A study examined the variables that influence the use of electronic mail. The Uses and Gratifications perspective was employed to determine the antecedent factors that motivate individuals to engage in electronic mail communication. Subjects, 105 students enrolled in graduate-level courses at a small midwestern university and 252 individuals who…

This guide is intended as a brief orientation to the Bulletin Board System (BBS) used by the California Educational Research Cooperative (CERC) in a continuing effort to expand support services to its member districts and ancillary providers through operation of an electronic networking system. This facility provides a means through which…

This manual is intended to provide guidance to those interested in establishing an electronic bulletin board system (BBS) that enables users to send and read messages both individually and by teleconferencing, and to transfer files to and from the system. The manual begins with a definition of a BBS and explains its uses and facilities. It then…

Communication via computer networks is becoming more common each day. The differences between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication fall into three categories: (1) temporal factors (asynchronous versus synchronous); (2) spatial factors (geographical context and distance); and (3) social factors (participants, their…

A writing exchange project at Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont, funded by Apple Education Foundation and McDonnell Douglas, examined what happened when high school students use word processors and a modem to write to distant audiences. In the first exchange, students interviewed each other in pairs and wrote short…

A survey of companies using telecommunications equipment investigated the distribution of channel selection and the use of external mail distribution systems. A total of 50 companies responded to the survey, which identified 12 telecommunications systems and seven external mail distribution systems. Results indicated that the four most popular…

The paper reports on the development of videotex services appropriate for the communication needs of hearing-impaired and speech-impaired persons in France. The videotex service, called TELETEL, serves 3.8 million business and home users with approximately 8,500 services through the public telephone network and packet switching network. TELETEL…

To collect baseline data about how K-12 standards were being implemented in North Dakota, a standards implementation survey was sent electronically to all school plants and to curriculum leaders across the state in the spring of 2002. Responses were received from 253 teachers, administrators, and curriculum coordinators representing approximately…

This study examined the access to and use of electronic mail (e-mail) and the Internet by postsecondary instructional faculty and staff. Findings are based on a nationally representative sample of instructional faculty and staff who taught one or more classes for credit in the fall term of 1998. These data originate in the 1999 National Study of…

The most common consequence of setting up an "electronic discussion group" for a university class or a group of faculty is a flurry of initial greetings followed by an enduring silence. Only a small proportion of computer users are active and sophisticated enough to read regularly and feel disposed to participate actively. Written…

This paper begins by reproducing an e-mail concerning the Wired Woman Toronto (WWT) organization, an e-mail which forms the first of four intertwined types of field texts that inform a narrative inquiry--the second is "story," the third is "research interview," and the fourth is "letter writing." The paper's framework…

This paper presents the experiences of educators at North Georgia College and State University while developing learning communities connecting the two disciplines of biology and English in the teaching of writing and editing within the scientific context. The paper states that for seven semesters English grammar and composition courses have been…

This action research study focused on electronic exchanges initiated by students who were asked to reflect and enter narratives that expressed their thoughts, feelings, and questions. The study was conducted through a systematic recursive cycle of identifying the idea or problem area, studying it by gathering data, and reflecting on the data in…

This brief paper describes the computerized mentoring program of Project DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at the University of Washington. Introductory material notes the origins of the mentoring concept and the value of DO-IT mentors to their proteges. The program centers on providing mentoring via the Internet…

A study examined communication selection within virtual organizations and the effects of these media. The subjects, who were 681 participants from 3 separate virtual organizations that used face-to-face communication, telephone, documents, voice mail, and electronic mail, completed a survey instrument. Follow-up interviews were conducted with key…