| Online English teaching companies use the term "online | | | | learning that makes use of the internet, is still a hot |
| teaching" as synonymous to "distance education." In | | | | issue for educators. There is still debate and |
| actuality, though, they are different. | | | | experimentation as to whether online education is |
| Distance education or distance learning refers to the | | | | effective or not. This, however, does not seem to |
| field of education that focuses on providing education | | | | bother and stop some private schools and academies |
| to a student who is not physically present in a | | | | from offering degrees and courses online. |
| classroom. In distance education, there is time and / or | | | | Online education is not to be interchanged with online |
| spatial "distance" or separation between the teacher | | | | teaching. Teaching is what you as the instructor do to |
| and the student(s), and education is carried out using | | | | impart learning to the student. Education, to put it simply, |
| non-conventional methods such as via the following: | | | | can be related to a degree. Companies offering "online |
| videoconference, teleconference, and correspondence. | | | | teaching," therefore, offer neither formal education nor |
| Most people think that distance education is something | | | | a degree. |
| new, but its origins date back to "at least as early as | | | | So, if these online teaching companies do not offer |
| 1728" when a teacher named Caleb Phillips posted an | | | | education, what then do they offer? Let us just say |
| advertisement in the Boston Gazette "seeking | | | | they offer a high-tech version of tutorials. Make that 19 |
| students for lessons to be sent weekly (Holmberg | | | | notches higher than tutorials. |
| (2005), as cited by Wikipedia.org)." | | | | The most popular classes taught online are online |
| An older type of distance education is correspondence | | | | English classes. If you want to learn the English |
| education, but through the years, with technological | | | | language online, there are companies and instructors |
| advancements, new types have emerged. And | | | | offering their services. If you want to teach English |
| although some reputable colleges and universities have | | | | online, you can get into a company specializing in online |
| long embraced distance education, older delivery | | | | English teaching, or you can be a freelance online |
| methods are still preferred over the newer ones. For | | | | English teacher. |
| instance, online education, a new type of distance | | | | |