Surfing the Web
When you set up an account with an Internet service or online service, you are given (or you may select) an e-mail address, usually consisting of some variation of your name followed by the "@" sign, the name of the organization or service you're connected to, and, after a period, its type (for example, "edu" for education or "com" for company).
The first thing many people like to do when they get online is to send e-mail to someone else. To do this, you need to know the other person's e-mail address and follow the instructions of your Internet service provider. If you enjoy this method of communication and want to be part of an ongoing discussion on a topic of interest to you, you'll probably want to join one or more electronic discussion groups or mailing lists.
More than 80 electronic mailing lists are managed by ERIC Clearinghouses, including ECENET-L (early childhood education), K12ADMIN (elementary and secondary school administration), LM_NET (school library and media services), and PARENTING-L (parenting issues). For a list of the many ERIC-sponsored mailing lists and links to subscription information, go to http://www.eric.ed.gov/resources/listservs.html. To browse the archives of many of these discussion groups, go to http://www.askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/.
In addition to using the Internet to communicate with others, you can use it to locate and print or save to disk a wealth of information on various topics. The World Wide Web (also called WWW or simply the Web) is the popular, graphics-oriented portion of the Internet organized by colorful home pages that enable users to click on linked text, images, or sounds from a single computer screen. For example, a teacher might start by looking at a collection of K-12 lesson plans, then connect to weather data, photos from space missions, or pictures from the Civil War.
Thousands of Web sites offer materials for teachers, students, and parents. In addition, when you visit a site, you'll be able to follow links to other sites offering related resources by clicking on the areas highlighted on the screen. Here are a few Web sites to help you begin your exploration.
http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites
This American Library Association site has links to more than 700 sites for families.
http://www.thegateway.org
The Gateway to Educational Materials catalogs and offers links to thousands of online lesson plans.
http://www.nara.gov/education
The National Archives and Records Administration site includes copies of primary documents and teaching resources.
http://www.school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/
B.J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper provides elementary and secondary school students with links to reference materials on many subjects.
http://www.ipl.org/ref
This site hosts the Internet Public Library Reference Center.
http://www.vrd.org/locator/subject.html
The Virtual Reference Desk provides links to various "Ask-An-Expert" services.
http://www.ed.gov/free
The Federal Resources for Educational Excellence site offers central access to materials supported by federal agencies.
 Gaining Access to the Internet
 Tips for the Internet
This page was updated on Fri Nov 2 19:13:52 GMT 2001 
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