When choosing the curricularly-based goals for an online activity, it is advisable to think not only about what students will be learning as they participate (the content goals), but also about what they will be doing online, and whether that activity matches one of the process goals that you have specified. Most electronic-mail-based projects, for example, require participants to write to an audience of their peers. It is advisable to ask yourself whether such authentic writing goals are among those in the curriculum that you would have students address by participating in the online activity that you are planning.
Your telecommunications account allows you to access an almost inconceivable amount and variety of online information. In mid-1994, for example, there were more than 2 million hosts (computers with unique addresses that allow users access to online services) on the Internet, and between 20 and 30 million people in 146 countries who could exchange electronic mail with each other (Calcari, 1994; Quarterman, 1994). Within this vast array of possible connections, there are basically two ways that information can be shared online: among people and between people and remotely-located machines.
