British Distance Learning - A Historic Perception

The concept of ”Distant Learning” has been in vogue since the dawn of the present century. However, due to infrastructural constraints the application of this learning method had remained dormant till recent times. The British maritime travelers, inquisitive by nature, moved around the globe acquiring knowledge of the different continents and passed on the details by word of mouth and notes in writing to their home land from time to time. The scholars in the country researched upon the valuable information so received to enrich the knowledge base of the society at large. This process of transmitting knowledge from distant places was necessitated due to the fact that the travelers used to return to home land invariably after years together. The transportation and communication systems improved by leaps and bounds over a period of time. As a result the distance learning system also underwent exponential transformation. Since the British people were dominantly in this field assimilating and disseminating their knowledge base they spontaneously became a force to be reckoned with in distance learning. There are a large number of institutions of learning in the United Kingdom imparting distance learning in every conceivable subjects, both professional and academic devoid the constraints of geographical barriers. “Distance Learning” may be defined as “Learning from a distance where the provider of learning are based at specified location, the learning accomplished from one’s home, office or from other points of assemblage of the learners.” The medium of teaching may be books, journals, abridged study materials in print, videos, audios, CD ROMs etc. Inter-active net learning has, of late, become the most popular and effective distance learning device having global access. The distance learning community affiliated to the various seats of learning of U K of late comprises of professionals, graduates, under graduates and school leavers in substantial numbers. The records of some of the leading U K Educational Institutions reveal that even senior citizens in large numbers from all over the world have joined the band wagon of distance learning. The High Band Net Access has enabled the UK Institutions to make available most of their Professional, Graduate, under-Graduate and Certificate courses to the entire world. At the same time in order to ensure that competition does not in any way dilute their credibility, reputation and standards, strict norms have been laid down and monitored by authoritative agencies of UK. In U K one would find uniform patterns followed by these institutions for the benefit of all the participants of distance learning. A few of the major participant Institutions of “Distance Learning” and the Courses offered for distance learning are listed in brief below for information. BRIGTON INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL Higher National Diploma in Business Management INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL Degree programs – BA(Hons) Business Management – HR NATIONAL IT LEARNING CENTER Microsoft UK OPEN LEARNING Travel Airline Information Technology ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY ABERDEEN Management Studies UIVERSITY OF DERBEI MBA, LLM, MA, MSC, M Ed STRAFORD BUSINESS SCHOOL Undergraduate/Post graduate courses in finance, marketing etc. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Undergraduate/Post graduate external programs in finance, business administration etc. CAMBRIDGE MARKETING COLLEGE Distance learning program for Chartered Institute of Marketing, e-Marketing, professional award. UNIVERSITY OF READING B Sc. Building Surveying, Construction Management etc