The letter format, whether on paper or on computers, fosters student collaboration and a virtual community. Letters have real audiences, even when those audiences are fictional, as in epistolary novels and imaginative writing assignments. Most adult, non-traditional students (such as those at Tidewater Community College in Virginia) know that…

A study examined adoption of computer communication technology by communication faculty in a sample of schools of communication in which online database services and electronic mail were made available to individual faculty members without cost or access barriers. A mail survey sent to 178 faculty at 10 institutions was returned by 115 faculty,…

In response to a call for new content and instructional techniques in the teaching of mathematics, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has launched an organization called MATHLINE, whose first project involved facilitating electronic communication among mathematics teachers nationwide. This document describes a study which examined the members'…

Distance education can assume many forms, including videotaped lectures, computer-mediated communication among teacher and student, and instantaneous, live two-way interaction. This paper focuses on tips and strategies for educators wishing to expand their teaching repertoires to include the use of these technologies. Teacher strategies listed…

The Internet is a wealth of information for researchers and educators as well as students from high school to graduate school who can access huge amounts of data via an Internet account. This paper presents basic terms and methodology for locating resources from the comfort of a personal computer, communications software, and a modem. Internet…

In spring of 1995 a partnership was formed between the Weakley County, Tennessee, school system and the Center of Excellence for Science and Mathematics Education (CESME) at the University of Tennessee at Martin to provide Internet access and training to rural teachers. The school system provided each of 20 science and mathematics teachers with a…

A study compared the discourse within a knowledge-building community in dual mediums: face-to-face meetings and electronic mail postings to a discussion list. Participants were faculty members and graduate students at a major university. The study focused on patterns of participation in both mediums, changes in these patterns, and possible effects…

Electronic mail is one means of dealing with resistance and recalcitrance among students faced with class materials that challenge their beliefs. A professor at a small technical university in the south found three topics particularly difficult for her conservative Christian students to deal with: the radicalism of the Romantic poets, feminism,…

D. P. Thompson (1987) pointed out that the e-mail network can help students work collaboratively, solve problems, and experience writing as communication in the real situation. This study examined the impact of e-mail debate on intercultural sensitivity, writing apprehension, and computer anxiety. Fifty-four students in two sections of a…

A recent article in the "Assemby for Computers in English (ACE) Newsletter" explains what most instructors of English already know--that students in most writing classes produce papers for which the primary purpose is the teacher. As the Internet becomes more widely available, students will have more access to what Howard Rheingold calls…

In a futuristic scenario, electronic environments and media might be used to foster a sense of connectivity and intellectual community in a literature seminar. "Cultural Turns" is both the title of the seminar and the justification for it: culture's turn from printed to electronic communication opens up new possibilities for contemporary…

This paper begins by arguing that access to education for those who do not attend classes on campus can be a question of their access to technology, i.e., the higher (or more exotic) the technology, the fewer the students who have means to use it. Almost universal access via the postal service is discussed in terms of speed, as compared with…

Since distance learning via computer/modem is a relatively new concept, little is known about the students in computer/modem classes. This paper investigated computer/modem college students' backgrounds, ages, interests, reasons for enrollment, grades, and course completion rates as compared to traditional students. In the study there were 167…

Bibliographers and librarians are aware of the new information technologies in information storage and retrieval. CD-ROMs and online database systems are two technologies used daily to assist users in accessing needed information. Although these resources are lacking in the fields of journalism and mass communication, possibilities for…

An online professional development course, Telecommunications and Information Access, offers educators the opportunity to earn graduate credit, learn about an emerging technological field, and interact using a telecommunication network. This independent study course offered by the University of Oregon and the International Society for Technology…