It is expected of new information technologies that they decisively influence educational measures. This goes above all for distance education in which the storage and transmission of teaching material will change fundamentally. The authors present forms of new information technologies (e-mail, CD-ROM, WWW etc.) which may be used in distance education and which lead to "global classrooms". These forms are contrasted with conventional distance education and compared with regard to the social dimension and the dimensions of sensorial modality and of productivity. Theoretical pedagogical concepts that are given special attention in information-technology-based distance education are analyzed with regard to open, situated, and social learning; and neccessary pedagogical framework conditions such as relevant project characteristics, specific student and teacher abilities, as well as learning effects are examined on the basis of empirical evidence. Finally, global classrooms are discussed from the educational-political point of view.