Abstract
This paper examines one of the most powerful ways in which groups have harnessed the promise of technology, the redefinition and creation of new "cyber communities." It uses as an example Staying Connected, a network that provides single, teenage mothers with public exchange messages, private e-mail, and chat rooms. It then looks at the main barrier to reaping the benefits of this rapidly changing technology and how, in the United States alone, for example, many people from disadvantaged communities do not have access to computers and information technology. The last part suggests steps that could be taken to avert this inequity, including federal funding in schools and corporate sponsorship.

From the Paper
"Like traditional communities, computer mediated communities are often comprised of individuals with shared interests. In their 6-month study of 42 single teenage mothers with young infants, Philip J. Dunham et al (1998) found that participants who had access to Staying Connected, a network that provided members with public exchange messages, private e-mail and chatrooms, reported feeling less isolation and parenting stress. Additionally, the study concluded that the teen mothers were able to develop "close personal relationships and a sense of community in this novel social environment" (Dunham et al)."

Tags:schools, chatrooms, email, cybersocieties

Abstract
This paper outlines a study that would focus on the role of relationships online and how they transfer offline, particularly in terms of their development, transition and ramifications. The paper suggests that such a study could help shed some light on the growing role of Internet dating and how it has come to intersect society.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Hypothesis
Methodology
Data Collection and Analysis
Summary
Conclusion
Review of Literature

From the Paper
"Harmon describes the transformation as a gradual one, eased with the lack of promise posed by purely physical relationships. Inherent in her study is the fact that an online relationship may not come to fruition offline; unlike a Friday night dinner date, no one is faced with public humiliation or the awkward kiss good-bye. While her discussion centers on the future of online dating through mutual subjects, her conclusion is profitable for exploring online infidelity. Many relationships cultivated online are now such an integral part of social life that the physical fruition is longer covered in a stigma, suggesting that the relationships based in a chatroom easily extend beyond the cables, power cord, and internet code of conduct."

Tags:ramifications, infidelity, non-internet, life, non-physical, human, being, communication, chatroom

Abstract
This paper asserts that distance learning for graduate programs has been slow in development because educational institutes believe that distance learning cannot fully educate the student, but recent research has indicated that distance learners do as well or better than traditional in class students do. The paper explains that the development of a graduate on-line program requires criteria, which will help ensure that the students gain the objectives to obtain the credits as well as provide the students with a support system in case they have a problem. The author states that the research objective seeks to describe the steps a graduate level program must undertake to transform the curriculum into a competency-based structure optimized for delivery online.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Literature Study
Project Design
Introduction
Purpose of the Study
Research Questions
Kind of Research
Sample and Population
Instrumentation
Data Collection Procedures
Analysis of the Data
Conclusion

From the Paper
"One of the differences the online program has from the in person program is the length of time required. The on campus degree program can be completed in one year while the online program requires the students to spread it over three to four years. The program offers almost identical courses according to those charged with its implementation. "Instead of attending lectures and labs like other students, they began on a self-paced track based using materials provided through the World Wide Web. In exchange for class participation and standard office hours, students would email the professor for assistance and meet weekly with a graduate-level teaching assistant ." One distance learning institution is exclusively for distance education. The University of Phoenix is designed for adult distance learners. One of their requirements is that the students be more than 23 years old. Another requirement is that the students have full time jobs. These requirements are to insure that the students are mature enough and driven enough to complete the course work through a distance learning program."

Tags:chatroom, email, implementation, institutions, traditional