Students can use all these media to express their ideas. The Web is also versatile in the structure of the information it contains. The links can point to anything and can be arranged in arbitrary patterns to match any structure. If used carefully, this versatility can lead to useful expressiveness. The Web is rapidly becoming known to the general public.
Newspapers love it.
Web browsers will be built seamlessly into computer operating systems. Several commercial enterprises intend to bring commerce and shopping malls to the Web, and make money doing it. As a result of all this public interest, educational applications will increasingly seem natural to students, most of whom will arrive at MIT already knowing how to use the Web. Interactivity is a necessary attribute of any successful educational technology. Passive watching of TV or, for that matter, an MIT lecture, is much less effective than an opportunity for the student to control the information exchange.