The History of E-Learning
The history of e-learning began in the early 1920s and it progressed throughout the years bringing us today into a
worldwide pandemic that forced everyone to look past traditional learning and rethink the way we learn and teach.
E-Learning began with the first “Automatic Teacher” which was invented by Sidney Pressey from Ohio State
University in 1924. It resembled a typewriter and presented the students with four MCQs and a counter on the back.
The lever on the machine would not allow a new question to be shown until the student figured out the correct
answer. It would also record the number of tries. Pressey’s invention was followed by B.F Skinner invented another
"Teaching Machine" for self-testing and self-learning among students.
In 1960, the first CBT, PLATO which stands for Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations was
invented. It used a main-frame-based system " to deliver cost-effective, computer-assisted instruction". It used a
special language called TUTOR to write educational software. It included the earliest forms of emails, threads, and
online assessments. Soon after in 1966, C.A.I (computer-assisted instruction) was used to teach math and reading to
elementary school kids by Patrick Suppes and Richard Atkinson. It had been the first-time computers were involved
in teaching in elementary schools. Bernard Luskin worked with Stanford engineers to bring computer-based
teaching methods to more schools.
In 1969&1970 Computer mouse & G.U.I were invented and made it easier for people to use computers in their
homes with ease and the ARPANET Heralds wide area network eliminated the issue of geographical limitations and
paved the way for modern-day e-learning. In 1976, the CICERO Program offered online courses for student credit
and a cyclops whiteboard system which allowed a limited form of teleconferencing. It became the google talks of
that age.
In 1980, The first "Apple: Mac" mackintosh 128K was introduced and allowed people to own PCs at home. As the
2000s began Business Adopted e-Learning to train employees. It became easy for employers to train new employees
and refresh the skills of older ones rather than holding workshops and presentations. All the material would be
available on the internal intranet for the employees.
This led to the formation of the biggest social online learning platform amongst many others. In 2010, "Udemy" the
world's largest online course website was made. Over 57,000 teachers give online courses to more than 50 million
students around the world in 65+ languages.
Unfortunately, as the pandemic began in 2020 it forced everyone to adapt to online learning 2020. During
lockdowns parents and teachers were forced to consider online learning during the pandemic.