Three facts (and then some)

I did not know distance learning was 150 years old.

I did not know that correspondence education has been studied as a topic for historiography. In a way, however, all higher education falls into this category. In graduate studies, even in-person instructors meet students to discuss what was learned at a distance. The learning takes place at a distance, only the processing or debriefing takes place with an instructor. So, in a sense, distance learning is as old as the institution of education through written language, which dates back to the Athenians of 500+ B.C.E.
“There is no ‘statistically significant difference’ between the effectiveness of distance and face-to-face instruction.” Hmm—well I would need to see just exactly how “effectiveness” is measured.

W.W. Charters considers radio to be educational if it, “raises the standards of taste, increases the range of valuable information, or stimulates the audience to undertake worthwhile activities.” I can agree that education, when defined this way, can be effective via distance, however, I am not convinced the full surrendering of one to their study is possible when at a distance and not emerged in the undertaking of very specific learning.
I never thought of ETV in the 1950s as the birth of educational technology. I am astounded at the growing rate of distance learning in K-12. Some of the best times in my life were school-related and I can’t imagine what the social repercussions of distance learning for K-12 is.

I didn’t realize that proponents of distance learning were trying to cause a “revolution” in education the way there was one in the business world of 1997. While there is tremendous value to distance learning, there would be a sadness in the desocialization of education, although I realize that isn’t education’s purpose.

I didn't think about the fact that most distance learning follows the traditional agrarian calendar of the school year. This does seem unnecessary but as yet has not been altered.

E-learning refers not just to online learning, but also to radio and television because the "e" stands for "electronic."

My role in distance learning is in instructional systems.