Early theories of distance education

Abstract

The article analyzes the scientific approaches and presents an overview of early theories of distance education which highlight its essence. The aim of the article is to compare the early theories proposed by famous foreign scientists. These theories are the cores of modern distance learning theory The authors present the comparative analysis of these theories, provide components and their basic characteristics, positive and negative features. They include theories which emphasize independence and autonomy of a learner, industrialization of teaching, and interaction and communication. These early theories emphasize that distance education is a totally different form of education. While the are differences among these theories, they emphasize the separation of a student and a teacher in space and time, the wide use of media for communication between a teacher and a student.