I suspect that the nature of the Internet and the abuses of it may have
already skewed what we teach. I doubt if very many of us are going to teach
our students how to download music or use a chat room.  Because it involves
setting up an account and submitting personal information, we probably won't
be teaching students to use auctions either. Perhaps we do need to examine
our teaching, though, to make sure that we don't direct our teaching in just
the way that we use the Internet. Here I am thinking of how elementary
school teachers tend to teach fiction books when boys are interested in
non-fiction, perhaps unknowingly transmitting the idea that reading is
"sissy stuff". If it there was a simulation to  teach online banking and
shopping, those might be valuable skills to teach our students of both sexes
to minimize the digital divide. 
	As a sidelight, I teach refugees from former Soviet Union countries.
Sometimes within days of entry, the men in the men who are online searching
auto auction sites. Within their community, there is a network of workers
who can take a damaged auto and make it look like new. They are looking for
just the right car to take to their family friends. I drive a 1991 Toyota
pickup; all of my students drive 21st century cars.
	Thinking about my students, I don't think that the stereotypes
necessarily apply as they are driven by their needs as newcomers who want to
continue their connections with their homeland. E-mail to friends back home
seems to be equally used by both. Both men and women like to download music
from "home". First language news sites are also popular, perhaps more with
the men. And a few of the  more net savvy of both sexes find the first
language java chat sites that the school's proxy hasn't been able to block. 
Bruce Moon
Adult ESL educator
Rio Linda, CA