Formal university-based distance education has been around for over 100 years. For example, Cornell University established the Correspondence University in 1882, and Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts in New York was awarding degrees via correspondence courses in 1883 (Nasseh, 1997). Soon many other educational institutions, including the University of Chicago, Penn State University, Yale University, and John Hopkins University, were offering these nontraditional learning options for their students. Many institutions then moved to instructional telecommunications as the technology matured. With the entry of the personal computer into homes and workplaces in the 1980s, learning started to become more technology driven. But it was not until the 1990s, with the proliferation of the World Wide Web, that the concept of technology-enhanced education began to change drastically.
Getting the high schools involved in scientific research! The New York City Partnership to Advance Science (NYCPAS); Collaborative research projects between NYC high schools and a liberal arts college: The pilot year