To access the web, you run a browser program. The browser reads documents, and can fetch documents from other sources. Information providers set up hypermedia servers which browsers can get documents from. The WWW has great potential as a distance education tool. MOOs have a powerful internal programming language allowing to program sophisticated objets and actions that people can use.
All MOOs contain internal communication and information systems.
WWW-MOO interfaces resulting in a similar functionality. This contribution includes 3 sections. We first review the mechanisms that may explain the effects of collaborating. In the next section, we report the empirical findings regarding the conditions in which these mechanisms are triggered. We then draw some conclusions on the use of Internet-based tools for collaborative learning.