Learning at the Speed of Light is a collection of stories, articles, and interviews by and with pioneers and visionaries across the United States who shared a belief in greater access to higher education. This belief that education was a right, not a privilege, put them on a path to create what is known as online learning. This book brings together the early ideas that guided their thinking, and shows how funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Asynchronous Learning Networks initiative (guided by Dr. Frank Mayadas) spurred experimentation and created a new community of innovators, the Sloan Consortium (now the Online Learning Consortium). It also describes the development of early influential technology, and shares a behind-the-scenes look at the uncommon persistence of those who imagined and built the systems that continue to bring us closer to fulfilling the democratic mission of education for all.