Derek Maus takes a critical look at technology advertising. Commercials would have us believe that children of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds are eager and able to access classwork-enhancing computers. Maus compares that idealized portrait with three realities: experience with technology is neither universal among pre-collegiate students, nor uniform in its depth; lasting interest in technology among students is widely disparate, even after in-class use; and the quality of student work is not necessarily increased, and is often harmed, by the application of technology tools. Given these facts, should technology be an integral part of postsecondary curricula? Read Maus?s recommendation in "Walking the Line: Rectifying Institutional Goals with Student Realities."

Peter Havholm and James Ptaszynski continue to debate the future of education?and whether it will be brighter with or without the extensive use of technology tools. Havholm rebuts point-by-point the statements Ptaszynski made in his November 1997 open letter, including these ideas: traditional pedagogy does not work for many students; most people who argue against distance education are simply trying to protect their jobs; and faculty need to stop complaining about technology and figure out the best way to use it. Ed Neal steps in to mediate the debate and to proclaim "some basic truths" about teaching and learning. One forum, three voices: you cannot afford to miss what these talented intellectuals have to say.

"Information technology is blurring the distinction between in- and out-of-classroom learning," attests Barbara Horgan. "With network connections at every seat, the student may be learning 'out of the classroom' while sitting in a classroom. For management students this is especially important." Find out why?and get the scoop on innovative IT infrastructures at Dartmouth, Harvard, and Boston University?in Horgan's article on the hype, hope, and reality of IT in management education.

When Carol Taylor sat down to create two interactive Internet syllabi for former professor Dave Gowler, she knew nothing about Web-authoring or HTML. "It was just me, a blank computer screen, and my trusty 'Using FrontPage97' manual, " Taylor writes. Thanks to the explicit manual and the easy-to-use software, she designed superb pages. Gowler explains how one page, that for his "Introduction to the New Testament," has expanded the course beyond classroom walls and fostered three types of communication between himself and students: private discourse, semi-private discourse, and public forums.

Developed in the early 1990s as part of a study commissioned by the Department of Energy, the Minority On-Line Information Service (MOLIS) is a clearinghouse of information concerning institutions of higher education that are oriented toward students of racial or ethnic minorities. The site features: a database of minority-institutions and profiles of the faculty teaching at them; links to the homepages of member schools; and links to research, grant, and employment opportunities at governmental as well as private agencies.