Distance education is a way to provide needed instructional resources to rural schools, and the Internet and other telecommunications networks are the newest addition to the distance education toolkit. However, little is known about rural teachers' technological skills and attitudes in this area. A mail survey of 262 K-12 teachers in West Virginia--a predominantly rural state--examined their computer and telecommunications skills, resources available to support telecommunications networking, teacher attitudes about the utility of classroom and professional development applications of telecommunications, and background variables contributing to teacher attitudes. Teachers were familiar with various computer applications, particularly instructional applications and word processing. Although much less familiar with possible applications of telecommunications, teachers were generally receptive. Few had the hardware and software necessary to use telecommunications, however. While few teachers had actually used telecommunications services, nearly 70 percent wanted access so that students could get information for class projects, and 65 percent wanted access to full-text materials for themselves. Teacher attitudes were influenced by instructional level and teaching experience, while level of technological skills was related to gender and access to technology. Despite high teacher interest, future usage patterns of rural teachers are more likely to be influenced by state concerns for control, uniformity, and "efficiency," and by the extent to which private enterprise takes over the information superhighway for profit and limits access for rural areas. (SV)