Editing Distance education (section)

=== Internet ===
{{Main|Virtual education}}The widespread use of computers and the [[Internet]] has made distance learning easier and faster, and today [[virtual school]]s and [[Virtual university|virtual universities]] deliver full curricula online.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Gold|first1 = Larry|last2 = Maitland|first2 = Christine|editor1-first = Ronald A.|editor1-last = Phipps|editor2-first = Jamie P.|editor2-last = Merisotis|title = What's the difference? A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education|url = https://books.google.com/books?ei=ldA7TcruEZG38gODpYykCA|access-date = 23 January 2011|year = 1999|publisher = Institute for Higher Education Policy|location = Washington, DC}}</ref>

The first online courses for graduate and undergraduate credit were offered in 1985 by [[Connected Education]] through [[The New School]] in New York City, with students earning the MA in Media Studies completely online via computer conferencing, with no in-person requirements.<ref name="T.H.E.">{{cite web|url=http://thejournal.com/Articles/1997/06/01/Technology-in-Education-and-the-Next-TwentyFive-Years.aspx|title=Technology in Education and the Next Twenty-Five Years|last=Withrow|first=Frank|date=June 1, 1997|work=T.H.E. Journal}}</ref><ref name="New Scientist">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14820045.300-carry-on-learning-learning-cyberspace.html | title=Carry on learning | author=Ray Percival | magazine=New Scientist |date=1995-11-28}}</ref><ref name="Netweaver">{{cite web | url=http://cgi.gjhost.com/~cgi/mt/netweaverarchive/000144.html | title=Connected Education, Inc. | author=Gail S. Thomas | work=Netweaver | publisher=Electronic Networking Association | date=1988-02-01 | accessdate=2008-08-25 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827214245/http://cgi.gjhost.com/~cgi/mt/netweaverarchive/000144.html | archivedate=2008-08-27 }}</ref> This was followed in 1986 by the [[University of Toronto]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tonybates.ca/2016/01/17/celebrating-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-first-fully-online-course/|title=Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first fully online course |last=Bates|first=Tony|website=www.tonybates.ca|date=18 January 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-12}}</ref> through the Graduate School of Education (then called OISE: the [[Ontario Institute for Studies in Education]]), offering a course in "Women and Computers in Education", dealing with gender issues and educational computing. The first new and fully online university was founded in 1994 as the [[Open University of Catalonia]], headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. In 1999 [[Jones International University]] was launched as the first fully online university [[Educational accreditation|accredited]] by a regional accrediting association in the US.<ref>{{cite web|title = Accreditation|url = http://www.jiu.edu/about-jiu/accreditation|publisher = Jones International University|location = US|access-date = 23 January 2011|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130421085153/http://www.jiu.edu/about-jiu/accreditation|archive-date = 21 April 2013}}</ref>

Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance education courses increased rapidly almost every country in both developed and developing countries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Walton Radford |first=Alexandria |title=Learning at a Distance: Undergraduate Enrollment in Distance Education Courses and Degree Programs |url=http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012154.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016140229/http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012154.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-16 |url-status=live |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics |access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> Many private, public, [[non-profit]], and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer distance education courses from the most basic instruction through to the highest levels of degree and doctoral programs. [[New York University]] and International University Canada, for example, offer [[online degree]]s in engineering and management-related fields through [[NYU Tandon Online]]. Levels of accreditation vary: widely respected universities such as Stanford University and Harvard now deliver online courses—but other online schools receive little outside oversight, and some are fraudulent, i.e., [[diploma mill]]s. In the US, the [[Distance Education Accrediting Commission]] (DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of distance education institutions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.deac.org/accred.html |title=Accreditation |publisher=DEAC |access-date=20 September 2016}}</ref>

In the United States in 2011, it was found that a third of all the students enrolled in postsecondary education had taken an accredited online course in a postsecondary institution.<ref name="Lederman2">{{cite news|last = Lederman|first = Doug |title = Growth for Online Learning |url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/08/survey-finds-online-enrollments-slow-continue-grow|access-date = 30 March 2013 |newspaper = InsideHigherEd|date = 8 January 2013}}</ref> Growth continued. In 2013 the majority of public and private colleges offered full academic programs online.<ref name="Lederman2" /> Programs included training in the [[mental health]],<ref name="Blackmore, C. 2007">Blackmore, C., van Deurzen, E., & Tantam, D. (2007). Therapy training online: Using the internet to widen access to training in mental health issues. In T. Stickley & T. Basset (Eds.) Teaching Mental Health (pgs. 337-352). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</ref> [[occupational therapy]],<ref name="Jedlicka, J. S. 20022">Jedlicka, J. S., Brown, S. W., Bunch, A. E., & Jaffe, L. E. (2002). A comparison of distance education instructional methods in occupational therapy. Journal of Allied Health, 31(4), 247-251.</ref><ref name="Stanton, S. 20012">Stanton, S. (2001). Going the distance; Developing shared web-based learning programmes. Occupational Therapy International, 8(2), 96-106.</ref> [[family therapy]],<ref name="Maggio, L. M. 20012">Maggio, L. M., Chenail, R., & Todd, T. (2001). Teaching family therapy in an electronic age. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 20(1), 13-23.</ref> [[art therapy]],<ref name="Orr, P. 20102">Orr, P. (2010). Distance supervision: Research, findings, and considerations for art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37, 106-111.</ref> [[physical therapy]],<ref name="Stanton, S. 20012" /> and [[rehabilitation counseling]]<ref name="Stebnicki, M. A. 20012">Stebnicki, M. A. & Glover, N. M. (2001). E-supervision as a complementary approach to traditional face-to-face clinical supervision in rehabilitation counseling: Problems and solutions. Rehabilitation Education, 15(3), 283-293.</ref> fields.

By 2008, online learning programs were available in the United States in 44 states at the K-12 level.<ref>Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula; Corwith, Susan. "Distance Education: Where It Started and Where It Stands for Gifted Children and Their Educators." Gifted Child Today, v. 34 issue 3, 2011, pp. 16–24,.</ref>

[[Internet forum]]s, online [[discussion group]]s, and [[online learning community]] can contribute to a distance education experience. Research shows that [[socialization]] plays an important role in some forms of distance education.<ref name="SRE4(13)2">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.09.199 |title=Alleviating the Senses of Isolation and Alienation in the Virtual World: Socialization in Distance Education |journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences |volume=93 |pages=332–7 |year=2013 |last1=Sazmandasfaranjan |first1=Yasha |last2=Shirzad |first2=Farzad |last3=Baradari |first3=Fatemeh |last4=Salimi |first4=Meysam |last5=Salehi |first5=Mehrdad |doi-access=free }}</ref>