INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY - GUEST EDITORS INTRODUCTION

This special section is dedicated to five papers which were presented in the Fall of 1995 on the Internet in two research forums: ITFORUM1 a nd PSYGAME.(2) These papers represent how research involving informati on and instructional technologies can be facilitated using the Interne t. A number of related themes are involved, including interactivity an d learning effectiveness, automatic collection of data on human-comput er interactions, and rights and responsibilities with regard to Intern et-related materials.;these papers are collected and presented here al ong with excerpts and extracts from the Internet discussions which the y prompted, so as to provide a concrete representation of how the Inte rnet is supporting and serving its many academic and research users. A n attempt has been made to retain the less formal character of Interne t discussions while illustrating how serious and fruitful exchanges ca n develop in such an environment. These discussions happen to fit well within the scope of this journal, and they occurred at a time when ce nsorship of the Internet was a much discussed topic in many countries. Our thanks to the moderators and maintainers of these and the many ot her meaningful Internet discussion groups.