ABSTRACT
A major initiative in considering the potential contribution of technology to education was the appointment of the Web-Based Education Commission. In December 2000, the commission released its report, The power of the Internet for learning: Moving from promise to practice. An important issue addressed by the commission was the need to build a research framework for how people learn in the Internet age. According to the commission, this research framework would need to address learning outcomes and should be developed from an “understanding of how people learn and, of how new tools support and assess learning gains, what kinds of organizational structures support these gains, and what is needed to keep the field of learning moving forward” (Kerrey & Isakson, 2000, p. iv). Clearly much work remains to be done in understanding how and when to use various technologies to promote learning and instruction.
