The Origins of the Term Distance Education and the Roots of Digital Teaching and Learning

Olaf Zawacki-Richter

doi:10.21432/cjlt28662

Authors

Olaf Zawacki-Richter University of Oldenburg, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1482-8303

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21432/cjlt28662

Keywords:

digital teaching and learning, online learning, open and distance learning, distance education

Abstract

By no means is the digitalization of learning and teaching a new phenomenon (cf. Inglis, et al., 1999). Since the 1960s and 70s, open and distance teaching universities have spearheaded new and emerging technologies to bridge the distance between students and teachers. Since the turn of the millennium, online learning has spread worldwide, particularly in countries with a long tradition of distance education (e.g., Canada, Australia, India, or South Africa, see Qayyum & Zawacki-Richter, 2018; Zawacki-Richter & Qayyum, 2018). Online study programs have also been increasingly established at campus-based universities. In 1999, Alan Tait observed that the boundaries between distance teaching and conventional campus-based universities were blurring: "The secret garden of open and distance learning has become public, and many institutions are moving from single conventional mode activity to dual mode activity" (Tait, 1999, p. 141).

Author Biography

Olaf Zawacki-Richter, University of Oldenburg, Germany

Olaf Zawacki-Richter is a professor of educational technology at the University of Oldenburg in Germany. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences and Director of the Center for Open Education Research (COER). Olaf has over 25 years of professional experience in the field of open, distance, and digital education. He has also served as a consultant and advisor, including work for the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag, and the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat). Dr. Zawacki-Richter has authored over 150 journal articles and edited several books, including the Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education, Online Distance Education – Towards a Research Agenda, Systematic Reviews in Educational Research, Open and Distance Education in Australia, Europe, and the Americas: National Perspectives in a Digital Age (Vol. 1), and Open and Distance Education in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East: National Perspectives in a Digital Age (Vol. 2) – all published open access. He is an Associate Editor of the Online Learning Journal (OLJ) and a member of the editorial board of the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL), Open Learning, and the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE). His publications are available on ResearchGate and GoogleScholar.

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