patth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (01/28/88)
Connect Ed - New School Spring 88 on-line courses ------------------------------------------------- February 1 - March 31 Director: Paul Levinson Associate Director: Tina Vozick Each course carries three graduate or undergraduate credits. Graduate credits applicable to New School MA in Media Studies Degree upon matriculation; awarding of graduate credit assumes possession of earned bachelor's degree and completion of New School registration. Undergraduate credit is general New School Adult Division credit. Tuition: $296 per credit ($888 per course) graduate, $278 per credit ($828 per course) undergrad and non-credit. Registration fees: $60 graduate, $20 undergrad and non-credit. These fees include all necessary connect time for courses with exception of local call to data packet network. Technological Forecasting (Joseph Martino) ------------------------- This course examines the theory, practice, and consequences of technological forecasting. Examination of features of forecasting includes: growth curves, curve fitting, trend extrapolation, limits of trends, technological substitution, and indicator gathering. Students prepare a forecast of technology of their choice, using the methods taught. Requirements include submission of forecast proposal, reports on interim work, and submission of the final forecast to the instructor and the group. Artificial Intelligence and Real Life (Paul Levinson) ------------------------------------- What are the prospects and limitations of machines that purport to think? This course examines the claims, pro and con, made about current artificial intelligence programs. Issues considered include: is protein necessary for intelligence, what is the connection between biological evolution and intelligence, can reason be designed, expert vs. human systems, talking through vs talking to computers, and the moral implications of AI. Specific cases of AI are assessed in such areas as medicine, law, and education, and a mock trial is conducted on the "murder" of an android. Applications in Telecommunications (Tom Hargadon) ---------------------------------- A practical survey of new electronic communications media and their social impact on the world today: computer networks, satellite communications, teleconferencing, telecommuting, data bases, electronic banking. What are these new forms of communication and why are they so important? Will they change society in the future as drastically as television and radio have changed society in the past? If so, how? What do you need to know about these new media to understand and succeed in the strange new world of electronic communications coming into being before our very eyes? Telelaw: Legal Issues in Telecommunications (Brock N. Meeks) ------------------------------------------- This course examines the issue of legislation (at both state and federal levels) as it affects telecommunications. A double- edged sword, legislation could take away the "free speech" aspect of telecommunications, by imposing laws and regulations, or provide online communication the same protections afforded the spoken and printed word. The course examines topics such as ownership of online information; electronic pornography; right to electronic privacy. Specific pieces of state and federal legislation are considered. The Microchip Economy: Workplace, Workspace, Workpace (Richard Dalton) ----------------------------------------------------- The real impact of microcomputers often gets lost behind technological jargon and figures (how much ROM do I need for my office?). Here we look at short-term and long-term actual effects of personal computers on people and business, ranging from career and industrial displacement to relocations of entire segments of the national and international economy. What are the plusses and minuses of PCs for entrepreneurs, small and giant enterprises, to consider? What career paths are opened and closed to individuals seeking to make a mark in today's computer-reliant economy? These and related practical issues are considered against the backdrop of a society in sharp technological change. Electronic Publishing (Harvey Wheeler) --------------------- This course examines the practice and issues involved in the editing, publishing, and dissemination of news items, reference materials, and scholarly and professional journals via electronic means. Topics include historical survey of dissemination of texts, economics of print as opposed to electronic publishing, entrepreneurial electronic "presses" and "desktop" publishing, and the impact of electronic publishing upon public information and scientific knowledge. The course includes practical training in such areas as inauguration of electronic journals, manuscript recruitment, editing, and publicity. Computer Networks and Professional Writing (Sharon Lerch) ------------------------------------------ This course examines the ways that computer networks can assist the process and placement of writing. Issues such as the individual author in a group process and the roles of criticism and direction in writing are explored through discussion and writing of fiction and nonfiction in an on-line environment. Participants are expected to interact generously with one another, reading each other's work carefully and giving thoughtful, constructive comments with the guidance and participation of the instructor. The role of computer network "contacts" in placement and publication of works is explored, with special attention to submission and editing of manuscripts on-line. Computers and the Democratic Process (Donald B. Straus) ------------------------------------ This course begins by examining weaknesses in our current decision-making processes, on the political, economic, and social levels. Innovations needed to improve decision-making are suggested and explored, with special attention to the role of new interactive media and personal computers in the flow of information and the resolution of disputes. The field of "computer assisted negotiations" (CAN) is utilized as a central case study, and the linkages between decision-making via computers and the democratic Many thanks for your interest in Connected Education. In the past two years we have offered 50 graduate and undergraduate courses entirely via computer conferencing to more than 250 students across 22 states in the US including Alaska, California, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Alabama, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York -- and from many parts of the world including Japan, Singapore, the Middle East, Norway, Denmark, England, Iceland, South and Central America, and Canada. Most of our participants are professionals in the business, public sector, and educational communities, and all took full credit courses without interrupting their daily activities, in the privacy and convenience of their homes or offices. Students who travelled extensively in their jobs were able to take our courses simply by "logging on" from the nearest telephone. Word of our exciting program has been carried in such publications as Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, High Technology, InfoWorld, PC Week, and BYTE, and by such writers as Isaac Asimov. As explained in detail in the enclosed materials, we are offering 8 courses this coming Spring (February 1 - March 31). entirely via computer teleconferencing, for academic credit granted by The New School for Social Research. These courses range from examination of practical issues in telecommunications and economics, to philosophic considerations of modern technology, to skill development in such as areas as professional writing and desktop publishing. Each course carries three New School non-matriculated credits, either graduate or undergraduate (graduate level requires greater on-line participation and more in-depth assignments than undergraduate credit, and assumes possession of a bachelor's degree). These credits can be applied either towards degrees at your own local institutions (assuming they agree to accept transfer credits) or towards degree programs at The New School itself, including the MA in Media Studies. In fact, qualified students can matriculate and pursue the MA in Media Studies degree through Connect Ed on-line courses. You also may take these courses on a non-credit basis. Tuition is $296 per graduate credit and $278 per undergraduate credit. (Tuition is inclusive of all necessary connect costs except your local telephone call to hook into our conferencing network. New School registration fees of $60 for graduate course work and $20 for undergraduate apply. Not-for-credit fees are the same as undergraduate.) A great advantage of the Connect Ed program is that any model computer and modem can participate with any type of telecommunications and word processing software. Our courses are conducted entirely in an electronic "computer conferencing" classroom environment, in which faculty and students enter comments and messages electronically in a continuing exchange throughout the course. During the two months in which our courses are conducted, students can read and retrieve material entered by faculty and other students, as well as ask questions of their own, any time of their choosing, night or day. Students in addition can communicate with faculty through private message systems, and there are facilities for "live", real-time exchanges between faculty and students. The result is a very stimulating intellectual environment, described by our students as akin to "top-notch seminars" and superior to most of the in-person courses they have previously taken. All students have access to our on-line Connect Ed library, containing hundreds of papers pertinent to our courses and to computer conferencing. There is a student lounge, a place for you to speak openly about student concerns. And one of our most successful features is the Connect Ed Cafe -- a sort of electronic hang-out where you can mingle with other students, faculty, staff, and friends of Connected Education, for fun and serious conversation alike. Topics of discussion in the Cafe have ranged from the quality of fast food in New Jersey to the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union. In general, the Connect Ed student will find an electronic campus environment that simulates and goes beyond the conventional in-person classroom and campus in many ways. If you'd like to register for our classes, you may do so by writing to us at the above address. Or for more information, please call Connected Education at 212-549-6509, or the New School directly at (212) 741-8903. We look forward to serving you as part of our growing national and international body of students. Sincerely, Paul Levinson, Ph.D Tina Vozick Director Associate Director Connected Education, Inc. e-mail addresses: Source: aah298 Compuserve: 72517, 3107 MCI-Mail: Connected Education -- Patt Haring UUCP: ..cmcl2!phri!dasys1!patth Big Electric Cat Compu$erve: 76566,2510 New York, NY, USA MCI Mail: Patt Haring; GEnie-PHaring (212) 879-9031 FidoNet Mail: 1:107/701 or 107/222