About New Horizons for Learning

For an overview of the philosophy of New Horizons for Learning, we suggest reading Positive Trends in Learning which is available on our website. We invite you to contribute examples of positive trends in learning for the update of this report.

For the past several years New Horizons for Learning has been actively engaged in exploring electronic technologies. Our earliest prototype, the Innovative Learning Information System (ILIS), a hypermedia database, was created in collaboration with a corp orate learning community. It required more computing power to display than most schools and other learning organizations could provide at the time, but it was an effective demonstration of what could be done with electronic technologies. The advent of the World Wide Web makes it possible to make the same information available over the Internet. It can easily be updated on the Web, and it is accessible to all types of computers all over the world.

Our newest project, The Building, is located on the Internet and requires only that the user have access to an Internet connection, a telephone and an inexpensive modem connected to a PC of virtually any type. Our location on the Internet makes it possibl e for our members to contact us from anywhere in the world.

When we began the Building project in 1992, electronic networking was considered by many in the education community to be an impractical, inefficient tool that might one day have some utility. At that time we were involved in several pilot programs and pl anning groups that convinced us that technology was advancing more rapidly than was public perception of the change. Today it is evident that this new means of communication has already become an essential resource for educational systems.

Schools using telecommunication technologies effectively are enabling students to produce astonishing demonstrations of new learning. We have observed that students exposed to the world of resources available by modem do not go back willingly to learn in educational systems that have not kept pace with change.

Our vision is to continue to be an interactive clearinghouse and resource locator, reaching out to serve the worldwide Internet community, offering an expanded view of teaching, learning, and developing intelligence more fully. We wish to remain in the un ique position of being at once independent and supportive of the communities we serve.

Mission Statement

New Horizons for Learning is:

An international network of people, programs, and products
dedicated to successful, innovative learning.

As such, this organization:

• Acts as a catalyst for positive change in education
• Seeks out, synthesizes, and communicates relevant

research and information
• Supports an expanded vision of learning that identifies

and fosters the fullest development of human capabilities
• Works to implement proven strategies for learning at every

age and ability level
• Builds support for comprehensive life-span learning communities
• Sponsors The Building, an online community of practice located

on the Internet.

You are part of our online learning community.
We invite your comments, contributions, and suggestions.
Some ways to reach us: