General


"Blacksburg Electronic Village"
 http://www.bev.net
Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV) was founded five years ago by Virginia Polytechnic University and Bell Atlantic Corp. and turned Blacksburg, Virginia into "the most wired town in America." In addition to the services commonly offered by digital cities--such as library, arts and entertainment section and news on community events--BEV also provides access to the "Health Care Center" (medical database, health services, support groups), the "Village Mall" and a special section for BEV seniors. The "Education Center" provides useful information for both educators and students, featuring Internet resources for teachers, online teaching tools, student projects on the Web, as well as a section on K-12 networking. (Vol. 1 No. 11, March '97)

"Daily Report Card News Service"
http://www.utopia.com/mailings/reportcard/
This site is maintained by the National Education Goals Panel. It includes news items updated thrice weekly (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and relating to K12 education. It is produced by the American Political Network with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. As one might suspect, this website is connected to a LISTSERV: a visitor to this site may request to receive the news items by e-mail. The site seeks to "cover the coverage," and they appear to do so in a very inclusive way that exhibits how K12 education is anything but a dull subject. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)

"The Diary Project"
http://www.diaryproject.com
"The Diary Project"--based in Marin County and sponsored by The Well--combines the intimacy of the diary with the anonymity of the Web to capture the thoughts and feelings of kids growing up at the turn of the 21st century. The entries gathered here are recorded thoughts in journal form, and visitors may browse them by subject. The topics range from "Family," "Friends" and "School" to "Violence", "Drugs" and the question "Who am I?" This online diary is a space for learning about kids daily concerns and for starting discussions of the topics covered. Depending on what their expectations are, some visitors may find it mesmerizing, others disappointing. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)

"EduNet"
http://www.apec.org/
The mission of "EduNet"--the Education Network of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)--is to create an interactive network of scholars, students, scientists, business leaders, and policy makers that encourages collaboration regarding scientific policy issues and resource management in the Asia-Pacific rim countries. The network links APEC's 18 member nations and is designed to stimulate and facilitate the creation of a Trans-Pacific Internet University. The site is worth a visit for anyone interested in this rapidly developing region: visitors to the "Virtual Campus" may join e-mail conferences on topics related to the Asia-Pacific region or browse the library's "APEC News Clipping Service," which contains more than 5,000 full-text articles from the region's press. (Vol. 1 No. 10, February '97)

"EdWeb"
http://edweb.cnidr.org:90/
For any parent or educator wanting to learn more about using the Internet, Andy Carvin, a new media policy specialist at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has provided a tremendous resource with this excellently designed site. The layout is designed to satisfy the needs of a particular set of users, and the visitor is never overwhelmed with too much information nor left without a range of attractive possibilities as to where his or her interests might lead. Notably, Edweb also offers a tutorial on HTML, and even allows someone taking the tutorial to actually construct pages and see the results online.(Vol. 1 No. 2, May '96)

"E/Street"
http://raven.ubalt.edu/ES
E/Street, a project of the School of Communications Design at the University of Baltimore, tries to connect the virtual and the real by creating a social information space--a "virtual community" representing the social and economic life of Baltimore, Maryland. You may "tour on foot" and take a look at photos of blocks and buildings, or visit buildings and people, the "Theater Project" or the University of Baltimore. A map of E/Street shows all the buildings and indicates one building for each of the categories about which information is provided, among them government, education, culture, and history. Although the site is still under intensive development and a lot of features and links are not yet implemented, E/Street looks like a promising project.(Vol. 1 No. 5, Sept. '96)

"First Lines"
http://pc159.lns.cornell.edu/firsts/
Edutainment, a party game, a literary quiz... "First Lines" may have something to offer for everybody. Created by John Dobbins (an Electronics Engineer at the Cornell University Lab of Nuclear Studies) and Mary Ochs (a Reference Librarian at Cornell's Olin*Kroch*Uris Libraries), the site provides visitors with the introductory lines to literary texts and lets them guess the title and author of the book. The first lines are listed under categories such as genre or decade, and there's also an easy-choices section to start with. It's not only a "fun game," but also an inspiration to pick up and read certain books (again). (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)

"Futureplace"
http://www.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~alumni/dlasday/xx/intro.chall.html
Futureplace, created by NYU Telecommunications student David Lasday, is an impressive site that has evolved out of projects undertaken by fifth and sixth grade students at three New York public schools. They were asked to imagine the future--in words and in art--and then to elaborate on their visions of the future in order to create attractions at Futureplace, a new international chain of themeparks. New visitors to the site are encouraged on every page to contribute their own projects. The pages make effective use of the students drawings and pictures of toy robots.(Vol. 1 No. 2, May '96)

"Global Schoolhouse"
http://www.gsh.org/
Global SchoolNet's Global Schoolhouse is a virtual meeting place for teachers and students. The site provides information structured according to categories ranging from the individual to the global: teacher, classroom, community.The 'Teacher Teacher' and 'Teacher Classroom' sections focus, respectively, on exemplary teaching strategies and resources to improve the learning environment, while 'Classroom Classroom' allows kids around the world to collaborate via e-mail, the Web, and desktop video conferencing. The Global Schoolhouse is sponsored by Microsoft Corporation and the products and tools featured here are by--good guess--Microsoft. Microsoft and MCI are also hosting home pages for schools, free of charge.(Vol. 1 No. 2, May '96)

"Global SchoolNet"
http://www.gsn.org/
As a non-profit corporation that has been in the business of advancing instructional applications of telecommunications since 1985, Global SchoolNet Foundation has gained among the K12 community the reputation of being an honest broker for educators and corporate sponsors alike--at least in the United States. It strives to serve a diverse constituency with a wide range of levels of access to the Web, e-mail, and other forms of telecommunications. The site offers a free registry of curriculum projects on the Net--an excellent source for getting a sense of what's actually going on in classrooms. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"The Jason Project"
http://www.jasonproject.org
This website was inspired by the outpouring of mail Dr. Robert D. Ballard received in 1989 when he discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The idea was to allow students to share the desire for learning that animates scientists and engineers. Described as a global field trip, the site is intended for young people in grades 4 through 8. The enthusiasm and attention to detail evident in the messages students post in the Student Discussion Groups are an indicator of the success this site enjoys. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"Middle of Nowhere Web"
http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/index.html
You might expect to get lost in the middle of nowhere, but in this case you'll find a lot: this site features more than 150 mb of data--for students of all ages--ranging from distance learning and university course material to tutorials on writing for the Web. The user-friendly design of the searchable site makes it easy to navigate the massive amount of data. The site was created by Brad Cox for George Mason University (GMU), Virtual School, Program on Social and Organizational Learning (PSOL), and the Coalition for Electronic Markets (CEM). Among the major areas featured here are "courses," "picture archive," and the "warehouse," storing information on dozens of topics, including Academia, Economics, News, K12, and Software Engineering. (Vol. 1 No. 8, December '96)

"The World Lecture Hall"
http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/
see article Vol. 1 No. 1, April '96

"Project Muse"
http://muse.jhu.edu/
"Project Muse" is the Johns Hopkins University Press' unique endeavor to provide worldwide, networked subscription access to the full texts of its 40+ scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Although only members of subscribed institutions have access to the full texts for now, visitors to the site find descriptive information about each journal as well as indexed tables of contents; they also have demonstration access to one issue of each online journal, can view information on the various subscription plans and discounts and even fill out an order form or subscribe online.(Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)

"Researchpaper.com"
http://www.researchpaper.com/
Created by Infonautics Corp., "Researchpaper.com" bills itself as the Web's largest collection of topics, ideas, and assistance for school-related research projects. The site's "Idea Directory" lets users select from over four thousand research topics across more than one hundred categories and launch searches for relevant information on a topic by using Infoseek and Electric Library (you have to become a member and subscribe). Since the Web itself is the largest "Idea Directory" anyway, and a variety of search engines can be used free of charge, you might prefer doing your own research instead of choosing an "instant" topic from "Researchpaper.com." Nevertheless, the site provides inspiring ideas, a chat room where visitors may discuss their research topics as well as a writing center (the materials accessible here are adapted in part from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.) (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)


Geology


"Earthquake Information"
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/
Run by the United States Geologic Survey, Geologic Division, this first-rate site provides up-to-the-minute information on earthquakes. For calmer moments, it also features articles on the science investigating what causes earthquakes and how they can be detected. Without any cutesy, patronizing attempt to make science edutaining, this site is both dispassionate and passionate about its subject.(Vol. 1 No. 5, Sept. '96)