Sharp work, in substance and delivery
Distance learning is typically thought of as a relatively modern innovation — accelerated through the Internet and online classes. But Hansun Hsiung, a Ph.D. student in East Asian languages and civilizations, isn’t convinced. As part of the Harvard Horizons symposium, May 6 at a packed Sanders Theatre, Hsiung argued that distance learning began significantly earlier, with the printing of the first international textbooks in the 18th century. “The textbook as we know it was a fairly recent invention,” developing only in the second half of the 18th century and rising in use over the course of the 19th, Hsiung told the audience. For readers, he said, the access such books provided was considered in the same light as online learning is today. Access to the textbook “promised that every man could be his own teacher,” Hsiung said. “No matter who or where you were in the world, as long as you had the right textbook,”...