[Some concerns] [Conclusion] [Bibliography]
[Appendix A] [Appendix B]

SOME CONCERNS


The potential for growth of the educational resources available throughout the Internet are endless. However, there are some concerns that need to be acknowledged. For one thing, there currently is no censorship, which means that students can access some material not appropriate for them. The Internet is not controlled by any individual or group. However, Congress is currently examining this, but the problem is that the Internet is not located in one specific place, country, or continent, in which, the U.S. Congress has no jurisdiction.

A second concern is the improper use of the Internet. Many schools as well as districts need to establish Acceptable Use Policies. These policies clearly have to state the ground rules for student online computer use, and must be signed by both students and parents before the students may participate on Internet related projects.

Another concern is that there is no systematic information system. There is no uniformity while searching for information. There are plenty of search engines. Some are easy and others not so easy to access. There is the need to have some information assistance. Sometimes, it becomes a major challenge to locate materials. At the same time many people are building home pages with references to their favorite links, this ultimately will build good reference materials .

A fourth potential problem is that, since this is an on-line service and canbe updated in a minute, it provides a dynamic process of updating and modifying materials regularly. However, since a number of people move or relocate their addresses, an active address one week may lead to a blindalley the next.


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CONCLUSION


The World Wide Web is in its infancy. As it grows and matures many different resources will customize it and shape it to meet their specific needs. The K-12 teaching and educators community will be no exception. The demands of education are specially rigorous. It is stated that there is a long way to go before the World Wide Web can serve as a major tool in elementary education. Specifically, the support for interactive communications is woefully underdeveloped, but is receiving significant attention and growth.

The responses to the survey revealed that the use of the different tools of the Internt is beneficial to the students regardless of learning styles or abilities. It was found that even very young children are using the resources to their advantage. Creative use of the Internet resources generates enthusiasm in students so that they respond with a better sense of self- achievement. It was also found that the use of the Internet resources enabled students to look for more information than required by the subject.

While further research needs to be done, it would appear that the Internet resources, does help children to do better in achievement. Effective use of the new technology with students working collaboratively and participating in peer conferencing should go a long way toward preparing the students for the society of the twenty-first century.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY


Apple Computer, Inc. (1994). The tools that will rebuild education (on line). U.S.A

Craighead, L. M.(1996). Global schoolhouse project. Linking Kids Around the World (on line). U.S.A.

Elmore, Sr. D., Olson, S.,and Smith, P. (1993). Reinventing school: The technology is now. Convocation of NAS and NAE (on line). U.S.A

Evard, M. (1995). Articulation of design issues. Learning through exchanging questions and Answers. The Media Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MA .

Floyd, S. (1991). The IBM multimedia handbook. New York. Brady Publishing.

Flake, J. L. (1995). The world wide wed and education. Computers in school. Florida State University. FL .

Gates, W. (May 1994) Multimedia technology and education: Progressive products and powerful promises. Booklist (on line). U.S.A

Hanson, V. (1995), Mindshare: An Interview by IBM Corporation. U.S.A.

IBM Corporation (1996) Internet Activities . U.S.A.

Illinois Federation of Teachers (1996), Insight: One small school, one giant leap into technology. Oak Brook, IL. Summer. pp. 4 - 5.

Illinois State Board of Education (1995). Learning Through Technology: Study Group Framework and Profile Tool. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Oakbrook, IL. pp 5 -10.

Jay, M. and Jay, H. (1994). Library/computer lab/and classroom: linking thinking, content, writing. New York. Neal-Schuman.

Jones, B. F., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., and Rasmussen, C. (1995). Plugging in: Choosing and Using Educational Technology. Council for Educational Development and Research, North Cenral Regional Educational Laboratory. Oak Brook, IL. (on line). U.S.A.

Library of Congress(1996). Library of Congress Home Page (on line). U.S.A.

Logan, R. H.(1995). Long Distance Education: Links To The Web (on line). U.S.A.

Morgan, E.L.(1996). The NCSU. Libraries Webbed information System (on line). U.S.A.

Mother J. (1994). Mother Jones Magazine. (on line), St. Francisco, CA.

Mitchell, K. (1994). Multimedia development for building knowledge structures. School Library Media Quarterly. Winter .

Missouri Botanical Garden(1996), Bulletin July / August. pp 10 -11.

Riley, R. W. (1995). Turning the Corner: From a nation at risk to a nation with a future. Second Annual State of American Education. U.S.A.

United States Bureau of the Census(1996). U.S. Bureau of the Census home page. U.S.A.

Unites States Congress (April, 1995). Office of Technology Assessment. Teachers and technology: Making the connection, OTA-EHR-616.Washington, DC: U.S. Government printing office (on line). U.S.A.

United States Geological Survey. (1996), United States Geological Survey home page (on line). U.S.A.

The White House (June 1993). Announcement of White House: Public access email.President's letter announcing public access email. U.S.A.

Web66 (1996). University of Minnesota (on line). U.S.A.

White House Press Release (March 31,1994a). Goals 2000: Educate America Act. U.S.A.

White House Press Release (April 13, 1995b). Office of the Press Secretary's: During endorsement of technology. U.S.A.

White House Press Release (October 31, 1995c). Statement of the vice president. U.S.A.

White House Press Release (March 7, 1995d). Vice president, Secretary Riley kick off. Administration's technology learning challenge program. U.S.A.

Zakon, R. H. (1994). Hobbes' Internet Timeline v1.1. U.S.A. 1994.


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APPENDIX A

SURVEY

Survey posted at: ed.linc.all, Teacher 2 Teacher POSTINGS, NOVAE, hub.mail.service, and all internet assistants listserves.

Hi! My name is Bill Pedroni. I am currently working in a research paper toward my Master's Degree in Education at S.I.U.E., in the U.S.A. I would appreciate if you would answer some questions for my survey for me. The subject is The WWW in the classroom K-12.

You can reach me at any of these  e-mails:	                                                             gpedroni@d131.org	                             	
gepedroni@lightfirst.com  

1) Do your students use the Internet(WWW, e-mail, listserves, engines)?

2) What is the most friendly search engine that you use?

3) Are Internet resources exciting for students to use? Do they holdstudents' interest?

4) After your students have been exposed to Internet resources, are theycurious enough to look for additional information?

5) What is the earliest grade that students are expose to the Internet?

6) Are there certain ability levels of students who benefit more? Upper?Average? Lower? Bilingual?

7) Are any WWW project in progress in your school?

8) What are your expectations regarding the Internet?

9) What do you understand for engaged learning?

10) Regarding Internet resources, are you concerned about the reliability ofthe result provided by the WWW?

11) How much time do you spend using technology in you classroom?

12) What is your position, and what part of the world are you from?

http://www2.aocn.aurora.edu/~bpedroni/index.html

                          Guillermo E. Pedroni           Brady Elementary School
                            E-M WK bpedroni@mail.aocn.aurora.edu                                HM gpedroni@ais.net                                HM memo@juno.com


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APPENDIX B

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF SURVEY


Shelly, Science department. High School. Dolton, IL. USA

Cheryl, Media center director. High School. IL. USA

Kevin, 8th grade Science teacher, Winston-Salem, NC. USA

Sabra, Elementary school. bilingual teacher. Texas. USA.

Ann, Elementary educator. Illinois, USA

Mary, Special Education Teacher. Illinois, USA.

Jamundse, English teacher. High School Los Angeles, CA. USA.

Ellen, Computer coordinator. High School. NSW, Australia

Sarah, Elementary education, Aurora, IL. USA

Sharon, Gifted education, elementary. Naperville, IL. USA.

Coleen, Elementary education. Aurora, IL. USA

Lynelle, Elementary teacher. Camberra, Australia.

Sue, Elementary education. U.S.A.

Cindy, Elementary teacher. U.S.A

Heather, Elementary education. Michigan, USA.

Richard, Physical education. Connecticut, USA.

Lilesn, Teacher/Technology coordinator elementary. Louisiana, USA

George, Professor of Physics. Univ. IL. Champaign, IL. USA

Jack, Computer lab aid, (Webmaster) Juneau, Alaska. USA

Tim, Elementary education. USA

Ken, Elementary teacher. Columbia, Missouri. USA

Steve, Library Information specialist. Denver, Colorado. USA

Michael, Science teacher. Community High, Ann Arbor , MI. USA

Gordon, Elementary educ. British Columbia, Canada

Beverly, K-8 Tech. coordinator. Boothbay Harbor, Maine. USA

Carla, Elementary Language Arts. Macon, Missouri. USA.

Joe, Computer resource specialist. Buffalo, NY. USA.

Aweitzer, 4th grade teacher. SW Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. USA

Julie, Elementary teacher. Montana, USA

Dougt, Elementary teacher. Las Vegas, NV. USA

Katherine, 5th grade teacher. Philadelphia, PA. USA

Nelly, School board member. Villa Park, IL. USA

Sandra, Elem. internet coordinator. Honolulu, Hawaii. USA.

Cmerr, Media center director. NY, NY. USA

Melinda, Elem. library paraprofessional. Muskegon, Michigan. USA.

Ryeneck,Computer/English teacher. Mamaroneck, NY. USA.

Susan, Reading specialist/Internet specialist. Tempe, Arizona. USA

Nancy, Computer teacher K-5. Seattle, Washington. USA.

Brenda, Elementary teacher. Las Vegas, NV. USA.

Klemens, Vice Director, Math/Physics/Information. H.S. Vienna, Austria

Janett, Elementary teacher. Champaign, IL. USA

Toledo, Computer teacher. Miami, FL. USA

Fifth, Computer technologies teacher. Long Island, New York. USA

Deb, 5th grade teacher. Champaign, IL, USA

Marjorie, Head teacher of University Primary School. Champaign, IL. US


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