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Parents concerned about Internet safety and their teen (or preteen)'s online information-sharing should read this article. It may sound devious to check up on your children, but the era of social networking makes it a must-talk topic. Your child or young adult may not realize the serious safety issues involved with having online space. Trying to "just say no" will not work on this issue. Have the conversation. Although this may not be a classroom issue, the negative sides of social networking tools are harming the positive tools for learning made available through the same technologies.

Teachers may want to share this article with parents to help them get the dialog started.

Students will research Puerto Rico online, then communicate via e-mail with students in Puerto Rico to discuss different aspects of the island. Discussion topics include tourism and the environment of the island, and comparing the treatment of the Taino Indians in Puerto Rico by the Spaniards with the treatment of the Cherokee Native Americans in North Georgia by English settlers. Students will also learn about Puerto Rico statehood and collaborate with their e-mail buddy to write a four-page paper outlining the pros and cons of statehood.

Created for an Illinois elementary school, this award-winning site shows young children lots of different aspects of butterflies. There are also lesson ideas, links to science standards, and a number of illustrations. This site is both a good elementary science tool and a great illustration of what creative teachers can do in packaging instructional material for the web.

These simple lesson plans provide a developmentally appropriate way to introduce the computer keyboard to young children using manipulatives and mnemonics to help them remember key locations. the web page itself is very simple and straightforward, but the ideas are the important part. Note: this teacher is selling the final two lessons in the series, and TeachersFirst does not endorse any product for sale. You can, however, read and try the first two lessons, then decide for yourself whether you wish to go further.

The Virginia Department of Education has created a very usable collection of acceptable internet and technology use policies from schools, colleges, and universities. These are presented along with some general guidelines as to the information that an AUP should contain. Great resource for schools and districts that want to be clear with students, faculty and staff about on-line rights and responsibilities.

Share this link with your teaching colleagues who use the internet and technology regularly in the classroom.

Using an authentic environmental issue - acid rain - this lesson plan guides students through Internet research to discover pH levels of rainwater in their state, collect specific data from their own community, and investigate possible causes and solutions. In the process, students learn to use a spreadsheet to record and analyze data. Links to relevant Web sites and student materials are provided, along with ideas for extension activities. Aligned to National Standards.

This site offers a collection of resources offering assistance with adaptive technologies to make the Internet more accessible to those with disabilities. There are resources for vision, hearing, and motor deficits, as well as general resources on how information providers can accommodate the needs of the disabled. From the American Library Association.

Acrobat lets web site operators "publish" files in a format that looks precisely like a printed page. Acrobat is especially useful for sharing instruction manuals, long reports, or files with lots of graphics, tables, or other non-text information. The Acrobat reader is available free from Adobe, and you can configure your browser to open Acrobat files automatically when you get them from the Web. This page also contains a link to download the Adobe e-book reader.

Throughout the 20th century, advertisements have influenced public behavior and opinion while leaving enduring icons and slogans in their wake. Explore some of these snapshots of American culture in this Ad Council site that provides printed and multi-media glimpses of its public service milestones - from war bonds, to Smokey the Bear, to Vince and Larry, the crash test dummies. View the examples in class and challenge students to design their own ad campaigns to address contemporary issues in America society.

These fairly advanced puzzles - posted by two professors at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science - challenge students to construct and apply an algorithm or proof, or write a computer program to arrive at a solution. A new puzzle appears every few weeks, followed by a solution and related references.

Cornell University’s guide to evaluating online information sources would be a great primer for teachers who are not proficient web searchers. High school students will also find this site a useful way of separating the reliable research sources from those less trustworthy.

Professional development activities are just a mouse click away. This exceptional online library contains hundreds of educational videos, covering all grade levels and content areas. Search by discipline, grade, or keyword and complete a free registration to view the materials. Check out the broadcast schedule for a list of daily simulcasts. A high-speed connection is a must.

Teacher's First Edge Review: This free site is for very adventurous technology users. With Apture, you can create a rich multimedia experience to your site, wiki, or blog, with instant access to video, audio, text, and more. Easily incorporate these multimedia objects into a page of your site, providing instantaneous information from Wikipedia, Washington Post, You Tube, Flickr, and many more. Adding these multimedia links creates icons next to your text. Hovering on the icon brings up the related multimedia items for any reader. Since learning and finding information is not linear, the discovery of your information’s deeper meaning occurs with richer context in a shorter time frame. This relevant content remains dynamic within your site. Apture's own example of a page using Apture can be found here. See another: a wiki page with class notes and Apture annotations created by a teacher..

At the time of this review, Apture is in “limited beta” but appears to be automatically accepting all new applications.

Skills needed: Join the site and wait for verification email to log in. Enter your site/wiki/blog’s URL. You are actually allowed to enter many of these, but try ONE first! The site’s detector tool will then “sense” common blogging software, such as WordPress, and prompt you on what to do next. You must be familiar with embed codes and how to place them into your blog or website. Apture’s video tutorial will help (it also pops up along the Apture dashboard when you first go to your “Aptured” site/wiki/blog). Other the simple directions shown in pop-ups for using Apture in various blog and wiki tools. Instantly add the embed code to the most popular blog and wiki platforms with one click. The code generated is easily copy/pasted into your existing website/wiki/blog. Once the embed code is there, visiting your site/wiki/blog automatically brings up an Apture “dashboard” (small toolbar in the corner) for you to log in and add things to your site/wiki/blog. Highlighting text or another item automatically brings up the site (if a site name or URL) you wish to add. Other material can be located by clicking "add related media." Entering a search term instantly finds related Wikipedia or Washington Post articles, You Tube videos, Flickr photos, and more. Subsequent visitors to your site will see the icons next to any item you have “enriched” with Apture-linked media content.

Safety/security concerns: Membership requires an email address log-in. If students will use Apture with their own classroom blogs/wikis, check your school district's Acceptable Use policy regarding student email and establishing site memberships. A single class account created by an extra email account and password (NOT the one you use for your own teacher-created sites) is an option, assuming students will not vandalize each other’s work.

Apture recognizes your any site/wiki/blog name you have entered into its system each time you go there. Therefore, enter only sites you intend for multimedia use. Do not check “remember me” when you log into Apture or others will be able to add mischievous links to your site from that computer! Apture may not be fully accessible inside your school filtering because of the bandwidth it requires or the sites it pulls up. Check in advance to be sure all portions you plan to use in class will be available at school.

Practical Tips: Demonstrate first on a projector or interactive whiteboard with a teacher account so students see how easy the tool is for those familiar with embedding. This will allow you to discuss reliability of links and appropriateness of content to the audience for their educational projects. Enter additional search terms to add new media through the Apture pop-up dashboard. If you are Apture-enriching content on your site/blog/wiki for students to use independently, think of all the possible questions that your students may have about the content and vocabulary. For example, we know certain words are stumbling blocks for students, yet students are hesitant to find the meanings on their own. Link a Wikipedia or other definition for instant access to the meaning. Since Wikipedia is user-generated content, consider requiring students to link to two or three different definitions/articles so they can see first hand the variability of web information. You will need to be sure that students actually READ what they link and do not simply subscribe to “more links are better” to impress you. Consider asking for justification or critique of the links they include.

Possible uses: On your own blog or class information site, link videos explaining a curriculum topic or definitions so students understand the full context of the sentence. Use Apture to teach about evaluating the reliability of web sources by creating multiple links from the same term on a teacher-created page for students to compare and evaluate. Students can use Apture on a blog or wiki can to link content from the web to the information they are discussing. Special ed teachers may want to work with content area teachers to create enriched versions of key content on a class blog so students can experience a multimedia review. ESL teachers may want to create class blogs or wikis collaboratively with students to add visual stimuli and prompts. Consider having your more able students create some of these pages independently as a gifted project for learning support students to use later. Or allow gifted students to go beyond the usual “connections” to higher level, deeper understanding.

Try this student-created site on copyright and use of artwork in school and web projects as a great way to introduce elementary students to the basics of copyright an intellectual property. Teaching these habits early on is a great way to ensure compliance later on.

This site offers a broad collection of ideas, resources, and best practice discussions regarding the uses of assistive technology in schools. While the precise applicability of these resources will depend on local circumstances and student populations, this site could be a live-saver for teachers suddenly faced with a special education technology need.

This interactive manipulative helps strengthen skills in pattern recognition involving shape, color, and number. Project in the classroom for a guided activity or use as a small group challenge in the computer lab. Visit the Parent/Teacher link for helpful suggestions and guided questions. Aligned to National Standards.

This collection of downloadable templates provides great ideas for using Excel spreadsheets to create timelines across the curriculum. Visit the resource links for timeline content and interactive timeline tools.

This comprehensive article gives all the details on using gated blogs safely in the classroom, including explanations of blogging basics, a TeachersFirst Step-by-Step on how to start one, complete reviews of several free blogging tools for teachers, and over two dozen ideas for how to use a blog with your students. Make "writing to learn" approachable and exciting. Don't miss the specially-honored TeachersFirst Class Blogs.

You could use this step by step as the framework for a self-directed or "buddy" professional development project. Share it with your principal or professional development coordinator.

The PEW Foundation research (2006) on who is blogging and who is reading the blogs Tells a tale of variety. As you consider blogging for the classroom, this background may give you ideas for your uses. It can also warns you about the concerns of using blogs as a source in student research. Bias is most certainly an issue. Blogs are, however, the ultimate primary source!