Unity and diversity in communication: inevitable, permanent co-habitation, harmonious co-existence or two forces waiting to converge?

Resumo

The main aim of this paper is to consider the mensions “unity” and “diversity” in the realm of communication as power in a global society where the access to knowledge served by the Information and Communication Technologies (the Internet and the Web) should not be compatible with any kind of “technological/knowledge divide”. Topics such as the Internet as a global medium; the network culture; the instruments of regulation in a harmonious global society; e-writing from a social point of view; Netspeak; implications of multi-form Internet representations; the writings about the new technologies; the computerbased learning setting; and the role of the teacher in the computer-based learning setting are discussed bearing in mind the above mentioned dimensions “unity” and “diversity” as far as communication is concerned.