This special issue presents articles contributed by academics from the Asia-Pacific region on perspectives and progress made in online learning and information technology (IT). The articles discuss online learning and IT efforts in South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Guam, and New Zealand. (AEF)

Describes the St. Louis Community College (Missouri) library's use of laptop computers in the instruction lab as a way to save space and wiring costs. Discusses the pros and cons of wireless library instruction-advantages include its flexibility and its ability to eliminate cabling. (NB)

Discusses students' equitable access to technology and considers whether the quality of access is comparable. Highlights include home computers and socioeconomic differences, computers in schools, how computers are used in school, gender issues, students with special needs, and examples of elementary and secondary schools that have overcome…

Discusses digital convergence, moral responsibilities, democratic principles, and the need to provide access to basic equipment that can be part of an information network; access to public information, including the ability to receive and transmit information necessary for effective citizen participation; and effective interfacing, i.e.,…

Discusses information literacy in the emerging information age, describes the Internet, and reviews the role of public library trustees in helping to provide access to the information superhighway. Topics include providing equal access to the Internet; staff training; adequate funding; and the leadership role of librarians. (LRW)

This paper reports on a research and development program which developed a more effective interface between personal computer (PC) users with disabilities and computer systems. The program emulates a PC keyboard, enabling disabled PC users to access standard software via a binary (switch) control element. (Author/DB)

Investigates the socioeconomic and gender equality aspects of the public's use of PEN (Public Electronic Network), a computer-based interactive communication system provided free to residents of Santa Monica (California). Topics discussed include public terminals; use by homeless people and by women; and participation in political communication…

Discusses a possible national education computer network that would include elementary, secondary, and higher education institutions. Topics addressed include Internet; common standards; distributed computing; open access; equity concerns; and examples of two successful public school networks in Virginia and Texas that are linked through the…

Discusses planning necessary for library media centers that are adding new technology. Highlights include equity and access; selection of an automated system; implementation; placement of hardware, both for patrons and for staff; CD-ROMs and networks; and a case study of the West Windsor-Plainsboro (New Jersey) Middle School. (Contains five…

Focuses on how to schedule the use of a single computer so that all students are represented and given equal access. Suggests that a computer management team be selected from within the class; discusses the teacher's role and student role definition and responsibility assignments. (AEF)

Fearing security problems, a congressional committee on Chinese espionage recommends that foreign students and other foreign nationals be barred from using supercomputers at national laboratories unless they first obtain export licenses from the federal government. University officials dispute the data on which the report is based and find the…

Discusses adult learners, lifelong learning, and methods for teaching the use of technology based on experiences with graduate students at Duquesne University. Examines computer hardware, computing expertise, and access to the Internet and e-mail; and considers the debate over concentrating elements of technology-based instruction into one course…

Discusses progress in connecting schools and classrooms to the Internet and explores relationships between school characteristics and Internet access. Differences among public schools in Internet access have decreased, but schools with the highest proportions of minority or poor students continue to have less access to the Internet. (SLD)

Provides an overview of current activities in Web-based learning and development in Romania. Discusses promotion of online learning by various societies and institutions; the distance courses based on traditional procedures; problems of the current state of distance education, including shortage of teachers and network administration and poor and…

Considers how to reform on-campus teaching of large classes by using and adapting distance education methods relying mainly on technology and educational media. Topics include student access to media; skill development needed by students and teachers to use the new technology; and cost effectiveness. (Author/LRW)