In the Fall of 1996 I taught, for the first time, a Masters-level seminar called "Wired: Government and the Internet." In keeping with the topic, the course was taught entirely on the Internet, with no lectures and no class meetings. Instead, we used electronic mail for communication and a World Wide Web site for making documents available.

One of my goals in teaching the course was to encourage class members-- most of whom were graduate students in Carleton's School of Public Administration--to explore the practical impact that the Internet was having on government. I wanted neither rhetorical visions of the future of government nor technical details about the configuration of government computer systems. I hoped that the students would choose a middle path, a path that would lead them to analyze what was happening on the interface between information technology and government operations.

Without a well-defined curriculum and faced with a rapidly changing subject matter, I decided to set the students free to find their own sources. Because our students are bright, well-motivated and very capable of working on their own, this worked out quite well. The four papers published here were written as part of the course requirements. While other students also wrote interesting and informative papers, these four exemplify the goal of examining a practical aspect of the widespread adoption of information technology in the government.

I would like to thank all of the "Wired" students--not just these four --for their contributions to the class. I learned a great deal about "what works" (and what doesn't!) from them and will try to apply those lessons this coming Fall when I teach "Wired!" again.

Notes

Saul Schwartz, "Introductory Remarks," Government Information in Canada/Information gouvernementale au Canada 3, no. 3 (1996-7). [http://www.usask.ca/library/gic/v3n3/schwartz/schwartz.html]
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