The internet is a radically new medium which offers a wide range of ways that can support teaching thinking. In this introduction I'd like to draw a distinction between three different perspectives on internet use. Thinking through, thinking with and thinking about the WWW.

Steve Williams describes 'Newswise', an internet resource aimed at primary and secondary pupils which offers access to appropriate texts for discussion, a forum for exchanging ideas and support for teachers in developing strategies to help engage their pupils in different aspects of the stories and texts. This exemplifies (for me) thinking through the WWW where the internet is used effectively as a medium for exchanging news stories (accessed by teachers and pupils) and exchanging ideas about those stories. It would be difficult to provide such information and exchange information as effectively using other forms of communication.

Thinking with the internet is where the internet itself is the tool (rather that just the medium of communication). The benefits of using html with hotspots and links to create non-linear texts or pictures and diagrams that can be explored to support teaching and learning. Ian Patience's innovative exploration of a painting by Agnolo Bronzino is an example of how teachers can develop such interactive learning resources (though it should be noted that this painting was used with Year 8 pupils as part of the PSHE curriculum and the content of the painting and the issues it raises need to be handled sensitively with pupils even of this age group). A wealth of teaching resources can be developed and shared using the particular features that the environment of the internet offers. The interactive relationship with information is being exploited in other ways too. The search engine Kartoo offers visual results and shows the results of its metasearch with sites being interconnected by keywords. (http://kartoo.com). This starts to blur the boundaries of some of the distinctions that we have used in this focus pack.

Thinking about the internet is where pupils (and teachers) reflect on the internet itself. The information it can provide, in terms of capacity and range (to use terminology from the NOF outcomes) and in terms of evaluating its purpose and quality. Lyn Dawes article highlights a number of issues in this area and suggests some principles for effective educational use of web content and computer games.

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