In 1913, Thomas Edison proclaimed that film would change school

[ryoder]

In 1913, Thomas Edison proclaimed that, due to the invention of film, "Our school system will be completely changed in the next ten years" (Saettler, 1968, p. 68).
The History of Distance Education

Did this happen?? Or is the Internet allowing this shift to occur?

[Lyanne]

That's so cool. I'd like to think that it was Thomas Edison's comment that caused the founders of TESC to name their college after him, because of their focus on distance learning, and not just because he's one of New Jersey's famous minds.
I love finding out stuff like that. Just recently I found out, while studying for English Lit, that The Doors took their name from "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" by William Blake. “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is - infinite”.

But back to your article, I definitely think it's the internet that is allowing the shift to occur, simply because of the nature of it. It is so much easier to do a quick internet search for whatever audio/visual aides you desire, than to access them through other forms. (VHS, DVD, movie reels) Then you have to have the specialized equipment to play them on. I guess Thomas Edison underestimated bureaucracy, thinking it would "completely change" in 10 years.

[ryoder]

Yes he underestimated interest groups like teachers unions that are loathe to change from the established model. I wrote a paper in 9th grade English criticizing teachers for practicing 19th century teaching techniques. My teacher wasn't very happy with the paper and said that I should research 19th century teaching techniques. I think I should have said 1st century techniques because the lecture is really an old form of teaching.

[dcan]

Thought you might find this interesting. In the Air Force our enlisted PME (Professional Military Education) is mandatory in-residence leadership training at three different phases in your career: about 4 years in (Airman Leadership School, ALS), about 10 years in (NCO Academy), and about 16 years in (Senior NCO Academy). ALS is at almost every base, but NCO Academy requires people to travel from home base to regional academies. There is only one SNCO Academy in the entire Air Force, in Alabama. Courses at each level run roughly six weeks give-or-take a bit. There are roughly 230,000 enlisted in the Air Force according to the last numbers I saw. That's a hell of a lot of people flying around for education. And this doesn't even begin to take into account mid-career technical upgrade training -- this is ONLY leadership training.

Because of the costs involved and the capabilities available, there is very serious discussion now of completely revamping the training methodology and going to a blended format -- online core curriculum for a few weeks on your own, followed by a 1-2 week "in-residence" at your local base. A couple of instructors could come to your base every few months instead of you flying to them. Officers are already doing work with blackboard for some work. A coworker of mine is taking an optional course from Air University on cultural communication to fill a block for his CCAF degree, and it's essentially the same as taking a TESC online course, complete with online discussions.

Things are going to become very interesting very soon. E-learning is driving the bus big-time and we are going to re-structure how the entire Air Force approaches leadership training as a result.