Co-operative Agricultural Extension Act,

Co-operative Agricultural Extension Act,

Correspondence Education, method of instruction conducted through the mail by a school or other qualified institution. Many educators consider correspondence education the precursor of distance education, which is instruction that utilizes different communication technologies such as the Internet, telephones, radio, or television. Correspondence education provides instruction in almost every branch of knowledge, for cultural improvement and for vocational and professional training. Correspondence courses are especially suitable for the physically handicapped and homebound. Special programs are designed for the blind and for parents of deaf children. Business and industry, unions, and the armed forces make extensive use of correspondence programs. Some correspondence schools also offer placement and vocational guidance services.

II  HISTORY, Correspondence education developed in the mid-19th century in Great Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, and spread rapidly. In 1840, the English educator Sir Isaac Pitman taught shorthand by mail. The university extension movement grew out of off-campus lectures given by the Scottish educator James Stuart of the University of Cambridge, England. In the 1870s, Illinois Wesleyan University began a successful home-study program; in 1883, a “Correspondence University” was established at Ithaca, New York. William Rainey Harper developed a correspondence program at Chautauqua, New York, in 1882 and continued this method in the newly established University of Chicago when he became (1891) its first president. In the 1880s, Thomas J. Foster started home-study courses in mine safety that were broadened (1890) to become the International Correspondence Schools.

III  CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS IN THE U.S., University extension and correspondence work in the U.S. was advanced by the enactment of the Co-operative Agricultural Extension Act (Smith-Lever Act) in 1914. The National University Continuing Education Association (NUCEA) was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1915 to coordinate the correspondence and extension courses of its member schools. NUCEA members offer home-study courses, usually at the college level. Member institutions, chiefly state universities and land-grant colleges, receive accreditation for their courses by the regional accrediting associations.Numerous correspondence schools flourish in the U.S.; many are accredited members of the National Home Study Council, an association of private and federal correspondence schools, established in 1926 to improve standards. Among the federal programs, the largest is the U.S. Air Force Extension Course Institute, which offers over 400 vocational, academic, and general courses to more than 450,000 students.

IV  INSTRUCTION ABROAD,Correspondence instruction is widely available in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, countries of the former USSR, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan. International agencies, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) utilize correspondence courses in developing nations.