A considerable body of evidence indicates that using technology simply to expand traditional adult literacy approaches and programs will not likely meet existing literacy needs, let alone the heightened expectations of the national literacy goal. One promising approach is to use home-based personal computers (PCs) equipped with modems and appropriate software to build and participate in on-line communities of linked computer users involved in literacy development efforts. Technology can play a useful role in building literacy engagement in the following ways: engaging learners in literacy activities, removing/reducing logistical barriers to participation, grounding participation in positively valued meanings and activities, addressing concerns of anonymity and "face," serving as a bridge (by using interactive texts and personalizing academic activities), establishing continuities between helping and tutoring, and building learning communities. Included among the important design and implementation issues associated with the approach of using home-based PCs to form an adult literacy education network are the following: ample equipment and access, technical support for equipment installation and use, user-friendly software design and tools, and teaching and learning support. (MN)