InfoTech Volume 31,
Number 2, December 2003
Laurel A. Clyde
Quality Web Sites for Education
Teacher-librarians often work directly with children,
as teachers of information literacy skills, as providers
of information services, and through reading promotion
activities, among other things. However, they also have
an adult constituency within their schools: teachers
and school administrators. School administrators have
information needs related to their work, including needs
for information about current educational theory, best
practice and new developments in education.
Teachers
share some of their needs, but in addition, teachers
have needs for information about curriculum
in their field, instructional strategies and appropriate
educational resources. Teacher-librarians also share
some of these information needs. In particular, teacher-librarians
have to be aware of current developments in educational
practice and current resources, if they are to be able
to work cooperatively and effectively with teachers.
This
article provides information about a number of large
and authoritative web sites in the field of education,
sites that will help teacher-librarians in their work
with school administrators and teachers. The sites
are varied and include searchable databases, classified
collections
of curriculum resources and news and current information
services in the field of education. Generally speaking,
they are sites that provide evaluated collections of
resources. Several countries are represented in the
list. Information provided about each site includes the
name
or title of the site (usually with the name of the
responsible organization or institution), the URL, and
an annotation
that describes the site. Links to all these sites can
be found in the collection of links to “Internet
Resources for School Libraries on the IASL (International
Association of School Librarianship) web site School
Libraries Online, and via
the online version of this column on the TL web site.
AskERIC
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) is
an information service funded by the United States
Department
of Education. At its heart is a searchable bibliographic
database that lists and describes more than two million
education reports, documents, books, articles, tests,
and other materials; the emphasis is American but resources
from many countries are included. AskERIC is a web-based
service that provides free access to this database,
plus the full text of more than 3,000 “digests” that
summarize current research in particular areas of education.
AskERIC also has an archive of questions (with the
answers provided by experts), and a collection of more
than 2,000
lesson plans. It is also the “home” of
professional discussion lists such as LM_NET for school
library professionals
from around the world, with its archive of messages
going back several years. Both simple and advanced
search options
are available for searching the ERIC database, and
comprehensive instructions are provided. A Yahoo-type
directory on
the home page allows the user to browse by subject
categories.
Blue
Web’n
Blue Web’n is an “online library” of
almost 2,000 (as of August 2003) evaluated “blue
ribbon” web sites, organized in content areas such
as science, business, mathematics, technology, vocational
education, history and foreign language. The database
can be searched by content area, school grade level and
format (such as lessons, activities, projects, resources,
reference works). Five new sites are added each week.
A free weekly electronic newsletter provides descriptions
of new resources as they are added. This site is made
available through SBC Knowledge Network Explorer. Although
based in the United States, it includes web sites from
around the world.
EdNA Online (Education Network of Australia)
2003 saw the launch of a new version of the Australian
EdNA service, with a number of new features. At its
heart is a comprehensive database covering education
at the
primary and secondary level, higher education, adult
education and international education. At the school
level, there are resources for students, teachers,
principals and parents. Areas of focus include information
and communications
technologies in the curriculum, study skills and student
exchange programs. Users can sign up for free electronic
newsletters that provide information about new documents,
resources and web sites in the field of education.
Kathy
Schrock’s Guide for Educators
Kathy Schrock’s Guide is now hosted by Discovery
School in the United States. Basically a classified collection
of web sites, it has sections for teachers, students
and parents. Subject areas covered include agricultural
education, art and architecture, health and fitness,
history and social studies, literature and language arts,
mathematics. Resources for teachers include search tools,
slide shows, WebQuests, assessment tools, the full text
of articles and news items. An e-mail service called “Site
of the School Day” provides information about new
web sites for teachers. The whole site is searchable
and there is a detailed site map.
Teaching With the Internet
Created by Dr. Sheila O. Gersh (City College of New
York, Center for School Development), this site is
basically
a classified list of educational web sites. Its strength
lies in its comprehensiveness and its coverage of technology.
Topics listed on the home page include Internet basics,
evaluating web sites, Internet searching, subject-related
links, WebQuests, making rubrics, software tools, web-based
activities and projects and a link to resources for
administrators. The page design is a little naïve but the resources
are evaluated and there is an “@sk Sheila” link.
BBC
Learning
From the British Broadcasting Corporation, this huge
site contains a wealth of resources for educators at
the school and college levels and for adult education.
The schools section has “revision and learning
materials for students, teachers’ lesson plans
and resources, and weekly articles for parents.” Subject
listings include English and other languages, science,
history, law and weather, among others. Collections of “learning
resources for home and school” cover the preschool
to 16+ age range, and include interactive programs, educational
games and chat rooms, as well as web pages. A free “Schools
Newsletter,” delivered by e-mail, provides current
information for teachers and school administrators. The
site is searchable and lists of resources can be browsed
by subject category and age range.
CyberBee
Developed by Linda Joseph in the United States, this
site offers curriculum ideas, research tools, treasure
hunts, web projects, collections of web links, “Cyberbee
articles” and other features. A “Primary
Source of the Month” highlights a curriculum resource.
Curriculum ideas focus on “How do I integrate the
Internet into my classroom curriculum” and include
cross-curricular resources and resources for mathematics,
science, social studies and language arts, among others.
The site is searchable and a free e-mail newsletter keeps
users up to date with resources on the site.
RDN – Resource
Discovery Network
Designed as an academic directory, this British site
(from JISC, the Joint Information Systems Committee)
is equally useful for secondary schools. It incorporates
a number of subject directories, including SOSIG (The
Social Science Information Gateway), HUMBUL (a gateway
to humanities resources) and directories in the fields
of computing, mathematics, geography, health and business.
In terms of education resources, SOSIG covers elementary
education, secondary education, adult and higher education,
teaching methods, educational theory, educational policy
and vocational education. The RDN site also has teaching
materials, news reports and free electronic newsletters.
ACER – Australian
Council for Educational Research
This site provides the full text of research reports
in the field of education (including for example, mathematics
teaching, numeracy and issues associated with “the
educational experiences and outcomes for girls and boys
throughout their primary and secondary schooling”).
Of particular interest is EdResearch Online, a database
of around 16,000 research documents and articles from
Australian Education Index. The database can be searched
or browsed online. Some of the documents are freely available
in full text; others are available for purchase.
Beyond
the Black Stump
In Australia, if you are “beyond the black stump,” then
you are a very long way from anywhere! If you are in
that position, then this commercial site will help you.
It consists of a classified list of web sites that is
updated regularly; the site can also be searched using
a number of criteria. The free Black Stump e-mail newsletter
highlights 10 web sites every day, including web sites
related to current political and social issues. It also
provides information about search engines and how to
search the Net, new software, games and puzzles, new
computer viruses and much more. Although Australian,
it is international in approach.
MultiMedia Schools
Published in print form by Information Today Inc. in
the United States, MultiMedia Schools is billed as “a
practical journal of technology for education, including
multimedia, CD-ROM, online, Internet and hardware” in
elementary and secondary schools. The journal’s
web site provides full-text access to some articles,
columns and resources, as well as to short news stories.
For example, the issue for May/June 2003 (the current
issue when this article was prepared) provided, among
other things, the full text of “Pathfinders: Helping
students find paths to information” by Kelly Kuntz
and a CyberBee column by Linda Joseph (see above) called “Teacher
timesavers, tools and tips.”
School Libraries Online
This web site for school library professionals is provided
by the International Association of School Librarianship
(IASL). It has the full text of articles and papers,
a collection of research abstracts, reviews of professional
materials, an online newsletter called “School
Library Happenings Worldwide,” a collection of
IASL documents, and links to documents on the Internet. “Internet
Resources for School Libraries” is a collection
of more than 2,000 links to evaluated resources for school
library administration, advocacy, library automation,
reading promotion, information literacy and professional
development. The site has a search engine, and the home
page provides a site map.
 Laurel A. Clyde is Professor in the Faculty of Social
Science at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. She
can be reached at anne@rhi.hi.is.
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