Connected Education

Connected Education - also known as Connect Ed - was a pioneering online education organization founded and administered by Paul Levinson and Tina Vozick.^[1] Operating from 1985 to 1997, Connect Ed offered the M.A. degrees in Media Studies (through The New School in New York City)^[2] and Creative Writing (through the Bath College of Higher Education in England).^[3] Connect Ed also worked with Polytechnic University in Brooklyn and Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California.^[3]

Technical services were provided by the New Jersey Institute of Technology on their "Electronic Information Exchange System" (known as "EIES")^[4] administered by Murray Turoff and Starr Roxanne Hiltz, and by the Unison Participate system. In an age before easy dissemination of images and sounds on the Web, Connect Ed classes were conducted entirely in text. Features of the electronic campus included the "Connect Ed Cafe," for casual conversation; an online book ordering service; the "Connect Ed Library"; and an e-text publishing arm, "Connected Editions".^[5][6][7][8] Courses included "Computer Conferencing for Business and Education," "Artificial Intelligence and Real Life," "Ethics in the Technological Age," "Science Fiction and Space-Age Mytholoogy," "Book Publishing for the 21st Century," "Technological Forecasting," "Philosophy and Technology," and "Technology and the Disabled".^[2][7]

Students were enrolled from 40 states in the United States and 20 countries around the world, and there were no face-to-face classes.^[3][5] Faculty and special lecturers included Michael A. Banks, Gregory Benford, William Benzon, Harlan Cleveland, Sylvia Engdahl, Keith Ferrell, David Gerrold, David G. Hays, Michael Heim, Nicholas Johnson, Lionel Kearns, Paul Levinson, Brock N. Meeks, Frank Schmalleger, J. Neil Schulman, Rusty Schweickart, Donald B. Straus, Gail S. Thomas, and Harvey Wheeler among others.

References

1. ^ Linda Marie Harasim, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Lucio Teles, Murray Turoff (1995). Learning Networks. MIT Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 0262082365. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Vicky Phillips (September 1996). "geteducated.com". Internet World. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20080705095245/http://www.geteducated.com/articles/articles_old/iw.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Ray Percival (1995-11-28). "Carry on learning". New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14820045.300-carry-on-learning-learning-cyberspace.html. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
4. ^ Starr Roxanne Hiltz (1994). The Virtual Classroom: Learning Without Limits Via Computer Networks. Ablex. pp. 57–58. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Michael Freitag (1989-04-02). "LIFE STYLE:As Computer Bulletin Boards Grow, If It's Out There, It's Posted Here". The New York Times (paid access). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED8133FF931A35757C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
6. ^ Softserv 4.03 (1991-06-05). "Catalog of paperless books available from Softserv". Softserv Catalog. http://www.totse.com/en/ego/literary_genius/cat4-03.html. Retrieved 2008-08-25. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ ^{a b} Gail S. Thomas (1988-02-01). "Connected Education, Inc.". Netweaver. Electronic Networking Association. http://cgi.gjhost.com/~cgi/mt/netweaverarchive/000144.html. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
8. ^ Apple A2 Pro Roundtable (1993 March 1). "Digital Publishing News". GEnie Lamp A2Pro ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.1, Issue 02. http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.gno.org/doc/genie/a2pro/genielamp/aplp199303.txt. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 

Other reading

• Paul Eng (1994-10-17). "A sheepskin from Online U.". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1994/b3394114.arc.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-24.