State and regional partnerships have been essential in connecting teachers and students to networked, digital resources, laying the foundation for the use of SURWEB resources.  The action plan for SURWEB connectivity and access is based on a) a state and regional planning documents, and b) needs assessment and implementation plans for SURWAN, a technology access project funded by the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1993.  SURWAN provided baseline study data about Utah teachers’ access to technology resources (Tyner & Chow, 1995). 

The first two years of the project (1995-97) were devoted to building a multimedia application and database for teachers and students.  In October 1997, SURWEB made the application available to teachers who could then produce customized multimedia presentations.  Thus baseline data collection about the access to SURWEB and its uses for learning began in earnest in 1997.  Data collection strategies included relevant sections in two follow-up teacher surveys in 1997 and 2000; two student surveys, a baseline in 1999 and a follow-up survey in 2000; and in the collection of on-line traffic data from 1997-2000.