Describes how the Internet can be used to support the active construction of knowledge within classroom, and can be used to create authentic literacy experiences for children. Discusses how literacy and learning are being redefined by the social constructivist perspective and constructivism. Notes specific Web sites. (SR)

Argues that the Internet is a valuable information source for teachers. Demonstrates this by presenting an online Internet conversation between three teachers using a teacher "chatroom" to explore an educational issue (how to help students learn to read and appreciate informational text) with other like-minded educators. (SR)

States that the contrast of face-to-face communication with computer-mediated communication (CMC), either experimentally or experientially, may be a valuable way for teaching group dynamics and group decision making in educational settings. Suggests several ways to facilitate the use of CMC in single-session experimental and experiential…

Outlines the basic features of the transformation of the computer into a communication medium. Describes elementary forms of computer-mediated communication in the global network Internet: ways of retrieval and asynchronous/synchronous forms of interactive communication. Presents dynamics of communication in virtual environments, focusing on…

Summarizes the preliminary findings from a recent study of scientists in four disciplines with regard to computer-mediated communication (CMC) use and effects. Findings from surveys of 333 scientists indicate that CMC use is central to both professional and research-related aspects of scientific work, and that this use differs by field. CMC use is…

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) in public libraries can contribute to lifelong learning and social inclusion. Its use in libraries is hindered by concerns about privacy, limited resources, and beliefs that free Internet access is justifiable only for information, not communication. CMC in fiction/reader services, family history, community…

Examines the effects of process structuration by means of a training video on maintenance behavior and outcomes in 55 student virtual decision-making groups. Finds that trained groups had higher levels of social support, greater participation rates, and greater satisfaction with the group; wasted less time and energy; and made significantly more…

Describes a project conducted with Italian lower-secondary school classes using computers and telematics for the study of contemporary history. Discusses the use of computer-mediated communication to improve collaboration between students, teachers, and experts and to foster an alternative way of studying history. (Contains 4 references.)…

Discusses communities of practice and their role in organizational knowledge. Topics include situated learning and situated actions; distributed cognition; discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and genre analysis; performative perspective; interpretive approach; motivation; creating environments for participation in communities of practice;…

Discusses synchronous communication in learning via the World Wide Web and considers arguments for advantages of asynchronous approaches. Describes a synchronous Web-based professional development program for mathematics teachers in North Carolina and discusses the nature of online communication. (LRW)

Discusses issues related to women's use of new communication technologies and, in particular, how women use personal images to connect with one another online. Offers a glossary and notes some listservs. Offers suggestions for further reading. (SR)

Suggests that interactive group communication technologies, like computer conferencing, de-industrializes the distance education process and hence increases costs. Discusses constructivism, computer mediated communication, programs at Athabasca University (Canada), and implications for distance and campus-based universities. (Author/LRW)

Provides a summary of some of the technical solutions for producing anonymous communication on the Internet and presents an argument that anonymity is as much a part of crime prevention as requiring people to provide their names. Discusses identity theft; the three major techniques that make anonymous cash possible; and anonymizing Internet…

Examined how students drew upon their asynchronous conference discussions in an online course for their written assignments. Found that computer conferencing can give students the opportunity to rehearse discipline-based debates and then exploit these as rhetorical resources in their written work; students use the voices of their peers in ways…

Records data from 98 German male students who participated for 9 weeks in an off-campus online seminar on General Psychology. Findings suggest that the form of communication between the tutor and his or her students is a crucial and important aspect in virtual seminars--this holds true even though supplementary (written) social information about…