In the early years of the Internet, there was an expectation that the availability and easy access to online resources of unparalleled abundance would increase educational equity throughout the socio-economic spectrum. In fact, research suggests that patterns of technology access often mirror existing inequalities rather than mitigate them, and if corrective steps are not taken, technology may worsen rather than solve equity disparities. Major obstacles to using the Internet are cost and knowledge of how to use the Internet. Among the educational benefits language arts teachers describe are those involving the development of research skills, integrated learning, interactivity, writing for real purposes and authentic audiences, handling difficult topics in new ways, multicultural learning, and collaborative problem solving. Despite the rapid growth of wired schools, surveys suggest that use of technology to affect classroom practice tends to be limited to small groups of teachers who are excited by the potential they believe technology has to motivate their students or to access new sources. Contains 20 references. (RS)