ABSTRACT
Considerable promises have been made for the use of the World Wide Web for this millennium's educational purposes. Various Web-based learning environments have been developed and different Web courses have been designed for higher education and continuing education. Recently, virtual universities have been actively planned. There has been an optimistic view that global networks and the use of computers for intellectual communication will further enhance and expand how humans connect, communicate, and create a sense of community (Bonk & King, 1998; Fetterman, 1998; Harasim, 1993; Owsten, 1997). The strongest argument for Web-based learning has been access: learning can be made available to students for whom distance or time is the primary impediment to certain studies. Learners can, for example, access virtual classrooms, online collaborative groups, learning circles, peer networks, and online libraries in a shared space.
