The Internet is beginning to have many sites that do more than support
the existing curriculum; they offer whole curricula themselves. With
varying degrees of success they offer complex lessons that last
many days, present lots of supporting materials, relate to standards and contain assessment systems.
StarShip School
(http://www.edventions.com/starshipschool/index.html
): Created by Edventions, StarShip School presents an
increasingly comprehensive system for linking students, parents, teachers and administratives
in the educational process. It includes a vast library of annotated online material
for use in the curriculum, and facilities for classes to use email, chat rooms and
bulletin boards effectively. Eventually it will have student grading and tracking
systems included. The cost at present is about $100 per class.
LightSpan
(http://www.lightspan.com):
LightSpan has recently absorbed Global Schoolhouse to make a comprehensive educational
setting with a huge set of curricular materials and lots of
tools to take advantage of the full power of the Internet. Its subscription service,
LightSpan Network,
offers well-developed curriculum modules aligned to Illinois standards.
Scholastic
(http://www.scholastic.com):
A site with tons of stuff to help in the teaching of reading.
Education Place
(http://www.eduplace.com/
): Created by Houghton Mifflin, Education Place includes material
of all kinds, from simple worksheets, to direct links with the authors of children’s books.
National Archives Digital Classroom
(http://www.nara.gov/education/classrm.html)
: As it should, the National Archives has a fine digital collection, well arranged to help teachers
develop students' analytical abilities. See especially History in the Raw for well-developed units with supportive materials from the NARA collections.
American Memory
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html):
This superb site from the Library of Congress has well-organized units as well
as access to the resources of the Library.
Art Curriculum from the Getty Museum
(http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/ArtsEdNet/Resources/index.html):
The Getty Museum is one of the best of many museums which are developing
fine fine educational support materials.
The Harlem Renaissance
(http://www.eb.com:180/harlem/harlemhome_06.html):
This is one of a series of wonderful curriculum sites
published periodically by the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Stephen Hawking's Universe
(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/html/home.html):
Most PBS mini-series have sites on the web which are very
rich and contain fine support for teachers. They need not be used
in conjunction with the series, but video tapes are always available for
those who want to do so.
