliated colleges provided certificates that the student had attended a course. A new charter in 1858 removed this requirement, allowing men (and women from 1878) taking instruction at any institution or pursuing a course of self-directed study to sit the examinations and receive degrees. The External Programme was referred to as the "People's University" by Charles Dickens as it provided access to higher education to students from less affluent backgrounds. Enrollment increased steadily during

4235-449: The project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programs. The Open University revolutionized the scope of the correspondence program and helped to create a respectable learning alternative to the traditional form of education. It has been at the forefront of developing new technologies to improve distance learning service as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. Walter Perry

4312-615: The remote students have a seat at the table or desk instead of being on a screen on the wall. In asynchronous learning, participants access course materials flexibly on their schedules. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology, as are message board forums, e-mail , video and audio recordings , print materials, voicemail , and fax . The five characteristics of technological innovations (compatibility, observability, relative advantage, complexity, and trialability) have

4389-473: The rest, correspondence techniques were adopted. William Rainey Harper , founder and first president of the University of Chicago , celebrated the concept of extended education, where a research university had satellite colleges elsewhere in the region. In 1892, Harper encouraged correspondence courses to further promote education, an idea that was put into practice by the University of Chicago, U. Wisconsin, Columbia U., and several dozen other universities by

4466-552: The same length of time; when they have finished their courses they are supposed to be qualified to enter any one of a number of branches in some particular profession. We, on the contrary, are aiming to make our courses fit the particular needs of the student who takes them. Education was a high priority in the Progressive Era , as American high schools and colleges expanded greatly. For men who were older or were too busy with family responsibilities, night schools were opened, such as

4543-592: The sessions delivered at a distance. This type of mixed distance and campus-based education has recently come to be called " blended learning " or less often "hybrid learning". Many open universities use a blend of technologies and a blend of learning modalities (face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the rubric of "distance learning". Distance learning can also use interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds , digital games, webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred to as e-Learning. The rapid spread of film in

4620-753: The student corresponded with the school via mail . Distance education is a technology-mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and the Internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can either be completely a remote learning, or a combination of both online learning and traditional offline classroom instruction (called hybrid or blended ). Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning). Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and open access through

4697-534: The system is successful and needs to remain flexible to accommodate differences between schools and disciplines. In 2013, President Barack Obama proposed changes in the accreditation system to hold "colleges accountable for cost, value, and quality". He requested Congress change the Higher Education Act so that affordability and value are considered in determining which institutions are accredited and allow students access to federal financial aid; his criticism

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4774-602: The teaching and learning experience. Educators, grappling with this abrupt transition, have faced hurdles in effectively engaging students and delivering course content, leading to heightened stress and burnout among faculty members. Additionally, this shift has raised legal concerns, particularly regarding copyright issues related to the dissemination of educational materials in digital formats. Post-COVID-19  pandemic, while some educational institutions went back to physical classes, others switched to blended learning or kept up their online distance learning. A recent study about

4851-560: The techniques developed and lessons learned with earlier media are used in Internet delivery. The first online courses for graduate and undergraduate credit were offered in 1985 by Connected Education through The New School in New York City, with students earning the MA in Media Studies completely online via computer conferencing, with no in-person requirements. This was followed in 1986 by

4928-567: The transition, and posed various legal issues, especially in terms of copyright. The physical surroundings during the COVID-19 pandemic are seen by university instructors as having a detrimental effect on the quality of distance education. However, where the lecture is delivered and the type of faculty do not show any significant statistical variances in the quality of distance education. The shift away from real-time instruction to asynchronous learning modes has posed significant challenges, impacting both

5005-475: The way for the emergence of tele-courses as the precursor to the online courses and programs of today. The Coastline Community Colleges , The Dallas County Community College District , and Miami Dade Community College led the way. The Adult Learning Service of the US Public Broadcasting Service came into being and the "wrapped" series, and individually produced tele-course for credit became

5082-1061: The world, often with the name "Open University" (in English or in the local language). The University of the Philippines Open University was established in 1995 as the fifth constituent University of the Philippines System and was the first distance education and online university in the Philippines. Its mandate is to provide educational opportunities to individuals aspiring for higher education and improved qualifications but were unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education because of personal and professional obligations. Most open universities use distance education technologies as delivery methods, though some require attendance at local study centers or at regional "summer schools". Some open universities have grown to become mega-universities . The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in

5159-600: Was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was Anastasios Christodoulou . The election of the new Conservative government under the leadership of Edward Heath , in 1970; led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense"). However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting

5236-595: Was approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Professional Regulation, Illinois State Board of Nursing. When the college closed, this program was on probation due to low first-time pass rates of the National Council Licensure Examination . 41°45′6.0″N 87°47′50.1″W  /  41.751667°N 87.797250°W  / 41.751667; -87.797250 Higher education accreditation in

5313-457: Was directed at for-profit institutions. An article published by "University World News" on 2 February 2018 stated that the higher education accreditation community, which confers the quality-assurance seal of approval that allows United States colleges and universities access to billions of dollars of federal student aid, must do a better job of explaining itself to the public if it wants to reverse waning public confidence in higher education. That

5390-450: Was due to sending out complete textbooks instead of single lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-person salesmen. There was a stark contrast in pedagogy: The regular technical school or college aims to educate a man broadly; our aim, on the contrary, is to educate him only along some particular line. The college demands that a student shall have certain educational qualifications to enter it and that all students study for approximately

5467-416: Was launched as the first fully online university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the US. Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance education courses increased rapidly almost every country in both developed and developing countries. Many private, public, non-profit , and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer distance education courses from the most basic instruction through to

5544-542: Was limited to students enrolled at accredited institutions included on a list of federally recognized accredited institutions published by the U.S. Commissioner of Education . The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) (a non-governmental organization ) both recognize reputable accrediting bodies for institutions of higher education and provide guidelines as well as resources and relevant data regarding these accreditors. Neither

5621-489: Was one of the tamer recommendations voiced at a conference for accreditors, who are feeling the brunt of growing scepticism about the value of a US college degree. Distance education Distance education , also known as distance learning , is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school , or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein

5698-449: Was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction. The element of student feedback was a crucial innovation in Pitman's system. The postage stamp made this scheme for remote education possible, and these efforts were scalable because of

5775-619: Was the Society to Encourage Studies at Home which was founded in 1873. Founded in 1894, Wolsey Hall, Oxford was the first distance-learning college in the UK. The University of London was the first university to offer degrees to anyone who could pass their examinations, establishing its External Programme in 1858. It had been established in 1836 as an examining and degree-awarding body for affiliated colleges, originally University College London and King's College London but with many others added over

5852-472: Was the most preferred by those students Concerns arose over the impact of this transition on students without access to an internet-enabled device or a stable internet connection. Distanced education during the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted synchronous learning for many students and teachers; where educators were no longer able to teach in real-time and could only switch to asynchronous instruction, this significantly and negatively affected their coping with

5929-432: Was the most used platform by students followed by Microsoft Teams and Zoom respectively. The less-used platforms included Blackboard Learn , Webex by Cisco , DingTalk , Tencent , and WhatsApp . However, the most preferred platforms by students were Microsoft Teams followed by Google Classroom and Zoom . Although Google Classroom was the most used by students as decided by their lectures,  Microsoft Teams

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