Internet Resources for K-12 Collaboration   Making Connections and Joining Projects The Brainium http://www.brainium.com/ The Brainium is a collection of science resources. Absolutely fantastic graphics. The site requires Shockwave and some patience because of file sizes. Some of the resources are not as rich as one would like (Infomactor) but check out, in particular, Mondo Brainium, for collaboration between classes and with scientists. There is a membership subscription fee for using the site but visitors may check it out for free for 30 days. KIDPROJ http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/ KidProj is a part of KidLink and is a support area for teachers and others seeking to develop and implement inter-class collaborate projects online. A calendar of events, a list of a large number of current projects, and forms for joining projects are available. Kidlink and its associated mailing lists have been around for a long time and are well respected and supported. The service is free. Global SchoolNET Foundation http://www.gsh.org/ Perhaps the best place for a K12 educator seeking to start using the Internet, the Global Schoolhouse provides a wealth of resources for K12 educators including tools, articles, white papers, a registry of schools with web pages on the net as well as a registry of collaborative internet projects. A unique resource on the GSH is a list of K12 users of the internet videoconferencing software CUSeeMe. Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections http://www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc This web site hosted by St. Olaf College for K12 and postsecondary educators provides descriptions of and instructions for using several mailing lists for contacting other educators interested in collaborating over the Internet. Lists include project announcements and discussion as well as teacher to teacher discussion to foster development and participation in projects. As of 11/27/97, one list boasted 3118 teachers from 51 countries participating in the iecc mailing list. Kidsphere listserv kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu A listserv supporting educators interested in developing projects. Send email to listserv@vms.cis.pitt.edu with the body of the message containing "subscribe kidsphere your_user_name" eMail Classroom Exchange http://www.epals.com/ Another resource for finding partner sites. The chat section is a bit limited and seems to be sparsely used; however, the search feature for the database of classrooms seeking partners is very useful. The profiles of classes seeking partners seems to be used frequently--there are very current (within 2 days of this writing) entries from several classes seeking partners. Rigby Heinemann Keypals http://www.reedbooks.com.au/heinemann/global/keypalt.html Yet another resource for teachers seeking partner classes. Very recent requests. Site seems to get a lot of use. The site also has some guidelines for netiquette for email exchanges. The requests are broken into K-8 and 9-12 categories. This site is out of Australia, is sponsered by Reed Books, an educational publisher, and also contains lesson plans, hot topic guides, and other resources. Web66 http://web66.coled.umn.edu/ Web66 was developed with the support of a grant from 3M corporation. The project seeks to help educators set up their own Internet servers, link with other Internet using educators, and use the Internet to find and use appropriate resources. For educators seekng to work with other schools, the International Registry provides a list of links to the websites of schools on the web. Margaret Riel's Place http://www.gse.uci.edu/Vkiosk/Faculty/Riel/ A longstanding researcher and educator using the Internet with K12 classes, Margaret Riel's homepage has webtours (her name for online papers) introducing folks to the net, information on the I*EARN, Learning Circles (ATT), and Passport to Knowledge (part of NASA's Quest) collaborative activities, and a focus on using the Internet for the humanities, an area often neglected in favor of more science and math oriented activities. VTEL Lounge Registration Area http://www.vtel.com/newsinfo/users VTEL is a manufacturer of video conferencing systems. The VTEL Lounge is an unmoderated forum for educators and technical staff alike, to share their experiences in two-way, interactive videoconferencing. It's an excellent place for educators to network with other successful practitioners of distance learning as well as find folks with whom to have videoconferences. Note, this site has undergone revision and you now need to fill out some forms in order to join the discussions. Education First Videoconferencing Directories http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/vidconf/ A directory listing ISDN-based K12 videoconferencing users (also lists public libraries and community colleges). Great for finding sites with which to develop videoconferencing projects. Quest: NASA K-12 Internet Initiative http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/| Several wonderful NASA supported projects that include broadcasts, scheduled chat events, online materials and more. Recent hot topics include the brain's functioning in microgravity (Neur0n), the Mars pathfinder mission, and shuttle flights. Those seeking to pose questions during interactive chat sessions should check the schedule regularly since only the first 25 to register are usually permitted to post questions. The JASON Project http://www.jasonproject.org/ The JASON Project is on its 10th iteration of online students joining researchers in the field as they conduct research at far-ranging sites throughout the globe. The JASON curricula are cross-disciplinary (one recent one included the Jules Verne work, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and historical perspectives. A very cool resource. A new offshoot of the projects, JASON@School hopes to involve 500 classrooms in an online project. Exploratorium Internet Projects http://www.exploratorium.edu/internet_projects/index.html A list of links from San Francisco's Exploratorium museum's web site to other projects on the web, most of which involve some form of collaboration, including Exploranet, Project LINK, Science Learning Network, COVIS, and Teacher Educators' Network. The WWW VL http://tecfasun1.unige.ch/edu-comp/WWW-VL/eduVR-page.html Everything you ever wanted to know about MUDs and MOOs (multi-user dungeons and multi-user dungeon,object oriented). Despite the names, these are essentially text-based virtual worlds where the users can construct their environments (out of text descriptions) interact with each other and the environment and generally form an online community. Their are MUDs and MOOs for almost any niche area you might be interested. The site includes links to K12 specific sites and information on how to access them. Welcome to Scholastic Network http://scholasticnetwork.com/index.htm Scholatic Network, a subsidiary of scholastic books, is a subscription-based service for educators. Fairly pricey at about $300 a year for individual educators and over $2000 for yearly site licenses, Scholastic Network offers a 14 day trial preview of the network. Services include readymade interactive curricula, opportunities to interact with other classrooms and experts from a wide range of fields, and net tools to make the Internet more accessible to educators. Worth a look if only for the 14 day trial. Educators looking for an easy and safe way onto the information superhighway may find this a very worthwhile investment. Athena, Earth and Space Science for K-12 http://www.athena.ivv.nasa.gov/ From the Athena website, sponsored by NASA and SAIC, " Track drifter buoys in the world's oceans, forecast today's space weather, investigate tropical storms viewed from space. Athena engages students in observing phenomena using remote-sensed data to construct knowledge about the world. Data sets and instructional pieces are related to oceans, the atmosphere, Earth resources, and space/astronomy." Lesson plans and teacher training is often offered. There are opportunities for students to share with their peers data they gather and analyse concerning scientific phenomena. KidsCom http://www.kidscom.com/ Good graphics and fairly well-organized, this site has the requisite links to other "cool educational sites," a section for finding keypals or scribbling graffiti on the wall (moderated discussions for kids under 11 and 12 and up), and sections for sharing stories. The site is free but is advertiser supported so there are banner ads on many pages. MathMagic! http://forum.swarthmore.edu/mathmagic/ MathMagic brings together teams of classes to work on math challenges. FAQs, registration, and challenge options for various grade levels are posted. KidPub WWW Publishing http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub/ Another site for publishing work for the world to view. I had some intermittent difficulty reconnecting to the site, but when I got there, it has an great and growing collection of student work from around the world. Hewlett-Packard E-Mail Mentor Program http://www.telementor.org/hp/ Hewlett-Packard's site for matching employees with potential K-12 student apprentices throughout the world. In the 1996-1997 year, over 1500 employees participated in the program. Electronic Emissary Project http://www.tapr.org/emissary Links K12 classes to SMEs (subject matter experts) to act as a research assistants and mentors. Telementoring Young Women in Science Engineering and Computing Project http://www.edc.org/CCT/telementoring The title says it all. This site fosters ties between professionals in engineering, computing, and related technical fields and high school girls who are pursuing interests in these areas. You can also request a brochure from cct@edc.org. This project is now out of date. The site is still available as a resource but no further efforts appear to be underway--a shame.