Online Education History

Internet has provided us with many wonderful gifts – from video games to music and a lot more. Today, we can get all the information in the world with the help of internet. The online education or e-learning is the latest addition which internet has brought in front of us. These virtual classrooms on the internet have opened plenty of opportunities for students around the world.

There is absolutely no doubt that e-learning has given new incentive and hope to learn. However, you must be surprised to know that the concept of e-learning started in the early 1980’s. During that time educational institutes and companies hired qualified instructors for training their students. It proved quite expensive but there was not much option left as computers were still at a nascent stage. But the mode of instruction proved great as it allowed hands on training. The fact that students could see the lessons and interact with other pupils made it all the more special. However, the factor of ‘blank time’ proved as a real problem for the students in the 80’s. These students were unable to study the materials on their leisure time.

Fortunately, with the growth of computer industry things started to look a lot brighter. E-training and e-learning soon became a reality. Multimedia was the next big thing! Companies started to utilize PowerPoint slide shows; a program which made people to produce creative presentations. This sophisticated technology gave new dimension to e-learning.

The first serious form of any online education in the world was experienced during 1990’s. It was the time when both multimedia and internet were at their prime. E-learning companies at that time devoted their services primarily to businesses which were not that keen to hire professional trainers. The online form of education and training proved a great success for the new employees. The training provided them the foundation and at the same time prepared them for the upcoming challenges. However, the growth of education online moved at an extremely slow pace. This was mainly because of text based course content. In the absence of charts, diagrams, and pictures, learning became boring and dull. Nevertheless, the concept still managed to generate a good amount of interest among the people. The positive response gave birth to fresh online course content. And soon upgraded online study materials were available for various courses. The growth continued slowly and steadily for a good period of time and nowadays you can even do an online MBA from the comfort of your home.

The UK universities have given a whole new dimension to the concept of online MBA . Moreover, the value provided by their course content has been recognized by the professionals all over the world. Their management courses are designed and tailor made keeping in mind the practical aspect of learning. Students find learning fun and easy in the presence of virtual campus and online chat sessions. They also get the opportunity to solve all their doubts and queries with the help of various online tools.