Editing Distance education (section)

== History ==
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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holmberg |first1=Börje |title=The evolution, principles and practices of distance education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YTtdNQAACAAJ | access-date=2011-01-23 |series=Studien und Berichte der Arbeitsstelle Fernstudienforschung der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg [ASF] |volume= 11 |year=2005 |publisher= Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universitat Oldenburg |language=de |isbn=3-8142-0933-8 | page=13}}</ref>

The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir [[Isaac Pitman]] in the 1840s who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on [[postcard]]s and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction. The element of student feedback was a crucial innovation in Pitman's system.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/134/214|author=Alan Tait|publisher=The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning|title=Reflections on Student Support in Open and Distance Learning|journal=The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning|date=April 2003|volume=4|issue=1|doi=10.19173/irrodl.v4i1.134|doi-access=free}}</ref> The postage stamp<ref>{{cite web | url=https://le.ac.uk/social-worlds/all-articles/stamp | title=The stamp: A classic object in the development of education? &#124; Social Worlds in 100 Objects, Themes and Ideas }}</ref> made this scheme for remote education possible, and these efforts were scalable because of the introduction of [[Uniform Penny Post|uniform postage rates]] across [[England]] in 1840.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEax6VBfRscC|title=distance learning... a magazine for leaders volume 2 number 6|author=IAP|page=18|isbn=9787774554229}}</ref>

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.<ref name=MooreKearsley>{{cite book | last= Moore | first= Michael G. |author2=Greg Kearsley | year= 2005 | title= Distance Education: A Systems View | edition= 2nd | location= Belmont, CA | publisher= Wadsworth | isbn= 0-534-50688-7}}</ref>

The first correspondence school in the United States was the [[Society to Encourage Studies at Home]] which was founded in 1873.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Robinson|first=Cole, Elizabeth|date=2012|title=The Invisible Woman and the Silent University.|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED548106|journal=ProQuest LLC|isbn=9781267371676|language=en}}</ref>

Founded in 1894, [[Wolsey Hall, Oxford]] was the first distance-learning college in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/c3l/master/mde/download/asfvolume11_eBook.pdf |title=The Evolution, Principles and Practices of Distance Education, Borj Holmberg, Bibliotheks-und Informationssytem der Universitat Oldenburg 2005 page 15 |access-date=16 April 2020 |archive-date=29 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829155503/https://www.uni-oldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/c3l/master/mde/download/asfvolume11_eBook.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== University correspondence courses ===
====United Kingdom====
[[File:SomersetHousebyAnonpublAckermann&Co1836.jpg |thumb|[[Somerset House]], home of the University of London from 1837 to 1870]]
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 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.<ref name="External Programme History">{{cite web |url=http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/about_us/history.shtml |title="History", University of London External Programme Website |publisher=Londonexternal.ac.uk |date=15 July 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010}}</ref><ref name="Key Facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/about_us/facts.shtml |title="Key Facts", University of London External Programme Website |publisher=Londonexternal.ac.uk |date=15 July 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010}}</ref> Enrollment increased steadily during the late 19th century, and its example was widely copied elsewhere.<ref name="Guardian Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardianabroad.co.uk/education/article/283 |author=Tatum Anderson |title=History lessons at the people's university |date=16 May 2007 |publisher=Guardianabroad.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524102204/http://www.guardianabroad.co.uk/education/article/283 |archive-date=24 May 2007 |access-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/9023
|first= Vigneswari |last=Thanapal|title=The social mediation of multinational legal education: A case study of the University of London's undergraduate laws programme for external/international students|publisher=[[Queen Mary, University of London]]|date=January 2015|type=PhD|page=16}}</ref>

The External Programme is now known as the [[University of London Worldwide]], and includes postgraduate and undergraduate degrees created by member institutions of the University of London.<ref name="Key Facts" />

====Australia and South Africa====
The vast distances made Australia especially active; the [[University of Queensland]] established its Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/0158791820030207 |title=Distance education in Australian higher education – a history |journal=Distance Education |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=255–78 |year=2009 |last1=White |first1=Michael }}</ref>

[[File:Portrait of William Rainey Harper.jpg|thumb|[[William Rainey Harper]] encouraged the development of external university courses at the new University of Chicago in the 1890s.]]

====United States====
[[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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Rainey Harper |url=https://president.uchicago.edu/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=president.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref>

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 the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levinson |first1=David L |title=Community colleges: a reference handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrnPJcb7c54C |year= 2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn= 1-57607-766-7 |page=69 |access-date=2011-01-23}}</ref><ref>Von V. Pittman, ''Correspondence Study in the American University: A Second Historiographical Perspective,'' in Michael Grahame Moore, William G. Anderson, eds. ''Handbook of Distance Education'' pp 21-36</ref> 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 was due to sending out complete textbooks instead of single lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-person salesmen.<ref>Joseph F. Kett, ''Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties: From Self-Improvement to Adult Education in America'' (1996) pp 236-8</ref><ref>J.J. Clark, "The Correspondence School—Its Relation to Technical Education and Some of Its Results", ''Science'' (1906) 24#611 pp 327-8, 332, 333. Clark was manager of the school's text-book department.</ref> There was a stark contrast in pedagogy:

{{blockquote|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 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.<ref>Clark, "The Correspondence School" (1906) p 329</ref>}}

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 the [[YMCA]] school in Boston that became [[Northeastern University]]. Private correspondence schools outside of the major cities provided a flexible, focused solution.<ref>Kett, ''Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties,'' p 240</ref> 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 the nation in the 1880s. Starting in Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began opening free vocational program.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Millikan|title=A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor, 1903–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GseChEHIysAC&pg=PA60|year=2003|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|pages=60–61|isbn=978-0-87351-499-6}}</ref>

====International Conference====
The International Conference for Correspondence Education held its first meeting in 1938.<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Lee|title=Letters and bytes: Sociotechnical studies of distance education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_V7z998PlgC&pg=PA48|year=2009|publisher=Francis Lee|page=48|isbn=9789173935180}}</ref> The goal was to provide individualized education for students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of testing, recording, classification, and differentiation.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/07341510801900318 |title=Technopedagogies of mass-individualization: Correspondence education in the mid twentieth century |journal=History and Technology |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=239–53 |year=2008 |last1=Lee |first1=Francis |s2cid=144728618 }}</ref><ref>Ellen L. Bunker, "The History of Distance Education through the Eyes of the International Council for Distance Education", in Michael Grahame Moore, William G. Anderson, eds. ''Handbook of Distance Education'' pp 49-66</ref> Since then, the group has changed its name to the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), with its main office in Oslo, Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.icde.org/who-we-are|title=Who we are|website=International Council For Open And Distance Education |date=August 17, 2018 |access-date=2019-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325213612/https://www.icde.org/who-we-are|archive-date=25 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Open universities ===
{{Main|Open university}}
The [[Open University]] (OU) in the United Kingdom was founded by the then [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government led by [[Harold Wilson]]. Based on the vision of [[Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington|Michael Young]], planning commenced in 1965 under the [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills|Minister of State for Education]], [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge|Jennie Lee]], who established a model for the Open University as one of widening access to 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 (broadcaster)|James Redmond]], had obtained most of his qualifications at [[wikt:night school|night school]], and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programs.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Walton Hall Pen&Ink.jpg|thumb|[[Walton Hall, Milton Keynes|Walton Hall]], renovated in 1970 to act as the headquarters of the newly established [[Open University]] (artist: Hilary French)]]
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<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Distance Education|author=Bizhan Nasseh|url=http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html |website=SeniorNet |access-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728165252/http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. [[Walter Perry]] was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was [[Anastasios Christodoulou]]. The election of the new [[Conservative Party (UK)|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").<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the OU |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/p3.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717081233/http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/p3.shtml |archive-date=Jul 17, 2010 |website=The Open University}}</ref> However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History|url=http://www.openuniversity.edu/why-the-ou/quality/history|access-date=2020-08-25|website=The Open University|language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919061453/http://www.openuniversity.edu/why-the-ou/quality/history |archive-date= Sep 19, 2020 }}</ref>

[[Athabasca University]], Canada's open university, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern.<ref name="byrne">{{cite book | last =Byrne | first =T. C. | author-link =Tim Byrne | title =Athabasca University The Evolution of Distance Education | publisher = University of Calgary Press | year= 1989 |location = Calgary, Alberta | page = 135| isbn = 0-919813-51-8}}</ref> The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's [[National University of Distance Education]] (1972)<ref>{{cite web |title= History of UNED (in Spanish) | location=ES | access-date=2012-01-26| url= http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,499271,93_20500119&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL }}</ref> and Germany's [[University of Hagen|FernUniversität in Hagen]] (1974).<ref>{{cite web |title= Three Decades |url= http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/english/profile/3decades/learning.shtml |publisher= FernUniversität in Hage |location= UK |access-date= 2011-01-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101123042944/http://fernuni-hagen.de/english/profile/3decades/learning.shtml |archive-date= 23 November 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref> There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name "Open University" (in [[English language|English]] or in the local language).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=13.2 History of distance education |date=August 3, 2001 |url=http://members.aect.org/edtech/ed1/13/13-02.html|access-date=2020-08-25|website= The Association for Educational Communications and Technology }}</ref>

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''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Daniel | first1 = John S |title= Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy3nDKphDAkC | access-date=2011-01-23 |year=1998 | publisher= Routledge | isbn= 0-7494-2634-9}}</ref>

===COVID-19 pandemic===
{{multiple image
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| header            = Distance lessons over video conferences in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic ...
| image1            = Урок математики во время пандемии COVID-19 (cropped squared).png
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| caption1          = ... in Russia
| image2            = A chemistry distance lesson during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy (cropped squared).jpg
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| caption2          = ... in Italy
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}}

{{Further|Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education}}
[[File:8938Filipino_homeschooling_students_01.jpg|thumb|150px|right| Filipino homeschooling students – blended (printed-digital modular) distance learning with self-learning materials during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in [[San Miguel, Bulacan]]]]
The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] resulted in the closure of the vast majority of schools worldwide for in-person learning.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Arandas |first1=Mohammed Fadel |last2=Salman |first2=Ali |last3=Idid |first3=Syed Arabi |last4=Loh |first4=Yoke Ling |last5=Nazir |first5=Syaira |last6=Ker |first6=Yuek Li |date=2024 |title=The influence of online distance learning and digital skills on digital literacy among university students post Covid-19. |url=https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle/vol16/iss1/6 |journal=Journal of Media Literacy Education |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=79–93 |doi=10.23860/JMLE-2024-16-1-6 |issn=2167-8715}}</ref><ref name="Template_UNESCO-closures">{{Cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse |title=School closures caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19) |website=UNESCO |language=en|access-date=2021-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.unesco.org/news/290-million-students-out-school-due-covid-19-unesco-releases-first-global-numbers-and-mobilizes |title=290 million students out of school due to COVID-19: UNESCO releases first global numbers and mobilizes response |date=4 March 2020 |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref>   COVID-19 increased the value of distance education although its policies were implemented and formulated among several universities much earlier.<ref name=":4" />  Many schools moved to online remote learning through platforms including—but not limited to—[[Zoom (software)|Zoom]], [[Blackboard Inc.|Blackboard]], [[Cisco Webex]], [[Google Classroom]], [[Google Meet]], [[Microsoft Teams]], [[D2L]], and [[Edgenuity]].<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poconorecord.com/lifestyle/20200501/virtual-learning-gets-mixed-reviews-from-pocono-parents|title=Virtual learning gets mixed reviews from Pocono parents|date=2020-05-01|last=Hood|first=Micaela|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507160538/https://www.poconorecord.com/lifestyle/20200501/virtual-learning-gets-mixed-reviews-from-pocono-parents|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/georgia-school-districts-digital-learning-grants-atlanta/85-3a783e3c-2642-44e9-8fa6-090012604481|title=Georgia awards $21 million in digital learning grants|date=2020-04-28|last=Raymond|first=Jonathon}}</ref> A recent study showed that Google Classroom 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 Video|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 was the most preferred by those students.<ref name=":4" />

Concerns arose over the impact of this transition on students without access to an internet-enabled device or a stable internet connection.<ref name="Aristovnik et al. 2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Aristovnik A, Keržič D, Ravšelj D, Tomaževič N, Umek L|title = Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Life of Higher Education Students: A Global Perspective| journal = Sustainability | volume = 12 | issue = 20 | pages = 8438 | date = October 2020 | doi=10.3390/su12208438| doi-access = free | bibcode=2020Sust...12.8438A }}</ref> 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 the transition, and posed various legal issues, especially in terms of copyright.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1007/s12115-021-00584-w|title = The Right to Teach in a Hyper-Digital Age: Legal Protections for (Post-)Pandemic Concerns|year = 2021|last1 = Deflem|first1 = Mathieu|journal = Society|volume = 58|issue = 3|pages = 204–212|pmid = 34075264|pmc = 8161721}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Al-Tkhayneh |first1=Khawlah M. |last2=Altakhaineh |first2=Abdel Rahman Mitib |last3=Nser |first3=Khaled Khamis |date=2023-01-01 |title=The impact of the physical environment on the quality of distance education |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-09-2022-0163 |journal=Quality Assurance in Education |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=504–519 |doi=10.1108/QAE-09-2022-0163 |issn=0968-4883|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The shift away from real-time instruction to asynchronous learning modes has posed significant challenges, impacting both the teaching and learning experience.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=James |first1=Trixie |last2=Toth |first2=Gabriela |last3=Tomlins |first3=Melissa |last4=Kumar |first4=Brijesh |last5=Bond |first5=Kerry |date=2021-11-02 |title=Digital Disruption in the COVID-19 Era: The Impact on Learning and Students' Ability to Cope with Study in an Unknown World |url=https://studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view |journal=Student Success |language=en |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=84–95 |doi=10.5204/ssj.1784 |issn=2205-0795}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mezei |first=Péter |date=2023-06-30 |title=Digital Higher Education and Copyright Law in the Age of Pandemic - The Hungarian Experience |url=http://www.jipitec.eu/issues/jipitec-14-2-2023/5744 |journal=Jipitec |volume=14 |issue=2 |issn=2190-3387}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":4" />

A recent study about the benefits and drawbacks of online learning found that students have had a harder time producing their own work.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal|last1=Mukhtar|first1=Khadijah|last2=Javed|first2=Kainat|last3=Arooj|first3=Mahwish|last4=Sethi|first4=Ahsan|date=May 2020|title=Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic era|journal=Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences|volume=36|issue=COVID19–S4|pages=S27–S31|doi=10.12669/pjms.36.COVID19-S4.2785|issn=1682-024X|pmc=7306967|pmid=32582310}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Hew |first1=Khe Foon |last2=Jia |first2=Chengyuan |last3=Gonda |first3=Donn Emmanuel |last4=Bai |first4=Shurui |date=2020-12-21 |title=Transitioning to the "new normal" of learning in unpredictable times: pedagogical practices and learning performance in fully online flipped classrooms |journal=International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=57 |doi=10.1186/s41239-020-00234-x |issn=2365-9440 |pmc=7750097 |pmid=34778516 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Web conferencing]] has become more popular since 2007.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bower |first=Matt |date=2011-05-01 |title=Synchronous collaboration competencies in web-conferencing environments – their impact on the learning process |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2011.565502 |journal=Distance Education |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=63–83 |doi=10.1080/01587919.2011.565502 |s2cid=17247273 |issn=0158-7919|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Researchers have found that people in [[online classes]] perform just as effectively as participants in conventional learning classes.<ref name=":1" /> The use of online learning is becoming a pathway for learners with sparse access to physical courses so they can complete their degrees.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Veletsianos |first=George |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1145122616 |title=Learning online : the student experience |date=2020 |others=Johns Hopkins University. Press |isbn=978-1-4214-3810-8 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |oclc=1145122616}}</ref> Furthermore, digital classroom technologies allow those living remotely to access learning, and it enables the student to fit learning into their schedule more easily.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning {{!}} University of Illinois Springfield |url=https://www.uis.edu/ion/resources/tutorials/overview/strengths-weaknesses |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=www.uis.edu |language=en}}</ref>