Valdez_Teresa_History of Virtual Learning Environments:In a Nutshell

In order to explore the history of virtual learning environments, one must also explore the history of education and the history of computers. This is a broad topic that encompasses many different areas. The two Wikipedia articles were long, they probably missed out on some key developments, but so is the nature of Wikipedia. The article begins with 1728, but it could conceivably go back even further, to pre-historic times when humans first began to pass information on to future generations, or when writing systems were first developed. Or it could start when formalized education first began. Likewise, the history of modern computing could be traced back to the very first mathematicians. Where the history of any topic begins can be somewhat arbitrary.

Xerox PARC does seem to have had a great influence on the history of modern computing, as it seems to be the first time that users were able to interact efficiently with computers. Prior to the development of the graphic user interface, computers were not easily accessed by the general public. If not for this development, it would not have been feasible for many learners to use computers for education, as more time would have been spent up front in learning how to simply operate the computers.

There were many events throughout the 1980s that influenced the development of virtual learning environments, but the key was that people were becoming more excited about the idea of using computers in education and more willing to experiment. The 1980s was a time when schools were willing to try out a variety of new ideas, but they were all so different that it would be hard to pinpoint which was really the most important.

Distance learning and correspondence courses have been popular for many years. Although this article does not address it, it must have been popular to take courses by mail at least in the early twentieth century when the postal service became more widespread, there are references to correspondence learning in popular fiction of the time. In the book Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, originally published in 1908, Anne mentions taking college courses through correspondence. Of course, with advances in technology and improvements in communication, the ease and popularity of distance learning programs has risen continuously since then.