Correspondence learning is a method of education conducted over distances, between teacher and student, in which the two parties do not need to be in a classroom setting. Correspondence study is achieved through the use of printed, visual or vocal material that provides information for the student to digest. Testing the understanding of the material is conducted in similar fashion. After completion of a predetermined time frame or number of sections, students who have passed all course requirements are sent a diploma stating their achievement.
Correspondence study traces its roots back to the mid-19th century. According to the University of Florida, correspondence education started in Great Britain, France and Germany; it then spread to the United States. Early students consisted of disabled persons, women, people living in remote areas and people who could not attend normal classes because of jobs, according to the California Distance Learning Project.
Many methods have been used to deliver information. The earliest method used in correspondence study was postal delivery. During the 1930s, experiments using radio as a method of education were tried but deemed a failure, thus halting this form of correspondence learning. The U.S. military discovered that early television transmissions were an effective tool to enhance recruit training prior to World War II. The role of television in distance learning increased during the 1950s, with the sharing of films and coordinated scheduling between education programs.
The Midwest Program on Airborne Television, funded by the Ford Foundation, was started in the 1950s near Purdue University, according to the University of Maryland. This allowed educational programs to be broadcast to nearly 2,000 schools within Indiana and surrounding states. Other universities, including Ohio University, University of Texas and University of Maryland began creating similar networks. As enthusiasm waned for these networks and technology advanced, closed-circuit television became the new medium of delivery in the 1970s. The use of the Internet and computers made correspondence study available to the widest audience thus far.
There were many believers in the use of distance learning to educate people. Sir Isaac Pitman taught shorthand via postal mail in 1840. In 1873, Anna Ticknow started a society offering education to women at home. Thomas J. Foster began a home-study school during the 1880s to teach mine safety; this school would eventually become International Correspondence School, which was one of the first internationally recognized schools for distance learning.
Today, correspondence study is conducted through a combination of methods. Postal mail is still utilized in various ways, with students sending material through the mail. Students also receive course material via postal mail to use in conjunction with lectures, assignments and tests provided online. Internet access allows better monitoring of testing and student progress. Virtual classrooms have become more common, as closed-circuit television and online access have combined to provide students the opportunity to sit in on classes without needing to be there physically.