Learning and Teaching in Practice/Learning environments/Online and distance

Distance learning
Distance learning is a term that has been used for learning situations where teachers and learners are not present together in the same physical space.

As media and technologies have evolved in society at large, they have been incorporated into distance learning.

Online learning
In the 1990s the Internet began to be widely used in distance education as a means of 'delivering' content resources and providing a channel for communicating with learners. The term online learning normally refers to the incorporation of Web-based learning activities and resources, although email often plays an important role as well.

With the wholesale adoption of the World-Wide Web into society and the rapidly-increasing power and sophistication of web-based media and tools, online learning has incorporated a vast array of new technology tools and media. Potentially, online learning means that any student can learn at a distance from the educational institution. However, many distance learning providers also require students to also come on-campus for 'block sessions' or residential classes.

References
 * Anderson, B., & Simpson, M. (2012). History and heritage in open, flexible, and distance education. Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning, 16(2), 1–10. Retrieved from http://journals.akoaotearoa.ac.nz/index.php/JOFDL/article/viewFile/56/151
 * Garrison, D. R., & Anderson, T. (2003). E-learning in the 21st century. Routledge Falmer: London.