Dare We Shape the Way We Teach?
Rather than science fiction far and away in the future, the scenarios I have outlined are currently available and will continue to evolve. Students and teachers currently have access to information shared over local and global computer networks. Browsers allow easy access to documents, graphics, animations, video images, even sounds stored on the World Wide Web. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) allows one to link transparently, quickly, and easily between these documents and files. Students can read and respond to each other's work as easily as if they were actually there. Search engines make finding information on specific topics easier and faster.

Opportunities for increased collaboration and publication are already available through electronic mail, mail distribution lists, synchronous MOO-based communication, and conferencing programs. Limited computer-based video conferencing is currently available and will continue to improve.

Given these current opportunities and future potentials dare we, as teachers, accept the opportunities presented by networked-computer technology and use them creatively yet critically to shape the way we teach? Dare we use networked computers to create/imagine new, interactive classrooms/situations that are convenient, comfortable, and conducive to the work of teaching and learning? Dare we use networked-computer technology to foster Brautigan's "cybernetic ecology" in new interactive spaces for work, play, and knowledge making?

Here is an example of how I used the interactive computer game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego to facilitate the teaching of learning of writing in a second language class.
I believe that we do--- indeed, that we must. Such a commitment can be rewarding for both teachers and students as we learn to work together in "mutually programming harmony."