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Distance education

Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via mail. Distance education is a technology-mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and the Internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can either be completely a remote learning, or a combination of both online learning and traditional offline classroom instruction (called hybrid or blended). Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning).

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and open access through the World Wide Web or other network technologies, are recent educational modes in distance education. A number of other terms (distributed learning, e-learning, m-learning, online learning, virtual classroom, etc.) are used roughly synonymously with distance education. E-learning has shown to be a useful educational tool. E-learning should be an interactive process with multiple learning modes for all learners at various levels of learning. The distance learning environment is an exciting place to learn new things, collaborate with others, and retain self-discipline.

History
One of the earliest attempts at distance education was advertised in 1728. This was in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb Philipps, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand", who sought students who wanted to learn the skills through weekly mailed lessons.

The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction. The element of student feedback was a crucial innovation in Pitman's system. The postage stamp made this scheme for remote education possible, and these efforts were scalable because of the introduction of uniform postage rates across England in 1840.

This early beginning proved extremely successful and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country.

The first correspondence school in the United States was the Society to Encourage Studies at Home which was founded in 1873.

Founded in 1894, Wolsey Hall, Oxford was the first distance-learning college in the UK.

United Kingdom
The University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Program in 1858. The background to this innovation lay in the fact that the institution (later known as University College London) was non-denominational and the intense religious rivalries at the time led to an outcry against the "godless" university. The issue soon boiled down to which institutions had degree-granting powers and which did not.

The compromise that emerged in 1836 stated that a new, officially recognized organization, the "University of London", would be given the sole authority to conduct the examinations leading to degrees, which would act as an examining body for the University of London colleges, originally University College London and King's College London, and award their students University of London degrees. As Sheldon Rothblatt states: "Thus arose in nearly archetypal form the famous English distinction between teaching and examining, here embodied in separate institutions."

With the state giving examining powers to a separate entity, the groundwork was laid for the creation of a program within the new university that would both administer examinations and award qualifications to students taking instruction at another institution or pursuing a course of self-directed study. Referred to as "People's University" by Charles Dickens because it provided access to higher education to students from less affluent backgrounds, the External Program was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1858, making the University of London the first university to offer distance learning degrees to students. Enrollment increased steadily during the late 19th century, and its example was widely copied elsewhere. This program is now known as the University of London International Programme and includes Postgraduate, Undergraduate, and Diploma degrees created by colleges such as the London School of Economics, Royal Holloway, and Goldsmiths.

Australia and South Africa
The vast distances made Australia especially active; the University of Queensland established its Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911.

In South Africa, the University of South Africa, formerly an examining and certification body, started to present distance education tuition in 1946.

United States
In the United States, only a third of the population lived in cities of 100,000 or more population in 1920; in order to reach the rest, correspondence techniques were adopted.

William Rainey Harper, founder and first president of the University of Chicago, celebrated the concept of extended education, where a research university had satellite colleges elsewhere in the region.

In 1892, Harper encouraged correspondence courses to further promote education, an idea that was put into practice by the University of Chicago, U. Wisconsin, Columbia U., and several dozen other universities by the 1920s. Enrollment in the largest private for-profit school based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the International Correspondence Schools grew explosively in the 1890s. Founded in 1888 to provide training for immigrant coal miners aiming to become state mine inspectors or foremen, it enrolled 2500 new students in 1894 and matriculated 72,000 new students in 1895. By 1906 total enrollments reached 900,000. The growth was due to sending out complete textbooks instead of single lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-person salesmen. There was a stark contrast in pedagogy:

"The regular technical school or college aims to educate a man broadly; our aim, on the contrary, is to educate him only along some particular line. The college demands that a student shall have certain educational qualifications to enter it and that all students study for approximately the same length of time; when they have finished their courses they are supposed to be qualified to enter any one of a number of branches in some particular profession. We, on the contrary, are aiming to make our courses fit the particular needs of the student who takes them."

Education was a high priority in the Progressive Era, as American high schools and colleges expanded greatly. For men who were older or were too busy with family responsibilities, night schools were opened, such as the YMCA school in Boston that became Northeastern University. Private correspondence schools outside of the major cities provided a flexible, focused solution. Large corporations systematized their training programs for new employees. The National Association of Corporation Schools grew from 37 in 1913 to 146 in 1920. Private schools that provided specialized technical training to everyone who enrolled, not just employees of one company, began to open across the nation in the 1880s. Starting in Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began opening free vocational program.

International Conference
The International Conference for Correspondence Education held its first meeting in 1938. The goal was to provide individualized education for students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of testing, recording, classification, and differentiation. Since then, the group has changed its name to the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), with its main office in Oslo, Norway.

Open universities
The Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom was founded by the then Labour government led by Harold Wilson. Based on the vision of Michael Young, planning commenced in 1965 under the Minister of State for Education, Jennie Lee, who established a model for the Open University as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education and setting up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists, and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programs.

The Open University revolutionized the scope of the correspondence program and helped to create a respectable learning alternative to the traditional form of education. It has been at the forefront of developing new technologies to improve distance learning service as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. Walter Perry was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was Anastasios Christodoulou. The election of the new Conservative government under the leadership of Edward Heath, in 1970; led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense"). However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.

Athabasca University, Canada's open university, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern. The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's National University of Distance Education (1972) and Germany's FernUniversität in Hagen (1974). There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name "Open University" (in English or in the local language).

The University of the Philippines Open University was established in 1995 as the fifth constituent University of the Philippines System and was the first distance education and online university in the Philippines. Its mandate is to provide educational opportunities to individuals aspiring for higher education and improved qualifications but were unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education because of personal and professional obligations.

Most open universities use distance education technologies as delivery methods, though some require attendance at local study centers or at regional "summer schools". Some open universities have grown to become mega-universities.

COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of the vast majority of schools worldwide for in-person learning. COVID-19 increased the value of distance education although its policies were implemented and formulated among several universities much earlier. Many schools moved to online remote learning through platforms including—but not limited to—Zoom, Blackboard, Cisco Webex, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, D2L, and Edgenuity. A recent study showed that Google Classroom was the most used platform by students followed by Microsoft Teams and Zoom respectively. The less-used platforms included Blackboard Learn, Webex by Cisco, DingTalk, Tencent, and WhatsApp. However, the most preferred platforms by students were Microsoft Teams followed by Google Classroom and Zoom. Although Google Classroom was the most used by students as decided by their lectures,  Microsoft Teams was the most preferred by those students

Concerns arose over the impact of this transition on students without access to an internet-enabled device or a stable internet connection. Distanced education during the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted synchronous learning for many students and teachers; where educators were no longer able to teach in real-time and could only switch to asynchronous instruction, this significantly and negatively affected their coping with the transition, and posed various legal issues, especially in terms of copyright. The physical surroundings during the COVID-19 pandemic are seen by university instructors as having a detrimental effect on the quality of distance education. However, where the lecture is delivered and the type of faculty do not show any significant statistical variances in the quality of distance education. The shift away from real-time instruction to asynchronous learning modes has posed significant challenges, impacting both the teaching and learning experience. Educators, grappling with this abrupt transition, have faced hurdles in effectively engaging students and delivering course content, leading to heightened stress and burnout among faculty members. Additionally, this shift has raised legal concerns, particularly regarding copyright issues related to the dissemination of educational materials in digital formats. Post-COVID-19  pandemic, while some educational institutions went back to physical classes, others switched to blended learning or kept up their online distance learning.

A recent study about the benefits and drawbacks of online learning found that students have had a harder time producing their own work. The study suggests teachers should cut back on the amount of information taught and incorporate more activities during the lesson, in order for students to create their own work. Though schools are slow to adapt to new technologies, COVID-19 required schools to adapt and learn how to use new digital and online learning tools. Web conferencing has become more popular since 2007. Researchers have found that people in online classes perform just as effectively as participants in conventional learning classes. The use of online learning is becoming a pathway for learners with sparse access to physical courses so they can complete their degrees. Furthermore, digital classroom technologies allow those living remotely to access learning, and it enables the student to fit learning into their schedule more easily.

Technologies
Internet technology has enabled many forms of distance learning through open educational resources and facilities such as e-learning and MOOCs. Although the expansion of the Internet blurs the boundaries, distance education technologies are divided into two modes of delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous learning.

In synchronous learning, all participants are "present" at the same time in a virtual classroom, as in traditional classroom teaching. It requires a timetable. Web conferencing, videoconferencing, educational television, and instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio, live streaming, telephone, and web-based VoIP.

Web conferencing software helps to facilitate class meetings, and usually contains additional interaction tools such as text chat, polls, hand raising, emoticons etc. These tools also support asynchronous participation by students who can listen to recordings of synchronous sessions. Immersive environments (notably SecondLife) have also been used to enhance participant presence in distance education courses. Another form of synchronous learning using the classroom is the use of robot proxies including those that allow sick students to attend classes.

Some universities have been starting to use robot proxies to enable more engaging synchronous hybrid classes where both remote and in-person students can be present and interact using telerobotics devices such as the Kubi Telepresence robot stand that looks around and the Double Robot that roams around. With these telepresence robots, the remote students have a seat at the table or desk instead of being on a screen on the wall.

In asynchronous learning, participants access course materials flexibly on their schedules. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology, as are message board forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail, and fax.

The five characteristics of technological innovations (compatibility, observability, relative advantage, complexity, and trialability) have a significant positive relationship with the digital literacy of users. Besides, observability, trialability, and digital skill were found to have a positive significant influence on digital literacy.

The two methods can be combined. Many courses offered by both open universities and an increasing number of campus-based institutions use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement the sessions delivered at a distance. This type of mixed distance and campus-based education has recently come to be called "blended learning" or less often "hybrid learning". Many open universities use a blend of technologies and a blend of learning modalities (face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the rubric of "distance learning".

Distance learning can also use interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds, digital games, webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred to as e-Learning.

Radio and television
The rapid spread of film in the 1920s and radio in the 1930s led to proposals to use it for distance education. By 1938, at least 200 city school systems, 25 state boards of education, and many colleges and universities broadcast educational programs for public schools. One line of thought was to use radio as a master teacher. "Experts in given fields broadcast lessons for pupils within the many schoolrooms of the public school system, asking questions, suggesting readings, making assignments, and conducting tests. This mechanizes education and leaves the local teacher only the tasks of preparing for the broadcast and keeping order in the classroom."

The first large-scale implementation of radio for distance education took place in 1937 in Chicago. During a three-week school closure implemented in response to a polio outbreak that the city was experiencing, superintendent of Chicago Public Schools William Johnson and assistant superintendent Minnie Fallon implemented a programs of distance learning that provided the city's elementary school students with instruction through radio broadcasts.

A typical setup came in Kentucky in 1948 when John Wilkinson Taylor, president of the University of Louisville, teamed up with NBC to use radio as a medium for distance education. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the project and predicted that the "college-by-radio" would put "American education 25 years ahead". The university was owned by the city, and local residents would pay the low tuition rates, receive their study materials in the mail, and listen by radio to live classroom discussions that were held on campus. Physicist Daniel Q. Posin also was a pioneer in the field of distance education when he hosted a televised course through DePaul University.

Charles Wedemeyer of the University of Wisconsin–Madison also promoted new methods. From 1964 to 1968, the Carnegie Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought in a variety of communications technologies aimed at providing learning to an off-campus population. The radio courses faded away in the 1950s. Many efforts to use television along the same lines proved unsuccessful, despite heavy funding by the Ford Foundation.

From 1970 to 1972 the Coordinating Commission for Higher Education in California funded Project Outreach to study the potential of tele-courses. The study included the University of California, California State University, and community colleges. This study led to coordinated instructional systems legislation allowing the use of public funds for non-classroom instruction and paved the way for the emergence of tele-courses as the precursor to the online courses and programs of today. The Coastline Community Colleges, The Dallas County Community College District, and Miami Dade Community College led the way. The Adult Learning Service of the US Public Broadcasting Service came into being and the "wrapped" series, and individually produced tele-course for credit became a significant part of the history of distance education and online learning.

Internet
The widespread use of computers and the Internet has made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online. The capacity of the Internet to support voice, video, text, and immersion teaching methods made earlier distinct forms of telephone, videoconferencing, radio, television, and text-based education somewhat redundant. However, many of the techniques developed and lessons learned with earlier media are used in Internet delivery.

The first online courses for graduate and undergraduate credit were offered in 1985 by Connected Education through The New School in New York City, with students earning the MA in Media Studies completely online via computer conferencing, with no in-person requirements. This was followed in 1986 by the University of Toronto through the Graduate School of Education (then called OISE: the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), offering a course in "Women and Computers in Education", dealing with gender issues and educational computing. The first new and fully online university was founded in 1994 as the Open University of Catalonia, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. In 1999 Jones International University was launched as the first fully online university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the US.

Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance education courses increased rapidly almost every country in both developed and developing countries. Many private, public, non-profit, and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer distance education courses from the most basic instruction through to the highest levels of degree and doctoral programs. New York University and International University Canada, for example, offer online degrees in engineering and management-related fields through NYU Tandon Online. Levels of accreditation vary: widely respected universities such as Stanford University and Harvard now deliver online courses—but other online schools receive little outside oversight, and some are fraudulent, i.e., diploma mills. In the US, the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of distance education institutions.

In the United States in 2011, it was found that a third of all the students enrolled in postsecondary education had taken an accredited online course in a postsecondary institution. Growth continued. In 2013 the majority of public and private colleges offered full academic programs online. Programs included training in the mental health, occupational therapy, family therapy, art therapy, physical therapy, and rehabilitation counseling fields.

By 2008, online learning programs were available in the United States in 44 states at the K-12 level.

Internet forums, online discussion groups, and online learning community can contribute to a distance education experience. Research shows that socialization plays an important role in some forms of distance education.

E-Courses are available from educational platforms such as Khan Academy and MasterClass on many topics and for students of all levels.

Paced and self-paced models
Most distance education uses a paced format similar to traditional campus-based models in which learners commence and complete a course at the same time. Some institutions offer self-paced programs that allow for continuous enrollment, and the length of time to complete the course is set by the learner's time, skill, and commitment levels. Self-paced courses are almost always offered asynchronously. Each delivery method offers advantages and disadvantages for students, teachers, and institutions.

Kaplan and Haenlein classify distance education into four groups according to "Time dependency" and "Number of participants":
 * 1) MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): Open-access online course (i.e., without specific participation restrictions) that allows for unlimited (massive) participation;
 * 2) SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and therefore requires some form of formal enrollment;
 * 3) SMOCs (Synchronous Massive Online Courses): Open-access online course that allows for unlimited participation but requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously);
 * 4) SSOCs (Synchronous Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously).

Paced models are a familiar mode since they are used almost exclusively in campus-based schools. Institutes that offer both distance and campus programs usually use paced models so that teacher workload, student semester planning, tuition deadlines, exam schedules, and other administrative details can be synchronized with campus delivery. Student familiarity and the pressure of deadlines encourage students to readily adapt to and usually succeed in paced models. However, student freedom is sacrificed as a common pace is often too fast for some students and too slow for others. In additional life events, professional or family responsibilities can interfere with a student's capability to complete tasks to an external schedule. Finally, paced models allow students to readily form communities of inquiry and to engage in collaborative work.

Self-paced courses maximize student freedom, as not only can students commence studies on any date, but they can complete a course in as little time as a few weeks or up to a year or longer. Students often enroll in self-paced study when they are under pressure to complete programs, have not been able to complete a scheduled course, need additional courses, or have pressure which precludes regular study for any length of time. The self-paced nature of the programming, though, is an unfamiliar model for many students and can lead to excessive procrastination, resulting in course incompletion. Assessment of learning can also be challenging as exams can be written on any day, making it possible for students to share examination questions with resulting loss of academic integrity. Finally, it is extremely challenging to organize collaborative work activities, though some schools are developing cooperative models based upon networked and connectivist pedagogies for use in self-paced programs.

Benefits
Distance learning can expand access to education and training for both general populace and businesses since its flexible scheduling structure lessens the effects of the many time-constraints imposed by personal responsibilities and commitments. Devolving some activities off-site alleviates institutional capacity constraints arising from the traditional demand on institutional buildings and infrastructure. As a result, more classes can be offered and enable students to enroll in more of their required classes on time and prevent delayed graduation. Furthermore, there is the potential for increased access to more experts in the field and to other students from diverse geographical, social, cultural, economic, and experiential backgrounds. As the population at large becomes more involved in lifelong learning beyond the normal schooling age, institutions can benefit financially, and adult learning business courses may be particularly lucrative. Distance education programs can act as a catalyst for institutional innovation and are at least as effective as face-to-face learning programs, especially if the instructor is knowledgeable and skilled.

Distance education can also provide a broader method of communication within the realm of education. With the many tools and programs that technological advancements have to offer, communication appears to increase in distance education amongst students and their professors, as well as students and their classmates. The distance educational increase in communication, particularly communication amongst students and their classmates, is an improvement that has been made to provide distance education students with as many of the opportunities as possible as they would receive in in-person education. The improvement being made in distance education is growing in tandem with the constant technological advancements. Present-day online communication allows students to associate with accredited schools and programs throughout the world that are out of reach for in-person learning. By having the opportunity to be involved in global institutions via distance education, a diverse array of thought is presented to students through communication with their classmates. This is beneficial because students have the opportunity to "combine new opinions with their own, and develop a solid foundation for learning". It has been shown through research that "as learners become aware of the variations in interpretation and construction of meaning among a range of people [they] construct an individual meaning", which can help students become knowledgeable of a wide array of viewpoints in education. To increase the likelihood that students will build effective ties with one another during the course, instructors should use similar assignments for students across different locations to overcome the influence of co-location on relationship building.

The high cost of education affects students in higher education, and distance education may be an alternative in order to provide some relief. Distance education has been a more cost-effective form of learning, and can sometimes save students a significant amount of money as opposed to traditional education. Distance education may be able to help to save students a considerable amount financially by removing the cost of transportation. In addition, distance education may be able to save students from the economic burden of high-priced course textbooks. Many textbooks are now available as electronic textbooks, known as e-textbooks, which can offer digital textbooks for a reduced price in comparison to traditional textbooks. Also, the increasing improvements in technology have resulted in many school libraries having a partnership with digital publishers that offer course materials for free, which can help students significantly with educational costs.

Within the class, students are able to learn in ways that traditional classrooms would not be able to provide. It is able to promote good learning experiences and therefore, allow students to obtain higher satisfaction with their online learning. For example, students can review their lessons more than once according to their needs. Students can then manipulate the coursework to fit their learning by focusing more on their weaker topics while breezing through concepts that they already have or can easily grasp. When course design and the learning environment are at their optimal conditions, distance education can lead students to higher satisfaction with their learning experiences. Studies have shown that high satisfaction correlates to increased learning. For those in a healthcare or mental health distance learning program, online-based interactions have the potential to foster deeper reflections and discussions of client issues as well as a quicker response to client issues, since supervision happens on a regular basis and is not limited to a weekly supervision meeting. This also may contribute to the students feeling a greater sense of support, since they have ongoing and regular access to their instructors and other students.

Distance learning may enable students who are unable to attend a traditional school setting, due to disability or illness such as decreased mobility and immune system suppression, to get a good education. Children who are sick or are unable to attend classes are able to attend them in "person" through the use of robot proxies. This helps the students have experiences in the classroom and social interaction that they are unable to receive at home or the hospital, while still keeping them in a safe learning environment. Over the last few years more students are entering safely back into the classroom thanks to the help of robots. An article from the New York Times, "A Swiveling Proxy Will Even Wear a Tutu", explains the positive impact of virtual learning in the classroom, and another explains how even a simple, stationary telepresence robot can help. Distance education may provide equal access regardless of socioeconomic status or income, area of residence, gender, race, age, or cost per student. Applying universal design strategies to distance learning courses as they are being developed (rather than instituting accommodations for specific students on an as-needed basis) can increase the accessibility of such courses to students with a range of abilities, disabilities, learning styles, and native languages. Distance education graduates, who would never have been associated with the school under a traditional system, may donate money to the school.

Distance learning may also offer a final opportunity for adolescents that are no longer permitted in the general education population due to behavior disorders. Instead of these students having no other academic opportunities, they may continue their education from their homes and earn their diplomas, offering them another chance to be an integral part of society.

Distance learning offers individuals a unique opportunity to benefit from the expertise and resources of the best universities currently available. Moreover, the online environment facilitates pedagogical innovation such as new program structures and formats. Students have the ability to collaborate, share, question, infer, and suggest new methods and techniques for continuous improvement of the content. The ability to complete a course at a pace that is appropriate for each individual is the most effective manner to learn given the personal demands on time and schedule. Self-paced distance learning on a mobile device, such as a smartphone, provides maximum flexibility and capability.

Distance learning can also reduce the phenomenon of rural exodus by enabling students from remote regions to remain in their hometowns while pursuing higher education. Eliminating the distance barrier to higher education can also increase the number of alternatives open to students, and foster greater competition between institutions of higher learning regardless of geography.

Criticism
Barriers to effective distance education include obstacles such as domestic distractions and unreliable technology, as well as students' program costs, adequate contact with teachers and support services, and a need for more experience.

Some students attempt to participate in distance education without proper training with the tools needed to be successful in the program. Students must be provided with training opportunities (if needed) on each tool that is used throughout the program. The lack of advanced technology skills can lead to an unsuccessful experience. Schools have a responsibility to adopt a proactive policy for managing technology barriers. Time management skills and self-discipline in distance education is just as important as complete knowledge of the software and tools being used for learning.

The results of a study of Washington state community college students showed that distance- learning students tended to drop out more often than their traditional counterparts due to difficulties in language, time management, and study skills.

According to Pankaj Singhm, director of Nims University, "distance learning benefits may outweigh the disadvantages for students in such a technology-driven society, however before indulging into the use of educational technology a few more disadvantages should be considered." He describes that over multiple years, "all of the obstacles have been overcome and the world environment for distance education continues to improve." Pankaj Singhm also claims there is a debate to distance education stating, "due to a lack of direct face-to-face social interaction. However, as more people become used to personal and social interaction online (for example dating, chat rooms, shopping, or blogging), it is becoming easier for learners to both project themselves and socializes with others. This is an obstacle that has dissipated."

Not all courses required to complete a degree may be offered online. Health care profession programs in particular require some sort of patient interaction through field work before a student may graduate. Studies have also shown that students pursuing a medical professional graduate degree who are participating in distance education courses, favor a face to face communication over professor-mediated chat rooms and/or independent studies. However, this is little correlation between student performance when comparing the previous different distance learning strategies.

There is a theoretical problem with the application of traditional teaching methods to online courses because online courses may have no upper size limit. Daniel Barwick noted that there is no evidence that large class size is always worse or that small class size is always better, although a negative link has been established between certain types of instruction in large classes and learning outcomes; he argued that higher education has not made a sufficient effort to experiment with a variety of instructional methods to determine whether the large class size is always negatively correlated with a reduction in learning outcomes. Early proponents of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) saw them as just the type of experiment that Barwick had pointed out was lacking in higher education, although Barwick himself has never advocated for MOOCs.

There may also be institutional challenges. Distance learning is new enough that it may be a challenge to gain support for these programs in a traditional brick-and-mortar academic learning environment. Furthermore, it may be more difficult for the instructor to organize and plan a distance learning program, especially since many are new programs and their organizational needs are different from a traditional learning program.

Additionally, though distance education offers industrial countries the opportunity to become globally informed, there are still negative sides to it. Hellman states that "These include its cost and capital intensiveness, time constraints and other pressures on instructors, the isolation of students from instructors and their peers, instructors' enormous difficulty in adequately evaluating students they never meet face-to-face, and drop-out rates far higher than in classroom-based courses."

A more complex challenge of distance education relates to cultural differences between students and teachers and among students. Distance programs tend to be more diverse as they could go beyond the geographical borders of regions, countries, and continents, and cross the cultural borders that may exist concerning race, gender, and religion. That requires a proper understanding and awareness of the norms, differences, preconceptions, and potential conflicting issues.

Assessments
Tools have been developed to assess the quality of distance education. Walker developed a survey instrument known as the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES), which examines instructor support, student interaction, and collaboration, personal relevance, authentic learning, active learning, and student autonomy. Harnish and Reeves provide a systematic approach based on training, implementation, system usage, communication, and support.

Educational technology
The modern use of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) facilitates distance learning and independent learning through the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT), replacing traditional content delivery with postal correspondence. Instruction can be synchronous and asynchronous online communication in an interactive learning environment or virtual communities, in lieu of a physical classroom. "The focus is shifted to the education transaction in the form of a virtual community of learners sustainable across time."

One of the most significant issues encountered in the mainstream correspondence model of distance education is transactional distance, which results from the lack of appropriate communication between learner and teacher. This gap has been observed to become wider if there is no communication between the learner and teacher and has direct implications for the learning process and future endeavors in distance education. Distance education providers began to introduce various strategies, techniques, and procedures to increase the amount of interaction between learners and teachers. These measures e.g. more frequent face-to-face tutorials, and increased use of information and communication technologies including teleconferencing and the Internet, were designed to close the gap in transactional distance.

Credentials
Online credentials for learning are digital credentials that are offered in place of traditional paper credentials for a skill or educational achievement. Directly linked to the accelerated development of internet communication technologies, the development of digital badges, electronic passports and massive open online courses (MOOCs) have a very direct bearing on our understanding of learning, recognition and levels as they pose a direct challenge to the status quo. It is useful to distinguish between three forms of online credentials: Test-based credentials, online badges, and online certificates.

title: Distance education


text:
Talk:Dagome iudex

To szopen The Chech and Lech is an old Polish story as is the Krok story.I do not believe, that there are any records at all of Poles, before the Polanen tribes under Mieszko I. And even the Piast rulers were only named Piasts in the 17th century. The family name was Lambert ( a good old German family name, also went to France :pronounced Lamber (silent t) . There were previous Lambert emperors. The son of emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, Bavaria was Zwentibolt (Slavic Swatopluk).And the Slavic Krol (king), derived from Karol(us) Karl, Charlemagne. It all shows that even when the Slavs moved into Germania, they also were part of the empire, that continued until 1804/6. Then you have to look at the original Rus history also. All the land under the Rus (before they were Russians) was called Gardarike. ( Rike ,Rix and Old Prussian Reiks or High German Reich = Rex=Regis = English kings)

Burislaf was also a markgrave of the Saxon empire. The Royal and noble genealogy of UK lists Mieszko I as aka Burislaf von Wendland of Wendland (Wendish land in northern Germany). Mieszko I, recorded Miecislaw (or something like that) may have been a name much later given to him by Polish writers, since the only record seems to be as Dago in Dagome Iudex. Since Ote is mentioned in this, I believe that this is the record for Mieszko I and wife Oda (von Haldensleben),when by marriage to her he (Dago-bert ?) accepted the position as margrave of the empire.

To the christianisation, all dukes, margraves etc had to accept baptism as part of receiving the position from the emperor ( see Moravians (Czechs, Slovacs) who came before the emperor in Regensburg before 900 AD). German kings/emperors never made any demarcation line between Slavic and German people or any others, such as Huns, Finns, Esthonians etc.

Taking on the required state religion and name is typical of the Russian rulers or any others also, where Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, took office as Czarina Catherine II and became orthodox. When Russia conquered the North the language of Couronia, Livonia,later Latvia continued to be German until 1891.

When you look for records, write down the current writers of the article, but also check for primary sources. This is what JHK keeps asking for. The primary source is ,when and who first recorded it.

I have read something to the effect, that the Dagome iudex is a 'gift certificate', with which Dago (Mieszko I ?) gave all the land he had conquered into papal possession. He then received land back in lien. This was a standard procedure, because all land of Europe was considered as belonging to emperor and or pope, who then granted liens (loans). user:H.J.

To H.J.

I know legend about Czech and Lech, but this is Czech legend adopted to Polish by Wincent Ksdlubek in some XIII century (he made name Lech from Leszek, meaning probably smart). This legend goes: Lech, Czech and Rus decided that there is too small place for them in their homeland and went in different sides of world. Lech goes to West, when the settle in place when he saw an eagle fighting with hawk. He decided that this was good omen and founded city called Nest (Gniezno). End of story. What are connections to our discussion, because i can't see them?

That's true that Piasts were called like that in XVII century. Earlier Piasts was name given to any non-German ruler (we won't king Piast and to our throats we can't stand German were primary slogans of szlachta, that's why never Habsburgs ruled in Poland, although they had probably more Piast blood than Jagiellons)

However dynasty tradition, written in beginning of XII century by Gall Anonim (which large parts of chronicle i read in Polishm sicne i know only basic Latin), says that First Piast was Piast, son of Chosciszko, poor peasant. Then first Piast dukes were Ziemomysl, Leszek, uhmm one another, then Mieszko. We know also name of Mieszko brother: Czcibor.

Mieszko name was written in all documents from epoch: In Thietmat chronicle, in Kosmas chronicle (which however i read only little fragments dispersed in other books), in description of Poland by Ibrahim Ibn Jakub (Ms'ko), in roczniki (i don't know english name for that: yearsbooks? Priamry source of information about medieval tiems, pseudo-chronicles with short information about every year, kept in churches. Example of such infromation is 965: Dubrawka came to Mieszko). Thietmar lived i think generation after Mieszko, but Ibrahim lived during life of Mieszko (his relation is dated 961-962). All of them called Mieszko Mska, Mescum, as he was called in other documents. First mention of name Poland came also gfrom Thietmar chronicle. Family anme was not Lamber or Lambert, because they don't have family name. They just have simple rule of naming: After Mieszko always was Boleslav and again Mieszko, then for younger sons names were choosen from Wladyslaw, Kazimierz, and sometimes from emperor names like Henryk or Otton. Note that except two last these are Slavic names. Other names, but given to sons which were for some reasons not suitable to ruling were Zbigniew, Bezprym etc - also Slavic names. Dagome iudex is only document which mentioned name of Dago, and this is _summary_, _copy_, with many other names so mangled that it is hard to understand them (like Shinesghe). Scribe whoo made that summary even don't know that this is about Poland. In original could be well ego Mesco dux (This is probable, you should now that there are parts of medieval texts which can be read in few differnt ways, like with chrs which for years was discussion if Gall anonim meant christian or christos.

I don't understand your argumentation. because krol comes from Karl, and Son of one Emperor had Slavic name, that means that all Slavs were part of Empire? Then, well, Germany was part of Poland because younger sons of Boleslav had German names.

Rus history is irrelevant here. Poland wasn't part of empire except some period of early medieval history, but not continously, since You can't call Boleslav Chrobry or Boleslav Smialy vassals of Emperor.

Burislaf, again, is not in any written source except sagas and later sources. That's why recently historians decided that he was either legendary, or component name for both Mieszko and Boleslav, or name for some other Slavic king. You can't believe anything which was written in medieval chronicles, otherwise you would have to believe that homeland of Slavs was Pannonia, Lublin was called Julin because it was founded by Julia, sister of Julius Caesar, and Szlachta came from Sarmats. Thietmar always used Boleslav, never Burislaf, and he lived in tiems of Boleslav.

This is true that German Emperors always considered whole Europe as their possesion, but that's all. If i will considered moon my property, that would not make it fact. Poland could be called part of Empire in some periods of its history only.

And you read true, Mieszko gave his land to Pope, because he wanted keeping his land as Popes lien, not Emperors. he also kept some lands from lien from Emperor, but we don;t know which were that lands, since all we have is enigmatic usque in Wurta fluvium.

Thietmar (975-1018) wrote that Mieszko took baptism _after_ he married Dobrawka, under her influence. He mentioned at least three Slavic names of nobleman from Poland (Odylen, Przybywoj, Stojgniew) nwver any German name, except of course from clergy.

Poland developed on its own without contact from Germany, sicne first mention of Poland is from 963 when Mieszko is mentioned as friend of Emperor, when he was defeated by Wielet army under commandment or with help of German banite Wichman (IIRC). Mieszko is mentioned as Mieszko (i can't remember if this was Mescum or Mesco)

Emperor couldn't make Mieszko duke, he was hereditary duke of Poland.

I will go to my home and i will bring more books about early history of Poland with me.

Some dates:

He started ruling probably in 960, ruling probably Great Poland, Kujawy, Mazowsze (Masovia) Leczyckie and probably Pomorze Gdanskie (Eastern Pomorze) in 960s conquered at least partly Western Pomorze, in 990 is the last term when he could conquer Silesia and Little Poland (although all we know is that Czechs tried to get back regnum sibi ablatum in 990, but we don' know what was that regnum). In 967 with help of Czech he defeated Wichman conquering Pomorze Nadodrzanskie. In 972 in probably defence of that new acquired lands he defeated in Cedynia Hodo, and is mentioned as loyal duke paying tribute to the river of Warta. In 979 he fought with Emperor, in 981 he lost Grody Czerwienskie to Rus, in 986 he finally became his vassal (of Otton III), and he helped him with fighting with Wielets, in 990 Germans helped him with war with Czechs (some historian argued that that war was about Lusitz, and Sielsia and LIttle Poland was conquered earlier). in 990 or shortly after he in Dagome Iudex offered his state to Pope. He probably divided his state between his sons, but his oldest son Boleslav expelled other sons, blinded Odylen and Przybywoj. (Although Czech historians believe that Little Poland was conquered by Boleslav in 999, but htis was analized and criticised by Labuda, who pointed some logical contradictions which would appear if we will believ Kosmas in that case)

Silesia was at the begining under bishops of Prague, but after 1000 it was (or rather after 999) under archibishop of Gniezno. First bishop of Poland was missionary bishop under direct command of Rome, founded in 968. Note that Poland in medieval times was used as decsricopton of whole state, and as description of todays Great Poland, that dualism is clearly seen for example in Gall Anonim Chronicle.

You seem also to think that Germany and Empire was the same thing. Not exaclt. Empire was Kingdom of Longobardia+ kingdom of Germania + Rome, if i am not mistaken.

I don't know also if you read about methods used by Germans when conquering Salvic lands (as in 939 murdering by Geron (accroding to Widukind from Korbea) 30 slavic dukes).

I also have here some bibliograophy, i don't read that books but they are mentioned in article of Klaus Zernack:
 * H. Ludat An Elbe und Oder um Jahr 1000, Koln 1971
 * Chr.Lubke Regesten zur Geschichte der Slawen an Elbe und Oder (vom Jahr 900 an) Berlin 1985-1987
 * W.H. Fritze Der Slawische aufstand von 983. Eine Schicksalswende in der Geschichte MittelEuropas (in: Festschrift der Landesgeschtlichen Vereinigung fur die Mark Brandenburg zu ihrem hunderjahirgen Bestehen 1884-1984) Berlin 1984
 * Ch Warnke Ursachen und Vorauseetzungen der Schenkung Polens an den Hl.Petrus,in Europa Slavica - Europa Orientalis. Festschrift fur Herbert Ludat Berlin 1980.
 * J Fried Otton III un Boleslav Chrobry. Das Widmungsbild des Aachener Evangeliars, der akt von Gnesen un das Fruhe polnische und ungarische Konigtum, Stuttgart 1989.

If you know Polish, see (I've read those two books, but i don't have them now)
 * G. Labuda Studia nad poczatkami panstwa polskiego Poznan 1946, reedited 1987-1988
 * H.Lowmianski Poczatki Polski Warszawa 1973

This is great -- if you've already read all of the discussion on Poland and Miezco -- otherwise, no one will know what the Dagome iudex is. Could someone please fill in the following details? I suggest something like "Dagome Iudex is the common name for a document dated x, probably written by x (or collected with other legal documents in x). It is important in the history of Poland because... and THEN talk about what it says.  Remember -- WHAT, WHEN, WHO, and HOW or WHY IS IT IMPORTANT -- These are all key factors for a good article! JHK

Schinesghe is used twice in document. First, we know it's a state given to saint Peter, which borders with either sea or Pomerania, then with probably Russia, Prussia and land of Krakow, then with "Alemure" and Odra. Szczecin does not suit especially to that description, actually it would be absurd to made it so. Especially that from later history it seems that whole Poland was considered dominium of st peter.

BUT second time Schinesghe is described as somewhere near mouth of Oder. This second time, this could be Szczecin.

The question is, whether both times it's the same Schinesghe. Remember, it's and abstract. The copyist, maybe, could decipher the names and decided that those two separate names are the same, and came with name "Schinesghe" by joining Szczecin and Gniezno.

Editing
When some of this information is actually edited into the article, the reference "Labuda's book" might be made more explicit for the Wikipedia reader. --Wetman 06:16, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

szopen --

What is first actual document of State of Poland ?
The Dagome Iudex seems rather to be a documentation for Oda and her sons, in order to safeguard their territory, because, as it did turn out, Mieszko I's son Boleslaw I from another wife, expelled the widow Ote Oda von Haldensleben and Mieszkos sons, Boleslaws stepbrothers in attempts to gain all territory for himself.

Whoever insists on this being (one of the first) actual documents, please post a photo copy of the original document here and state its present location. Without that its just a myth.

By the way, what is the actual first document (other than this Dagome Iudex), please post photocopy also ?

Thanks so much. Labbas 19 December 2006

Labbas, please post photo copy of Thietmar chronicle. (hint: it was burned in Dresden). As for "whoever insists", why, it's just all Polish and all serious German historians.

Within two seconds I was able to find this: http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1508/dagomeiudex2ns.jpg Szopen 08:46, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for that, but it gives no information about were it is located or copied from or anything. Labbas 21 December 2006 - Labbas, I am no historian, but an amateur. The document is a considered a reliable and valuable source by literally dozens of other historians, Polish and German alike. The authenticity cannot be doubted. Of course, the reservation about whether it is really about Poland and not about the Sardinians, are justifiable and you may freely choose whether to believe the arguments by historians, or not. Just get any book by German or Polish historian about early Polish state and surely you will find the relevant info, if it is good book (i.e. historic monography, not some "popular history" junk). In fact, many historians would be happy if the document would not exist, because it poses more questions than answers (e.g the very two first words: "Dagome iudex"? what the heck? Who is this Dagome?).

As for other questions, this is not the first document about Poland, of course. Other sources we have are contemporary chronicles (Widukind, Thietmar) relation by Jewish-Arabic Ibrahim ibn Jakub, and the later chronicles which had the access to the info which unavailable to us now (Adam from Bremen, Kosmas, Gall Anonim etc). In addition you have the yearsbook: "roczniki" in Polish. The church tables which were used for calculation of important church dates. On those tables later also short info about important events were added. The example of such event is: "965 – Dobrovca ad Mesconem venit" "Mesco, dux Poloniae, baptisatus" etc etc. As you may see, the amount of the info is not staggering. Szopen 08:36, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Territory
The mention of craccoa = Kraków without fines means that Lesser Poland is included, as Kraków was the capital of it. And a straight line from Olomouc (alemura) to Lausitz Region (country of the milzi=Milceni) would have included Silesia. Look, between alemura and milzi the border does not touch river oddera, therefore it lies west of the river.--Ulamm (talk) 03:11, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Dagome iudex


text:
Talk:David Rice Atchison

The Presidential term begins on time
Since the Presidential term begins on time. Atchison could never have been President. Not having taken the oath did not disqualify Taylor from becoming President on time. It just prevented him from entering upon the execution of that office. Not even Obama took the oath on time. He took it about fifteen minutes after becoming President. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 09:34, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

 * An excellent point, Gerard. An interesting question, however, is this one:  if Taylor could not "enter upon the execution" of the office of the President of the United States on March 4-5 of 1849 (because he had not yet taken the oath) then could ANYONE act as President during those 24 hours from noon to noon?  It seems that the answer must be either "no one" or "only David Rice Atchison," depending on whether the presidential oath is required for an "acting President" as it is for an actual President, certainly a murky question, especially in 1849. Precisely how empty was the Presidency for those 24 hours -- utterly empty, or with the possibility of someone stepping in and acting, temporarily, if necessary?

 * On this reasoning, Atchison (at most) could join the ranks of those who were "Acting President of the United States" but never spoke or acted in that capacity, instead remaining mute and passive. We could abbreviate the designation of this status as "APUS Null."

 * Thus we could say that David Atchison was APUS Null for 24 hours in March of 1849. Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, was APUS Null for 15 minutes on January 20, 2009.  In the history of the republic, there must have been many others, most occupying this status for only a few minutes, like Pelosi. Paul (talk) 19:26, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

 * I don't think so. Atchinson was not even President pro tem at the time. His term had expired and there was no new one elected by the Senate at the time. Also I don't think that the concept of APUS existed back then as I think it was established by the 25th Amendment. And even if Nancy Pelosi was in office in those fifteen minutes you are talking about, the office of APUS does not kick in automatically just because the President has not yet begun actually executing the office of President. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 20:04, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

 * I don't think so either. The succession act in force at the time allowed for officers to act as president in the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability. No mention is made of failure to qualify, which is what not taking the oath is. Of course knowing the Senate rules about the PPT in force at the end of the 30th Congress would help. Under current rules, the PPT ceases to that office if he ceases to be a senator. Since there's no actual requirement in the Constitution that the PPT be a member, it is possible that the lapse of Atchison's term was irrelevant. Knowing that might put the matter to bed. -Rrius (talk) 00:54, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Well ... Yes, Gerard, you are correct that the concept of APUS was not defined explicitly, as a phrase, until the 25th Amendment. However, the problem exists without regard to whether it has been explicated in law.  And the issue of a possible "acting president" had actually been argued before 1849 -- when William Henry Harrison died in 1841, there was controversy over whether John Tyler thereby became President, or whether he was only to fulfill the duties of President without actually taking that office.  The Tyler question was most certainly a controversy about an "acting president" even if that phrase was not used.

 * The main question remains pertinent, even if it is difficult to answer: During those 24 hours in 1849, was it possible for anyone to act as President, and if so, who?  Although you do not explicitly say so, I surmise that your answer to this question is "no one."  This seems a highly dangerous and unlikely state of affairs, although I suppose it is possible that no one cared in 1849.

 * As for the "lapse" of Atchison's term, Rrius, the infobox in this article says he was Senator from 4 December 1844 to 4 March 1855. The infobox also says he was President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 8 August 1846 to 2 December 1849 (and then later for an additional period that is irrelevant to this discussion).  That being the case, Atchison's term did not lapse, not as a Senator and not as President Pro Tempore of the Senate -- either that, or the infobox needs correction.

 * Just to clarify what I am saying, it is obvious that Atchison was never President of the United States. What is not obvious, however, is what the legal status of the Presidency (actual or acting) might have been during those 24 hours in 1849.  I freely admit to having invented the phrase "APUS null," which I cited as the maximum designation that might be applied to David Rice Atchison during those 24 hours.  But perhaps Gerard is right, and the presidency was 100%, irretrievably, empty. Paul (talk) 18:35, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I mistakenly relied on a source that was wrong. His term didn't lapse for either office, but the infobox is at best misleading. He did not serve continuously over that period; rather, he was elected 11 times. For the relevant period, he was elected on March 2 (in the old Congress) and again on March 5. But you are missing a rather crucial detail—the president was not in any sense empty. Taylor was the president from noon on March 4. The fact that he had yet to take the oath only meant he hadn't entered into the "execution of the office". That just means he couldn't exercise his powers. To create a vacancy, under the terms of the law in effect at the time, he would have had to resign or refuse the office in a letter to the Secretary of State. Nothing in the text of the Constitution or the statute on succession in effect at the time suggests that failure to qualify (as not taking the oath is considered) created the circumstances under which someone could "act as president". The statute in effect now does, IIRC, make that a situation where someone could step in. -Rrius (talk) 05:21, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

 * So, although neither you nor Gerard has explicitly said so, you both hold that "no one" could have acted as president during that 24-hour period from noon to noon, March 4-5, 1849 -- Taylor could not because he had not been sworn in as president, and no one else could do so because Taylor WAS president, even though precluded from acting owing to his delay in taking the oath. I guess those were simpler times, when a 24-hour gap could hardly do any harm.  Nonetheless, this appears to be quite an anomaly. Paul (talk) 21:38, 25 November 2012 (UTC)
 * If you want to look at it that way, you are entitled to, but you are misusing the word "act". The president was the president. The law provided for four cases where a person could "act as president" (though that had already been interpreted at least for death as actually becoming president). A period between the end of the president's predecessor's term and the taking of the oath, whether it was a question of seconds or hours, was not such a case. But the president was the president and could have taken the oath at any point after his term started. It is not a question of no one caring about a 24-hour gap in the presidency, but one of there being nothing so pressing that the president needed to take the oath during that period. No powers needed to be used before noon on the 5th, so Taylor was able to have his delay. For example, if it suddenly became necessary at 6 pm on the 4th for the president to order something, Taylor would have taken the oath, but it didn't, so he didn't. I think a thing you are missing is that even now an acting president has to take the oath, so there would be no difference in a modern rehash of Taylor's circumstances between the president and any potential acting president who refrained from taking the oath of office. -Rrius (talk) 13:21, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Hmmmm. Fifteen minutes elapsed after noon, before Obama (and Biden) took the required oath -- which was incorrectly administered; then, the oath had to be re-administered the next day, because Roberts had screwed up the wording of the oath on 1/20. Assuming Joe Biden's oath was correctly administered, he might have a better claim than Atchison's to being "President for a Day" (until the "redo" on 1/21). Otherwise (if Biden's oath was somehow invalid), Nancy Pelosi (who had been re-elected as Speaker when the House convened, earlier in January) was in a situation similar to Atchison's. Of course, I think none of this is sufficiently "notable" for encyclopedia coverage, but it's fun to contemplate. ;^>

The bottom line in all this is that a Presidential term (with the exception of George Washington's delayed start) always begins at 12 noon, regardless of whether the oath is taken immediately, but the powers of the President cannot legally be exercised until the (correct) oath is taken. Since a re-elected President has already taken the oath, the powers begin (i.e. continue) immediately at noon, and the second inaugural oath is unnecessary. Tripodics (talk) 18:56, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

OR cleanup
AN IP editor cleaned up most of the original research problems with this article in March. There was only one paragraph left that was still OR, and I've removed it, along with the OR tag that was on the article.

Please let's not re-introduce it. Any commentary on the validity or lack thereof of the claim that Atchison was "President for One Day" should be accompanied by a cite to the published statement from which the commentary is drawn. I note that nearly all of the discussion in the topics "Line of Presidential Succession", "The Presidential term begins on time" an "Acting President" are OR and WP:SYNTH. TJRC (talk) 20:05, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Quote from rulers.org
"On six occasions, a president took the oath of office one or (in Tyler's case) two days after the beginning of his term of office, either because the demise of the presidency was due to the death of the incumbent or because of religious scruples about swearing an oath on Sunday. These occasions are: Monroe 1821 (upon reelection), Tyler 1841, Taylor 1849, Fillmore 1850, Arthur 1881, Coolidge 1923. Although the oath is necessary for a president to "enter on the execution of the office," the presidential term itself begins on time. On several occasions the new president took the oath of office in public the day after the beginning of the term but, in view of the concerns voiced about earlier Sunday deferrals, had taken the oath in private (Hayes 1877 actually one day early). The beginnings of the terms are listed here, not the oath-taking dates. It may be noted in this context that there is no substance to the legend that David Rice Atchison was president 4-5 Mar 1849. (If not being sworn in as president is held against Zachary Taylor's being president already from noon on 4 Mar 1849, it cannot be argued that another person, however qualified otherwise, could have been acting president without being sworn in in that capacity.)" Gerard von Hebel (talk) 01:43, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

title: Talk:David Rice Atchison


text:
Death of a Hero

Death of a Hero is a World War I novel by Richard Aldington. It was his first novel, published by Chatto & Windus in 1929, and thought to be partly autobiographical.

Plot summary
Death of a Hero is the story of a young English artist named George Winterbourne who enlists in the army at the beginning of World War I. The book is narrated by an unnamed first-person narrator who claims to have known and served with the main character. It is divided into three parts.

Book I
The first part details George's family history. His father, a middle-class man from England's countryside, marries a poor woman who falsely believes she is marrying into a monied family. After George's birth, his mother has a series of lovers. The portrait of George's parents is believed to be based on his own parents, whom he disliked. One critic called the characters "parodic monsters".

George is brought up to be a proper and patriotic member of English society. He is encouraged to learn his father's insurance business, but fails to do so. After a disagreement with his parents, he relocates to London to become an artist and live a socialite lifestyle.

Book II
The second section of the book deals with George's London life. He ingrains himself in socialite society and engages a number of trendy philosophies.

After he and his lover, Elizabeth, have a pregnancy scare, they decide to marry. Although they do not have a child, the marriage endures. They decide to leave their marriage open. George takes Elizabeth's close friend as a lover, however, and their marriage begins to fall apart. Just as the situation is becoming particularly heated, England declares war on Germany. George decides to enlist.

Aldington's portrayal of society contains "clumsily satirical portraits" of T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, both of whom were close personal acquaintances.

Book III
George trains for the army and is sent to France. (No particular location in France is mentioned. The town behind the front where George spends much of his time is referred to as M—.) He fights on the front for some time. When he returns home, he finds that he has been so affected by the war that he cannot relate to his friends, including his wife and lover.

The casualty rate among officers is particularly high at the front. When a number of officers in George's unit are killed, he is promoted. Upon spending time with the other officers, he finds them to be cynical and utilitarian. He loses faith in the war quickly.

The story ends with George standing up during a machine-gun barrage. He is killed.

At the end of the book there is a poem written from the point of view of a veteran comparing World War I to the Trojan War.

Censorship
Aldington, a veteran of World War I, claimed that his novel was accurate in terms of speech and style. It contained extensive colloquial speech, including profanity, discussion of sexuality and graphic descriptions of the war and of trench life. There was extensive censorship in England and many war novels had been banned or burned as a result. When Aldington first published his novel, he redacted a number of passages to ensure the publication of his book would not be challenged. He insisted that his publishers include a disclaimer in the original printing of the book with the following text:

To my astonishment, my publisher informed me that certain words, phrases, sentences, and even passages, are at present taboo in England. I have recorded nothing which I have not observed in human life, said nothing I do not believe to be true. [...] At my request the publishers are removing what they believe would be considered objectionable, and are placing asterisks to show where omissions have been made. [...] In my opinion it is better for the book to appear mutilated than for me to say what I don't believe.

title: Death of a Hero


text:
Degree Confluence Project

The Degree Confluence Project is a World Wide Web-based, all-volunteer project which aims to have people visit each of the integer degree intersections of latitude and longitude on Earth, posting photographs and a narrative of each visit online. The project describes itself as "an organized sampling of the world".

Requirements
The precise location of each degree confluence uses the WGS 84 horizontal datum, and visitors to degree confluences almost always make use of GNSS receivers. For a successful visit, the visitor must get within 100 metres of the confluence point, and post a narrative and several photographs to the project website. A visit, or attempted visit, which does not conform to these rules may still be recorded on the website as an incomplete visit. The project encourages visits to degree confluences which have been visited previously, and many confluence points — especially in non-remote regions of developed nations – have been visited several times.

The total number of degree confluences is 64,442, of which 21,543 are on land, 38,409 on water, and 4,490 on the Antarctic and Arctic ice caps. The project categorizes degree confluences as either primary or secondary. A confluence is primary only if it is on land or within sight of land. In addition, at latitudes greater than 48o only some points are designated primary because confluences crowd together near the poles. Both primary and secondary confluences may be visited and recorded.

In addition, visits to certain special geographical locations can also be reported (special visits). For example:
 * Middle of the World monument (0°, 78°27'08"W)
 * Centers of continents
 * Royal Greenwich Observatory

History
The project was started by Alex Jarrett in February 1996 because he "liked the idea of visiting a location represented by a round number such as 43°00'00"N 72°00'00"W. What would be there? Would other people have recognized this as a unique spot?"

As of February 2022, 6593 (40.33%) of 16,349 primary confluences have been visited, covering 195 countries and territories.

Milestones

 * First degree confluence visit posted to the website: 43°N, -72°W in New Hampshire, USA by Alex Jarrett (project founder) and Peter Cline on February 20, 1996. (Note that some degree confluence visits that pre-date this visit have since been posted on the project's website.)
 * Highest confluence: 33°N, 80°W in Kuba, Tibet, China at 19,143 feet (5,835 m), first visited by Greg Michaels and Robert Whitfield on May 29, 2005.
 * Lowest confluence: 30°N, 27°W in Matrūh, Egypt at −255 feet (−78 m), first visited by Dave Morrison, Steve Price and Tony Carlisle on December 4, 2004.

title: Degree Confluence Project