Online education refers to any form of learning/teaching that takes place via a computer network. The network could be a local bulletin board system (BBS) or it could be the global internet and world wide web. The network could also be a local area network (LAN) or an intranet within a particular organization. Historically, online interaction has been called "computer mediated communication" (CMC), although this term covers applications beyond instruction (e.g., decision-making in work teams).