W. W. Norton's commitment to college educators, especially those teaching literature and composition, has drawn it right into the Gatesian electronic maelstrom, riding its aptly-named software, CONNECT. Ten years ago, Myron Tuman* and Ann Arbor Software developed a modest word-processing program (Norton Textra Writer) for teaching composition; today they have developed a unique Windows-based class communication program which can be used in DOS, as an add-on to WordPerfect, Word 6, Word 7, and Word 97 on a campus LAN, and now CONNECT.Net, which works with Word on the Internet (but no versions for the non-Windows conversant MAC).

Quite simply, the program offers three ways of communicating within a class (or among classes): the "posting" and reading of papers, responding to those papers in a discussion stream, and classwide e-mail or messaging. The teacher is at the control panel, setting up assignments and groups, determining access to papers, joining the discussion, collecting and grading papers electronically, even stopping the electronic flow with a broadcast announcement. But the students provide the verbal energy, whether posting papers for review and collaboration or creating a discussion/workshop in which every one can speak (write) and every one can respond, publicly or privately.

The CONNECT Web site (http://www.wwnorton.com/connect.htm) offers an abundance of information about the program, including an overview and lists of features for teachers and for students, pedagogical ideas and technical support. Two CONNECT manuals, for students and instructors, bring users at all levels up to speed, with their excellent introductions to Windows, Word, and WordPerfect, as well as CONNECT.

After three years of using CONNECT for all my (writing-intensive) literature classes I have found nothing else that works as well and consistently for my pedagogy and students, or with as much timely support, although I have also used Daedalus and Web forums and am familiar with CommonSpace. Acknowledging that bias, the evaluation is based on my experience using it primarily in a collaborative classroom environment (my classes meet in a computer center). I will first focus on distinctive features of the program, then consider how it works in the classroom with additional perspectives offered by my students and other CONNECTing faculty reviewers, Kris Bigalk and Jan LaVille (Des Moines Area Community College), Peter Sands (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee), Cathy Stablein (College of DuPage, Illinois), and Charles Hannon (Michigan State University). I will also consider some of the technical issues involved with using the program, with the caveat that I am no "techie," just a teacher who has found an essential pedagogical tool which happens to run on computers.