The use of the Internet as an instructional tool in higher education is rapidly increasing. However, alongside the enthusiasm and creativity that generally accompany this process, essential questions regarding the learning quality and effectiveness of online courses emerge too. In order to answer these questions, a comprehensive research program is currently examining Virtual TAU--a campus-wide project aimed at integrating the Internet into the instruction of Tel-Aviv University's academic courses. This paper describes the research framework for the study of Virtual TAU, along with preliminary findings of the various studies at three levels: the macro level takes the instructional perspective on the diffusion process of the Internet within instruction on the campus; the mezzo level focuses on the character of teaching and learning processes emerging in Web-supported courses; and the micro level looks at the actual usage of the Web in the teaching and learning of specific courses. (Contains 20 references.) (Author)