The World Wide Web is a new source of information available in and to the classroom which cannot be ignored. Its existence has gained such momentum, that its omnipresence in everyday life should have a similar LEVEL of impact as television, but with a qualitatively different purpose. While television for the general populace is a source of perhaps 75% entertainment and 25% information and education, the WWW provides the opposite. Granted, and to its credit, the information provided on the WEB may be considered edutainment because of its inherent motivation. Much searching and surfing is intentional and active—that is, the surfer usually has a specific information need and controls his or her time and navigation through the Web.

Surfing the Web can be a frustrating experience just as standing in the middle of Carnegie Library for the first time can be—until one grasps an overall understanding of the layout and contents, and then the kind of resources that are specific to an individual’s needs. The "Use the Web" model offered in this paper attempts to provide an overall conceptualization of the World Wide Web, and a merger of the resources of the web with specific, fundamental classroom teaching strategies.

Figure 1 conceptualizes the WEB and its use for classroom learning in three parts: the what () located at the bottom of the figure, and the how ( ) located at the top of the figure, and the use ( ) located in the center of the figure which merges the two.

The bottom portion of the "Use the Web" model outlines two major Web resources—information through sites and resources, and people through synchronous and asynchronous networks. An analysis of Web information for types of resources appropriate for teachers yielded two other categories—those which would help teachers write lesson plans or generate instruction and those which would provide instruction that is easily replicable. Databases, general information, references, and tools provide the building blocks for a good lesson plan, whereas, existing tutorials, student activities, projects and lesson plans provide a "building" that has already been constructed. An analysis of web networks resulted in identifying four types of synchronous access to people: electronic bulletin boards and video, audio, and text conferences; and three types of asynchronous access to people: e-mail, listservs, and newsgroups.

To provide guidance to teachers on how Web-based information and people can be used in a manner that is conducive to learning, six web-enhanced learning strategies (WELES) are offered at the top of the figure. These WELES are based on contemporary learning theory and an understanding about how people learn and an understanding of the resources offered by the Web.

The center of the figure, merges the ideas from the top and bottom to encourage teachers to "Use the Web" purposefully, and intentionally to access information and people to enhance their lessons.

The second section of this document elaborates on each Web Enhanced Learning Environment Strategy. It also offers reflection questions to help think about how to incorporate web-enhanced components into lesson plans. There is also a description of a suggested lesson plan format with an accompanying tutorial of how to develop a lesson using an example aeronautics lesson.

Finally, section three concludes with three summary tables: the key attributes of the WELES, how the WWW enhances learning for each strategy, and seven possible configurations of internet access to teachers and students matched with the most appropriate WELES to consider for each.