WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONLINE LEARNING AND DISTANCE LEARNING?
In today’s digital era, terms such as ‘online learning’ and ‘distance learning’ have become prevalent, with their meanings often used interchangeably.
In today’s digital era, terms such as ‘online learning’ and ‘distance learning’ have become prevalent, with their meanings often used interchangeably. While both options offer a great deal of flexibility to its learner, there are some noteworthy differences between the two, and this article will help differentiate between them. Distance Learning Distance learning or Distance education is a term used to refer to students who do not have to be physically present at a school, college or university in order to attain an education. Its origins are college correspondence courses whereby education materials were posted to the student, with the majority – if not all – of the course learnt through a postal correspondence between the student and the educational institution. For the history buffs, the first modern day correspondence course was shorthand taught over postcards, an initiative in the 1840’s run by Sir Issac Pitman. Today, distance learning is frequently used as a catch-all term to refer to online learning despite differences between the two.