Learning online should make use of a number of Internet tools. For example, e-mail lets you exchange letters between continents very cheaply and almost immediately. Large groups of people can share their discussions by using electronic lists to send every letter to everyone on the list. Electronic magazines bring you up-to-date topics, such as news, arts, and sports. Search engines allow you to look for anything you want on the Internet, including the holdings of major libraries. In a chat room you can have a real-time written talk. Audio and video bring the world to your computer—you can listen to the world’s radio stations, and watch the evening news from another continent. And in an online conference you can even talk to your teacher and fellow students abroad.

Do you have an e-mail box? How much time do you spend communicating with your friends over the Internet? The Internet, the newest child in technology, is like a modern communication highway. It’s also a kind of super-shop where you can buy almost anything—you can get anything through the Internet, without leaving home at all.