In the history of distance learning in Italy a crucial time is represented by the pre-history. After the mail-based learning an excursus relative to the second phase of distance learning in Italy corresponds to the development of radio and television and their pedagogical use to defeat the invasive illiteracy. Radio rurale, the first experiment of…

Higher education today is no longer what it once was. Once upon a time, students only had the option to attend classes in person. The first shift from this format happened when students began taking classes through correspondence, where materials were physically mailed out. Later, as technology increased, a new format led to students being able to…

Distance education across all levels of education is growing at a rapid rate. As institutions and governments attempt to guide distance education, working definitions and their meanings conflict. Perhaps this is in part because administrators and practitioners are working from definitions that are decades-old. This paper suggests new definitions…

Over the last 30 years, there has been a giant leap in methods of educating beyond the traditional classroom extending from recorded lectures on VCR tapes to synchronous learning modalities. This article will review the history of distance education, the strengths and limitations of online learning, as well as discuss the integration of Blackboard…

Surprisingly, distance education is quite an old concept. Its origins date back to the first correspondence-based course, which took place via the postal service in Boston, USA, in the 18th century. Rapid technological developments, especially in video and audio streaming, have increased the availability of such courses and moved learning into the…

Online education is no longer a trend. Rather, it is mainstream. In the fall of 2012, 69% of chief academic leaders indicated online learning was critical to their longterm strategy and of the 20.6 million students enrolled in higher education, 6.7 million were enrolled in an online course (Allen & Seaman, 2013; United States Department of…

The collection of chapters in this special book examines educational practices during the COVID-19 viral outbreak. This special book brings together a variety of studies and scholars in an effort to exemplify how the COVID-19 shapes the learning and teaching processes in different countries. The twelve chapters selected for this special book…

The collection of chapters in this special book examines educational practices during the COVID-19 viral outbreak. This special book brings together a variety of studies and scholars in an effort to exemplify how the COVID-19 shapes the learning and teaching processes in different countries. The twelve chapters selected for this special book…

Distance education strategies for remotely deployed, highly mobile, or institutionalized populations are reviewed and critiqued. Specifically, asynchronous, offline responses for special military units, Native Americans on remote reservations, prison populations and other geographically, temporally or technologically isolated niche populations are…

For most of the 20th century, innovators promoted the use of technology to improve learning in schools. As Larry Cuban noted in "Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920" (1986), there has been no end to promises of how motion pictures, radio, and television would transform the learning process. In each case,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it provides an overview of the demand, capacity and challenges of teacher education in China. Second, it highlights the significant contributions of China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) to teacher education in the last three decades. Finally, it discusses challenges and issues for…

This paper highlights the problems facing the establishment, development, management and utilization of instructional television (ITV) in higher institutions in Nigeria. The paper also discusses chronicle of activities and achievements made at Obafemi Awolowo University, lle-lfe in the effort at revamping the television system. Obafemi Awolowo…