September 1995 New on the Net

Internet news you can use

Child safety on the Net. Worried about students finding unsavory material on the Internet? For advice on this matter, take a look at "Child Safety on the Information Highway," a short guide written by Lawrence J. Magid, syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times. The guide is the result of a collaboration between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Interactive Services Association, and it's available on the Web.

If you're interested in joining an ongoing dialogue with other educators and parents about this issue, you can sign up for an E-mail discussion list called CACI--Children Accessing Controversial Information. The list is a project of Brendan Kehoe, author of Zen and the Art of the Internet, one of the very first layperson's guides to the Internet. To join the list, send an E-mail message with the command subscribe in the body of the message.

Kids in space. In late September, NASA will kick off "Live From the Stratosphere," a multimedia astronomy project that gives kids a chance to join airborne astronomers doing research and to interact with them in real time. NASA will provide curriculum materials, two-way audio and Internet connections, and live video feeds from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory as it flies at 41,000 feet to study planets, stars, and galaxies with its infrared telescope. Targeted primarily at the middle school students, the project also will produce interdisciplinary materials for elementary and high school use.

To receive introductory materials and background information about the project, send an E-mail message. You also can sign up for regular updates about the project by sending an E-mail message with the command subscribe updates-lfs in the body of the message.

For more information about this and other NASA education projects, direct your Web browser to NASA's K-12 Internet Initiative. Finally, don't forget that every time the Space Shuttle flies, your students can access up-to-date information and images from the new NASA Shuttle Web.

Students help scientists understand Mother Earth. Imagine students and teachers all over the world joining efforts to collect environmental data that scientists will use to gain a better understanding of how the Earth works. That's the idea behind GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), a government-sponsored project that kicked off on Earth Day in April. Schools that register for the project get access to global environmental images (which are based in part on measurements taken by GLOBE students around the world) and an opportunity to work with top-notch scientists.

Federal grants are available to help defray the cost of the required Internet connection, and training will be provided for the project's lead teacher in each school. To find out how to sign up, connect to the GLOBE Web site, or call (202) 395-6500.

Web use in the classroom. Excited about the teaching possibilities the Web is opening up? Talk about it on WWWEDU, an E-mail discussion list for educators and Web-site developers interested in the educational potential of the Web. Here you can find out how other teachers and students are putting the Web to use in schools. To join, send an E-mail message with the command subscribe wwwedu firstname lastname in the body of the message, substituting your own name.

On the air, on the Net. If your school has a direct, high-speed Internet connection and you haven't tried Cornell University's CU-SeeMe software yet, you're in for a treat. The software allows Mac and Windows users to set up videoconferences over the Internet with the addition of a simple video camera and a video capture board. Schools have used the technology to do videoconferencing with classrooms on opposite sides of the globe as well as with politicians, scientists, and other leaders.

To join an E-mail discussion group that will get you in touch with educators at other schools around the world that have the capability to do this, send a message with the command subscribe cuseeme-schools in the body of the message. The discussion list is managed by the Global SchoolNet Foundation, which can be reached on the Web. The software is available via FTP.