This paper describes three government-funded technology programs in Portugal and the changes they brought about in Portuguese schools: (1) Project MINERVA (Computing Means in Education: Rationalization, Valorization, Actualization), launched in 1985 and ended in 1994, was an innovative program to introduce new technologies in schools; (2) Program Internet in School, launched in the 1997-98 academic year, aims to connect all private and state schools to the Internet; and (3) Program Nonio-21st Century, created in 1996, has the priority of developing modern, updated schools that strive for precision, quality, and autonomy. In concluding remarks, the paper notes that the Portuguese government, through the Secretary of Science and Technology, announced the intention of distributing one million free e-mail addresses and of increasing one thousand-fold the production of Portuguese sites on the Internet with the contribution of different partnerships. Also discussed are the Internet as a vehicle for the transmission of American culture and the positive and negative effects of globalization. (AEF)