And before this there was correspondence learning (i.e. learning via snail mail). Many technologies have been pitched as being transformational for education. Often they have some impact but don't live up to the hype.
100 years ago correspondence courses enabled people who could not afford college get college degrees. My grandfather earned a college degree this way, and liked the setup so much he made his career distributing correspondence college courses. He met my grandmother having sold her courses on mechanical engineering.
(Bet ya didn't know women worked as mechanics in the 1920's!)
30 years ago it enabled my siblings and I to continue to follow our home curriculum while we spent three years posted to a developing country for dad's foreign service job, and my mother to complete a college degree while we were there.
Remote learning over potentially-connectionless protocols (e.g. email) also makes sense as a way of supporting those who cannot afford always-on internet connections (or streaming-level bandwidth). This is not a small number even in the developed world, and could grow larger under a collapse.
