Library & Information Science, Course 250: Instructional Strategies.
Dr. David Loertscher
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THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

The Internet is an international computer network composed of thousands of

smaller networks. As K-12 schools connect to the Internet, a new method of

communication opens up to educators and their students. This Digest

describes some sample services and resources that are available to the K-12

community by electronic mail over the Internet.

QUESTION ANSWERING:

The number of services that use electronic mail to deliver information is

increasing. Services that teachers will find on the Internet include:

AskERIC: AskERIC is the Internet-based education information service of the

Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system, headquartered at the

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology at Syracuse University.

Teachers, library media specialists, administrators, and others involved in

education can send a message requesting education information to AskERIC.

AskERIC information specialists will respond within 48 hours with ERIC

database searches, ERIC Digests, and Internet resources. The benefit of the

personalized service is that it allows AskERIC staff to interact with the

user, and provide relevant education resources tailored to the user's needs.

--E-mail: askeric@askeric.org

AskERIC Virtual Library: Resources developed from questions received at

AskERIC are archived at the AskERIC Virtual Library: http://www.askeric.org

KidsConnect: KidsConnect is a question-answering, help and referral service

for K-12 students on the Internet. The goal of KidsConnect is to help

students access and use the information available on the Internet

effectively and efficiently. KidsConnect is a component of ICONnect, a

technology initiative of AASL (American Association of School Librarians, a

division of the American Library Association). Students use e-mail to

contact KidsConnect and receive a response from a volunteer library media

specialist within two school days. E-mail: AskKC@ala.org

http://www.ala.org/ICONN/kidsconn.html

Ask a Young Scientist: A question answering service for students in grades

1-6 on scientific topics. Questions are researched and answered by advanced

chemistry students at Christiansburg High School. Students are asked to

limit their questions to five per message, but are encouraged to post as

many times as they wish. E-mail: apscichs@pen.k12.va.us

Ask Dr. Math: "Ask Dr. Math," a service for

elementary, middle, and high school students, is administered by students

and professors at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA. E-mail: dr.math@forum.swarthmore.edu

http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/dr-math.html

The MAD Scientist Network: The MAD Scientist Network is an "Ask-A-Scientist" service run

entirely on the WWW. They field questions in 25 areas covering chemistry,

physics, astronomy, earth sciences, and the biological sciences. More than

500 scientists at institutions around the world have joined their efforts to

provide answers to science questions. http://www.madsci.org

Ask A+ Locator: The AskA+ Locator is a database of

high-quality "AskA" services designed to link students, teachers, parents

and other K-12 community members with experts on the Internet. Profiles of

each AskA service include identification information (e.g., publisher,

e-mail address, contact person, links to services' home pages), scope,

target audience, and a general description of the service. Searchable by

subject, keyword, grade level, or alphabetical list. Ask A+ Locator is a

part of the Virtual Reference Desk. http://www.vrd.org/locator/index.html

LISTSERVS:

Listservs are automated programs that serve as distribution centers for mail

messages. Listservs focus on a single topic that may be very broad or

extremely narrow. People join a listserv by subscribing, then participate by

reading messages, or actively contribute by sending messages to the

listserv. Below are listservs of special interest to K-12 educators:

ECENET-L: Early childhood education, to age 8. To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu
Leave the subject line blank.

In the body of the message, write:
subscribe ECENET-L your firstname lastname

Archives:http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv^Archives

For more information: http://ericps.crc.uiuc.edu/eece/listserv/ecenet-l.html

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EDNET: Internet use in education.

To subscribe, send message to: listproc@lists.umass.edu
Leave the subject line blank.In the body of the message, write:
subscribe EDNET your firstname lastname

Archives:http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv^Archives

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Edres-L: Educational Resources on the Internet.

To subscribe, send message to: listserv@listserv.unb.ca
Leave the subject line blank.In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Edres-L your firstname lastname

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EdTech: Educational Technology.

To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@msu.edu
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Edtech your firstname lastname

Archives: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb

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K12ADMIN: K-12 educational administration.

To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe K12 Admin your firstname lastname

Archives:http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv^Archives

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KIDLINK: Kidlink Society runs several listservs in support of a global

dialog for 10-15 year old students. Subscribe to KIDLINK listserv to receive

information about the other lists.

To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@listserv.nodak.edu
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
sub Kidlink your firstname lastname

Archives: http://listserv.nodak.edu/archives/kidlink.html

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LM^NET: School library/media services.

To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe LM^NET your firstname lastname

Archives: http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv^Archives

For more information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm^net/

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MIDDLE-L: Education of children 10 to 14 years of age.

To subscribe, send a message to: listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Middle-L your firstname lastname

Archives:http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv^Archives/

For more information: http://ericps.crc.uiuc.edu/eece/listserv/middle-l.html

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NET-HAPPENINGS: Internet related news and announcements. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listserv@cs.wisc.edu

Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Net-Happenings your firstname lastname

Archives: http://wwwscout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/net-hap/index.html

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SPECED-L: Special education issues discussion.

To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listserv@uga.cc.uga.edu Leave the subject line blank.
In the body of the message, write: subscribe SPECED-L your firstname lastname

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TAG-L: General discussion about all topics related to gifted children.

To subscribe, send e-mail message to: listserv@listserv.NODAK.EDU
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Tag-L your firstname lastname

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USENET NEWSGROUPS:

Usenet Newsgroups are an electronic bulletin board system, accessible via

the Internet, that consists of discussion forums on literally thousands of

topics. Users should contact their system operator for instructions. Some of

the Usenet Newsgroups are:

--k12.chat.teacher-General discussion between K-12 Teachers

--k12.ed.art-Arts and Crafts Education

--k12.ed.business-Business Education

--k12.ed.life-skills-Life Skills Education

--k12.ed.math-Mathematics Education

--k12.ed.music-Music and Performing Arts

--k12.ed.science-Science Education

--k12.ed.soc-studies-Social Studies Education

--k12.ed.special-Educating students with special needs

--k12.ed.tech-Technology Education

REFERENCES AND READINGS

Abilock, D. (1996). Integrating e-mail into the curriculum. "Technology

Connection," 3(5), 23-25. (EJ 531 026)

Hill, J. A. & Misic, M. M. (1996). Why you should establish a connection to

the Internet. "TechTrends," 41(2), 10-16. (EJ 520 228)

"The Internet roadmap for educators." (1996). Arlington, VA: Educational

Research Service. (ED 397 520)

Junion-Metz, G. (1996). "K-12 Resources on the Internet: An instructional

guide. Internet workshop series, Number 5." San Carlos, CA: Library

Solutions Press. (ISBN-1-882208-14-5). (ED 389 316)

K-12 computer networking.(1995). "The ERIC Review," 4(1) (ED 392 413)

Lankes, R. D. (1996). "Bread and butter of the Internet." ERIC Digest.

Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology. (ED 402 925)

Laughon, S. & Kurshan, B. (1996). A monster of a job! "MultiMedia Schools,"

3(1), 12-18. (EJ 516 636)

Miller, E. B. (1996). "The Internet resource directory for K-12 teachers and

librarians, 95/96 edition." Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

(ISBN-1-56308-366-3). (ED 389 330)

Tennant, R. (1996). "Internet basics: Update 1996." ERIC Digest. Syracuse,

NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology. (ED 392 466).

Walter Shelby Group Ltd. Tile.net/Lists: The reference to Internet

discussion groups. Internet WWW page, at URL:http://tile.net/ (copyright

1997).

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ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and

disseminated. This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of

Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education under

contract no. RR93002009. The opinions expressed in this report do not

necessarily reflect the positions of OERI or ED.

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