This digest describes proposed legislation for the implementation of the National Research and Education Network (NREN). Issues and implications for teachers, students, researchers, and librarians are suggested and the emergence of the electronic network as a general communication and research tool is described. Developments in electronic…

Long distance, or wide area, computer networking can change teaching and learning dramatically. Teachers and students with access to a computer, a modem, and phone lines are freed from the physical limits of a school building and time schedules. They can communicate with peers and gain access to electronic resources, making individualized…

Some of the newest methods of distance learning (DL) use the Internet and the World Wide Web. DL on the Internet usually takes one of the following forms: electronic mail; bulletin boards/newsgroups; downloading of course materials or tutorials; interactive tutorials on the Web; real-time, interactive conferencing; "intranets" (internal,…

Formerly reserved for use by scientists, researchers, and computer buffs, computer networks now have capabilities that make them extremely useful to science teachers and their classes. This digest is designed to provide educators with some basic background on computer communications and to provide a few examples of computer networks that are…