Internet Tools in Education Mailing lists have become a common Internet tool for educators. Distance education, another internet service, is a tool for teaching and learning. The National Center for Education Statistics has released a major survey on distance learning in higher education institutions conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Life-Long Learning. The complete survey, methodology, and findings can be viewed and downloaded on the Web. Distance education describes activities that interactively link two or more people at different locations.
Distance education is a viable, effective, and efficient training medium for a number of reasons.
It can be used in any environment in which people need improved access to information, have a need to share resources, or must travel to distant locations in order to communicate with one another. EDC was founded in 1958 when a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined forces with teachers and technical specialists to develop a new high school physics curriculum, PSSC Physics. EDC refined the curriculum, which taught science as the product of experiment and theory, constructed by real people, and introduced it successfully in schools across the country. In the 1970s, EDC applied the educational techniques that had proven effective in science, mathematics, and social studies to challenges in the areas of child development, gender equity, crosscultural understanding, and health education. At the same time, EDC's international work grew beyond basic education to include projects to promote community health, nutrition, and democratization.