The Pioneer Award goes to the organization that "has contributed most significantly to the growth of the markets for educational technology and communications during the previous year."

"We were very pleased at the recognition that came to the Electronic Campus, which has become the nation’s most successful marketplace of distance learning courses since going online less than two years ago," said SREB President Mark Musick.

"We had a record number of persons [more than 500] at this year’s meeting and a record number of entries in the competition [more than 200]. It was an honor for the judges to recognize the mark that the Electronic Campus has made in the booming world of Internet education," said Nelson Heller, president of Nelson B. Heller & Associates.

The Electronic Campus, coordinated by director Bruce Chaloux, began in early 1998 with 104 courses. Now, anyone with Internet access can find more than 2,000 courses and 95 degree programs from more than 200 of the region’s best accredited colleges and universities.

Students taking courses through the Electronic Campus also have access to Georgia’s GALILEO electronic library, which has earned a national reputation for excellence.

The Information Institute of Syracuse won the EdNet Pioneer Award.