Web Technology is a tool, just like a hammer. To learn to use a hammer, one would best be advised to have a purpose in mind for that tool. Reading about hammers does not necessarily mean one is equipped to use a hammer. Aside from knowing perhaps which end to use, the best way to learn to use a hammer is to use it.The same holds true for constructing online electronic learning opportunities. Many would have us believe that before becoming proficient at mounting web pages, we first need to study in depth the technology involved, even take a course in technology per se. Nonsense.

      There is a passage in Homer Hickham's novel, Rocket Boys, in which the boys find that they need to learn some trigonometry before they can get their homemade rocket to work. They approach their math teacher requesting his help. He replies that trigonometry is advanced study. Before approaching it, the boys must be well grounded in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. He advises the boys to wait a few years until they have first mastered those skills.

      What do the boys do? They have a pressing goal; they want their rocket to fly. So they teach themselves the trigonometry needed as they construct and field test their rocket.

      In assisting music teachers to design and implement electronic learning opportunities, we have found that a similar constructivist approach works best. Have a specific vision in mind, a task you wish to complete. It may be a perceived need to construct a web page for your class or ensemble, or to incoporate an online score markings page for a particular composition, or to put an audio file on the web, or to make a self scoring quiz.

      The most important thing is to have a purpose, a vision, a specific task that you want to accomplish. Before you can implement something, you need to have something to implement.

      Thus, before proceeding further with these implementation strategies, reflect and choose something specific right now that you want to accomplish with regard to electronic learning.