Business, Prosperity and Self Directed Education (A)

Way back in the 1830s, the world found itself in the predicament of having more technology than techies - if you can believe that.  The new industrial revolutionaries had underestimated the number of trained hands they would need to maintain, repair and manage the new “toys” of industry.
 
But serendipity came to the rescue.  An idea the English educator Sir Isaac Pitman began using to teach shorthand, a method used to fill a shortage of office workers, became an important component in solving the era’s shortage of technical workers.  The magic wand?  Correspondence courses.  Distance learning 1840s style!  
 
The movement grew out of off-campus lectures given by the Scottish educator James Stuart of the University of Cambridge in England, and expanded to the United States at Illinois Wesleyan University, which began a successful home-study program in 1870.  In 1883, a “Correspondence University” was established in Ithaca , New York .  Also during this time, the Chautauqua Institution's seminal academic William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in promoting lifelong learning and establishing distance training programs, developed a correspondence program in New York.  He continued the method at the newly established University of Chicago, where he became its first president in 1891.  In the 1880s, Thomas J. Foster started home-study courses in mining safety using a newspaper to reach his students.  The enterprise eventually became the International Correspondence Schools.
 
A number of other measures and organizations further deployed the new distance education.  There was the United States Co-operative Agricultural Extension Act (Smith-Lever Act) in 1914, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) at Madison, Wisconsin in 1915 and, in 1926, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC, formerly known as the National Home Study Council) was established.  Among federal programs, the largest is the U.S. Air Force Institute for Advanced Distributed Learning, which offers some 350 correspondence, online, and broadcast programs to more than 300,000 Air Force members.  The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps also offer DETC-accredited instruction in military skills. 
 
More than 100 million Americans have enrolled in correspondence courses since the 19th century. 
 
The options for distance learning are diverse and extensive.  Home study courses are available in fields such as Bookkeeping, Writing, Art Studies, Business Management, Child Care, Web Design, Airline Training, Counseling, Event Management, Wedding Planning, Nail Manicure, Animal Care, Diet & Exercise, Forensic Science and How to Start Your Own Business.  In the mid-1960's, the launch of what was then the largest classroom for physicians was set up through telephone networks in Wisconsin .
 
One study dedicated to distance learning (Connick, 1999; Schwitzer, Ancis, & Brown, 2001) found that this type of education not only works, but has a dynamic market at its disposal:
 
"The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived need for career planning and placement services by distance education program administrators and to explore what services are currently offered at four online degree-granting institutions in the United States.  The researcher assumed that distance learners are perceived to be grounded in an occupation or career path, and that they are involved in distance education for professional development.  While this may be true for some distance learners, it has been noted that many enroll in courses in an attempt to make a significant career change and/or advancement".
 
In 2006, a report by the Sloan Consortium, an organization devoted to elevating the status of online education to that of four-year institutions, stipulated that almost all of the largest colleges and universities in America were offering online distance learning courses. "Well over 3 million students also took these courses during the previous year. These figures show an obvious rise in new interest by the general public in distance education, a trend that most schools around the world are beginning to tap into".
 
Whether to improve their lives, increase their job prospects, or simply to study their hobbies, distance learning facilitated the educational needs of our ancestors by the tens of millions, allowing them to study at their own pace in the comfort of their own homes.  The method played an important role in increasing the literacy rate in the U.S. to the tune of 97% in 1903.  There was no debate over the credibility of distance learning to effectively teach people to read, write and spell.  In fact, some states did not allow you to attend kindergarten if you weren’t able to read at the time of enrollment.  Today, just about one third to one half of U.S. adults have some trouble with reading, writing, spelling and reading comprehension.  You've seen the stats.
 
It is not a stretch to argue that distance learning may be the perfect large scale tool used to replace all the retraining that is necessary - and costly - in today’s world.  This includes basics such as reading, writing and spelling skills, all three of which can be learned at a time and place that fits the demands of various lifestyles.  In the near future, you will readily be able – even expected - to handle that reading, writing or spelling problem first and then choose what you want to create for the world.  A distance learning course like the Literacy Pod http://literacypod.com is sure to play a pivotal role in making the realization of this goal a reality.
 
Given the crises of global markets, retraining as fast as possible can be the greatest way to succeed.  By training from a location dictated by the priorities in your life, you can enjoy the freedom of studying on your own time and at your own pace.  Huge benefits are there to be had for the workplace and home -lifestyle-friendly education. 
 
First, handle that pesky literacy situation.