Online Learning Basics

Collaborative Learning - Pen Pals to Projects and More
ePALS--Based in Toronto (Canada), the oldest and largest classroom email exchange, primarily for K-12.
Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections-- IECC is a mailing list for teachers seeking partner classrooms for international and cross-cultural electronic mail exchanges. The list has been used successfully in the past by Russian schools seeking partners. In fact, a search of the list's archives for the past year using the key word "Russia" netted about thirty messages.
Youth Net--From weather watching to spelling marathons and more, lots of excellent projects for your students to work on with others from across the globe.
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Discussion Boards and Email Lists - Extend the Conversation Beyond the Classroom Walls
Topica--Easy-to-use and widely popular email list serv.
YahooGroups!--The mother of all email list services. Warning: Yahoo requires you to register with them, which may result in junk mailings.
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Food For Thought - Journals, Email Lists, and More on the Theory of Online Learning
Bridgewater--This site shows you a calendar templates.
Class Online--This site is a wonderful site giving you step by step instructions on how to construct a classroom website.
Classroom Technology--This site designed to help K-12 teachers integrate technology into the classroom. Find over 5,800 annotated links to educational sites with free resources, all organized by theme pages and keyword search.
Computer Article--This PC Magazine online extra shows you how to convert them into great-sounding CDs. As includes a list of basic items you'll need before you begin.
Curriculum Flyer--From RiverDeep, a leader in educational software; this is a free online or email newsletter service providing excellent resources for WebQuests, early childhood education and technology, and more.
From Now On: The Educational Journal--Practical, classroom-tested tips for using technology wisely. Lots of sites tell you what to do with technology; this one tells you how to balance quality with quantity of technology.
Good Riddles--have fun figuring out solutions to clever riddles and keep your brain alive!

Indezine--This site teaches you everything you need to know about PowerPoint.
New Curriculum--You can find lots of sites telling all the things to do with the Internet and computers. Few actually reflect on the value of technology and education. This is a monthly newsletter with short, insightful observations on the role of technology in the schools. Sign up for the email version.
Office Update--This site gives information on Microsoft Office.
On The Internet--A huge site with lots of good teaching tips. This link directs you to Education World's archived articles on using the Internet in the classroom.
Spyware Guide--This site provides an all-inclusive resource to spy ware applications, what they do and how they’re used. These resources include: which software applications can detect and defeat spyware, an extensive database of all known spy ware applications and contact information.
Student Guide to Online Learning Success--comprehensive guide that provides simple, effective tips for being successful in the digital classroom.
Thirteen Ed Online's Discussion Board--Want to chat with fellow teachers struggling with the same issues of Internet use in the classroom? Sign up for this board, hosted by the PBS station in New York City, WNET channel 13.
Web Washer--This site gives you instruction on filtering out advertisements, bugs, and viruses.
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Internet Help - Terms to know, Ways to Surf, History to Forget
Be Web Aware--This site provides the tools you need to help keep your kids safe online.
Computer Hope--A great resource for beginners and experts alike. Among Computer Hope's vast library of info on all things digital is its Internet Help site.
Copyright Law--This site gives copywriting laws directly from the government.
Digital Image--This is a site for students and teachers to post digital images. This site is divided into a dozen different galleries where students and teachers can upload images.
Electionic School--This site describes to teachers about copywriting from the Internet and their legal rights as teachers.
Ez Homesite--This site helps you to build your own website.
Family First--The web's oldest and leading site for family-friendly web site reviews.
Get Net Wise--This site gives instructions to help the risks you face with children working online such as: pornographers, hackers, child-predators and those who would misuse your and your child's sensitive information.
Internet--This site is a center for safe and responsible Internet use. This site has effective strategies to assist people in acquiring knowledge, decision making skills, motivation, and self control, to behave in safe, responsible, and legal manner when using the Internet and other informational technologies.
Internet Primer--The New York City PBS affiliate station WNET (channel 13) has a marvelous website for teachers using technology. This link takes you to their Internet Primer, providing a starting point for anyone wanting to use the Web in the classroom.
Internet TourBus--Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of the Web, master the search engines, debunk urban legends, and more. A free twice weekly email newsletter explaining the Internet in plain English and good humor.
Isafe--This site is about safety on the Internet.
Kids Sites--This site provides information to keep children safe on the Internet.
Manual--This website gives you specific instructions on how to create your own web page.
MarcoPolo--MarcoPolo provides free training for teachers and teacher trainers in the use of the Internet. Stellar Web sites such as National Geographic and the Smithsonian have joined up with MarcoPolo to help educators. Click here to find out how you can get such training.
NoodleQuest--Are you a student, a parent, or a teacher wanting an easier way to surf the Web? Use this form at NoodleQuest to refine what you (not just topic but results such as photos or research or eyewitness accounts). Easier than Google with less time spent searching around.
Parents--This FCC Web site offers an array of information to help parents deal with, decipher, and monitor the communications that their children can access.
Portfolios--This site describes in detail digital portfolios including what they are and how to create them.
Responsible Netizen--This site is the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use has been established to provide outreach services addressing issues of the safe and responsible use of the Internet.
Safe Kids--This site provides a family's guide to making the Internet and Technology fun, safe and productive.
Techospud--This site equips teachers to use the internet effectively and effortlessly with items such as PowerPoint.
Tie Lab--This site’s primary mission is to discover and develop ways in which technology can serve learning. TIELab projects are characterized by hands-on, authentic and inquiry-based learning.
Web Quotes--This site annotates the results of your Google search with comments from other websites. This offers a convenient way to get a third party's opinion about each of the returns for your search, providing you with more information about that site's credibility and reputation.
Web To Web--This site gives instruction for writing in html and posting it on the web.
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Miscellaneous Tools
Calculators--Over 14,000 calculators created by businesses, education, and government for 100s of topics.
Consumer Guide--This site the Kaiser Family Foundation will help you navigate your employer or private health plan's internal review procedure, as well as any external review program your state may have.

Good Riddles--have fun figuring out solutions to clever riddles and keep your brain alive!

Hardware--This site is a highly interactive website with the best source for computer hardware information. It features information to allow beginners as well as intermediate and expert computer users to learn.
Manual--This website gives you specific instructions on how to create your own web page.

MastersInEducationOnline--provides helpful information on the challenges students and recent graduates face; challenges such as selecting a teaching specialty, understanding career options and outlooks, and finding a quality online master's program

Medlineplus--This site is an interactive health education resource. It uses animated graphics for each tutorial to explain a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. You can also listen to the tutorials.
NCES Kids--Painless way to introduce younger students to graphing. In less than two minutes, an elementary student can create a bar, line, or pie graph by entering data into this site.

Tech Republic--This is a site with information about computer maintenance, and a useful guide.
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Online Assessment
12Teach--Free for up to 100 questions per teacher in total.
HostedTest--Not really for the K-12 educator, but for postsecondary institutions with 1,000 or more respondents, may be worthwhile.
Hot Potatoes--Frustrated by the limitations of free and paid online assessment sites? Feeling brave? Download Hot Potatoes software (free to educators) and create your own templates!
Interactive Test--From Denmark, from the creators of 12Teach, allows you to put online quizzes onto your own web page. Best for postsecondary use. Limit of 100 questions free, or purchase a license. Does allow for testing in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Danish.
Problem-Based Learning Checklists--This is another wonderful and free resource from www.4teachers.org. This allows you to select criteria for a checklist that is content and age-appropriate, then print out that list for use by students as they create a project.
Quia--The granddaddy of all online testing sites. Lots of extras and the longest proven track records. Costs $49 a year per teacher (free trial period and discount for multiple educators).
QuizCenter--A free and easy-to-use site by Discovery School. Can be slow-loading due to high traffic.
QuizStar--Free and simple to use, from a non-profit education consortium called HPRTEC. Site does warn against using QuizStar for formal assessment, so may want to use it for review purposes only.
RubiStar--From www.4teachers.org. A free tool that helps you create detailed rubrics for a variety of content areas (including technology) and grade levels. Will let you save and print your rubric for use in class.
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Good Riddles--have fun figuring out solutions to clever riddles and keep your brain alive!

PuzzleMaker--Make a printable crossword, hangman, word search, and more for your class. Hint: kids love leading class, so why not let them transform their vocabulary words into puzzles for the class by using this site?
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Online Games - Ready to Use
A Game a Day--Especially for grades 2-6, a great way to start each day.
APlusMath--Geared towards the upper elementary or middle school students with lots of math drills.
ABC Teach--Index of puzzles and games for upper elementary and middle school students.
Cool Math--Middle school math games and activities.
Edu4Kids--Wide variety of math, social studies, and language arts games.
E.L. Easton's Puzzle Page--List of Web pages with puzzles and quizzes (some duplicates).
FunBrain--One of the largest and best organized educational game sites. Warning: the games listed for kids aged 5 and under may be beyond the reading ability of those students.
Gamequarium--Great for classroom resources as well as skill review (good page on early childhood activities).

Good Riddles--have fun figuring out solutions to clever riddles and keep your brain alive!

Math Goodies--Excellent resources for grades 5-8. Over 400 math activities, with special focus on pre-algebra.
Mega-Math--Los Alamos Laboratory (USA) hosts a phenomenal site for the student in grades 3 and up.
Prongo-- Educational game site (try math baseball), lots of sound and graphics.
Thinking Games--Games that aren't content-specific but instead increase higher-order thinking skills.
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Online Polls and Surveys
QuestionBuilder--High-powered, fee based site for building online surveys and polls. Free demo available.
Zoomerang--A free way to design, send, and interpret surveys online.
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Amazing Picture Machine--Just need a picture for your research project? Go to this site, type in your subject, and find what you need in seconds! From the North Central Region Education Library, this site is kid-friendly and age-appropriate (K-12).
Encarta--Search engines and browsable indexes; encyclopedia, a dictionary, and an atlas.
Field Guides--Since 1996, this site has provided online field trips on scientific topics for grades K-12. Take any existing field trip for free or pay $25 to purchase the software to make it yourself.
Filamentality--Make WebQuests, HotLists, Scrapbooks, and more for your classes. Easy way to transform surfing into real engaged learning!
NoteStar--What an extensive and free tool by www.4teachers.org! Let your students take notes online from online resources. NoteStar allows you to specify which student is researching what, add a button to the IE links bar to make taking notes easy, and monitor each student's note taking online. For grades 4-12.

online-phd-uk.com--free guides and advice by practicing university academics. We also provide free information and guidance for PhD Scholarships

Project Poster--Help your students publish on the web. This free tool from www.4teachers.org guides your students step-by-step through the process of typing text, adding graphics and links, and posting to the web. The site will host your student's work for free! Particularly helpful for the pre-Web design students (grades K-6).
Scavenger Hunts--What is a scavenger hunt on the Web? How can you make one? Click here to find out.
ThinkTank--Just what most teachers are looking for. ThinkTank is a tool by www.4teachers.org which helps a student refine a research topic by asking him/her grade-specific questions and creating a topic and subtopics from their response. Tip: use ThinkTank, then NoteStar to help focus major research such as Science Fair or term paper work.
TrackStar--In just 10 minutes, creating a track at TrackStar Will prevent your class being bogged down by misspelled URLs or limited verbal skills in grades K-2. Easy and effective for all grade levels.
WebGuides--Intrigued by the idea of guiding your students' research on the Web but a bit scared and overwhelmed by technology? Try Internet4Classroom's easy-to-follow template for making a WebQuest for just one class period, just one site. Click the link, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click WebGuide to get started!
WebQuests--This is the origin of all online research aides and still the most popular of formats: the WebQuest. Bernie Dodge's official page on WebQuest, try the WebQuest on WebQuests to get started.
Web Worksheet Wizard--Want your own Web site but lack the time, talent, and money? Try www.4teachers.org's free Web page-making tool. You can post assignments, describe classroom goals, give links to other pages, post photos of your area, etc. Be sure to read the Acceptable Use Policy so that your page is appropriate and safe for students.
WISE--From the University of California at Berkeley, WISE stands for Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment. This free resource is a mammoth database and discussion hub where your students compile information scientific controversies, then add to the dialogue themselves. A bit involved, but worth it for extended investigations. For grades 5-12.
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Search Engines
AltaVista--Nice alternative to Google.
Deerford Research--This site gives you a lot of search engines and categories to use them under.
Ditto Search Engine
DogPile--When searching is serious, go with a meta-search engine like DogPile which searches the other search engines for you.
Google--Arguably the best, one-stop search engine.
Pandia--This is an all-in-one search site devoted to Internet searching.
Search Engine Show Down--This site provides detailed analysis of Internet search engines, their features, databases, and strategies. Learn advanced searching secrets and more.
Search Engine Watch--This site provides tips and information about searching the web, analysis of the search engine industry, and help to site owners trying to improve their ability to be found in search engines.
Strategies for searching to web--With info on many different types of search engines
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This page is maintained by Lorrie Jackson, K-8 Technology Integration Specialist, Lausanne Collegiate School, Memphis, Tennessee (USA). Come back to this page frequently to see new links as they are added over the days, weeks, and months ahead. Bernie.