The History of Distance Learning: When It Began and How It Evolved
Explore the origins of distance learning from 1840 correspondence courses to modern MOOCs, covering key milestones, technology shifts, and lasting impacts.
Distance Education Beginnings: How Online Learning Started in India
When you think of distance education beginnings, the early systems that allowed students to learn without being physically present in a classroom. Also known as correspondence education, it started long before Wi-Fi or video lectures — with mailed books, postal exams, and radio broadcasts. In India, this movement took root in the 1960s, when the government realized millions of students couldn’t reach traditional colleges due to geography, cost, or work commitments. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest open university in the world, established in 1985 became the backbone of this system, offering degrees to factory workers, farmers, and stay-at-home parents who wanted to study on their own time.
Before IGNOU, there were smaller experiments. The University of Delhi started correspondence courses in the 1940s. The Udaipur-based Distance Education Council, a precursor to today’s distance learning regulators, helped standardize materials and exams across states. These weren’t fancy platforms — no Google Classroom, no Zoom. Students waited weeks for answer sheets to be returned. But for many, it was the only path to a degree. The open university model, a system designed to remove barriers to education didn’t just offer courses — it offered second chances.
Today, those early efforts laid the groundwork for everything from YouTube study channels to AI-powered learning apps. The same people who once mailed in assignments now take MOOCs on their phones. The core idea hasn’t changed: education should reach you, not the other way around. What started as handwritten notes in envelopes is now a multi-billion dollar sector. And if you’re wondering why so many Indian students now choose flexible learning paths — it’s because the distance education beginnings made it possible.
Below, you’ll find real stories and practical guides on how online learning works today — from the tools students use to the degrees that actually matter. Whether you’re looking at IGNOU, a private online college, or a free course that changed someone’s career, these posts show how far we’ve come since the first postal degree.