The first time I remember being really excited about a technological advance in education was during my junior year of college. The University of Florida allowed you to register for sections of certain classes that you could watch on television at home. I had no idea that televised classes would be considered an advance in the history of VLE’s. The ability to watch a class at home when it was convenient to me was very exciting. I would record the classes at their scheduled time on a VHS tape! Then I would watch them and re-watch them at my convenience. The material was difficult for me to master, so I would rewind the class to make sure I had gotten it all down in my notes.
When reading the Wiki, I was very surprised to find out the the first college classes to be televised began in 1953. The University of Houston was the first to offer these classes. Other colleges, like the University of Chicago and Stanford University, soon followed suit. Some of the colleges offering televised classes used public stations, while others used stations dedicated to the University.
Although televised classes may seem like a primitive form of a VLE at this point, I was very appreciative of the convenience this form of VLE offered. When I think about my students, televisions are still the most common outlet that I could reach my students through; however, I do think it is time to move on. VLE’s like Second Life, podcasts, and other online outlets have become somewhat of the norm. Using these new (not really), VLE’s allow us to give students a better opportunity to have an individualized education plan. It is now my obligation to go from student to educator and push myself out of my comfort zone in order to teach my students that are part of the digital age.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments
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