How the education become virtualized. A French point of view of the distance education history

International audienceThe appearance and the development of distance education are always linked with the evolution of ICT. Each time that a new technology is used in the field of the media and the transmission of information, it gives rise to a new model of distance education. From the 19th century to the 21st century, three phases are identified in this era: paper, mass media and digital. We underline the use of new technologies during the communication of learning. It appears that each step of development of the distance education model along with the ICT footsteps took less and less time; the technology from simplicity to complexity, the media from singleness to diversity, this is the process which the distance education experiencing. With technology and media, it can improve the personalization process and promote the education digitalisation and modernization. Also, the standard to judge whether a new technique can be combined with distance education, is whether it can promote the personalization of distance education. The history of the development of French distance education supports this point of view