Describes an electronic mail system used by the Horseheads (New York) Central School Distict's eight schools and central office that saves time and enhances productivity. This software calls up information from the district's computer network and sends it to other users' special files--electronic "mailboxes" set aside for messages and…

A Carnegie Mellon University study examined Pittsburgh Public Schools' use of computer networks. Classroom activities included sending work to another party, collaborating on group projects, and exploiting the Internet's remote data sources and processing capabilities. Teachers' computer usage is discussed, along with implementation advice and…

Profiles computer usage at Tapawarea Area School, a small, rural, pre-K-12 school in New Zealand. A guided tour finds 14-year olds writing stories at individual terminals, several students participating in distance learning, older students teaching younger ones in forms 6 and 7, and a social studies class communicating with another school. (MLH)

Blended e-learning approaches combine the power of the Internet with existing class events or assignments. Inexpensive tools include electronic mail, keyboarding instruction, online research, streamed video or audio clips, message boards, chat rooms, scanned class reading assignments, and online assessments. IT buzzwords are decoded. (MLH)

Describes and defines the Internet from a classroom perspective as a place to talk, a place to get organized information, and as a place to organize and put information. Two World Wide Web projects in Syracuse, New York, that support school curricula are described in a sidebar. (JKP)

A Nebraska consultant/former teacher explains his role in developing Internet accounts for teachers while working on a wetlands distance-learning project and an arts-education consortium. He explains ARTnet and other Internet services, including Telnet, FTP (file transfer protocol), the Gopher retrieval system, NetNews, and Listservs. Sidebars…

Basic information for teachers on using computer networks is offered, including local area networks; national and global networks; electronic mail; finding a connection (local bulletin board systems, college and university computer systems, and state and regional systems); and the Internet. (DB)

Examines activity cycles in long-distance educational electronic networks based on experiences on FrEdMail (a grass-roots microcomputer-based electronic network) to create effective network-based learning activities. Yearly, weekly, daily, and other cycles are described; and cyclical patterns for two types of instructional interactions are…

This supplement offers a practical guide for wiring school classrooms for local area networks (James P. Tenbusch and Harry Vaughan); shows how a California school district built a network infrastructure from scratch (James Klein); and describes how a Utah district negotiated cheap, fast Internet access over plain old telephone wires (Mary…

This study identified factors that best predicted the amount and perceived benefits of network use based on TENET (Texas Education Network) use. A 70-item electronic mail survey measured five categories of variables, and findings suggest that network facilitators should try to increase interactions among potential and current network users.…

The Electronic Data Transfer (EDT) network for Connecticut local school districts encompasses nine major databases and provides dozens of online data reports to network users. At a low cost and high degree of success, EDT has improved the data collection and reconciliation process at the state and local levels and generated a capacity for…

This paper describes the KIDLINK Project, a worldwide e-mail exchange with children from 10 to 15 years of age, which was created as part of the 1990 Children's Cultural Week in Arendahl, Norway, by Odd de Presno, a Norwegian journalist and author of computer books. The goal of the project is to create a global dialog among as many children as…

Describes support delivered by Harvard University's Beginning Teacher Computer Network which helps beginning teachers in disparate geographic locations. Data from mail surveys, computer message counts, and follow-up interviews indicate the network was most effective in providing moral support and least effective in providing technical support of…

Technological developments of the past decade have increased the potential of distance learning and telecommunications to help rural schools overcome disadvantages of remoteness, geographic isolation, lack of specialized staff, and limited program offerings. Classroom-focused distance learning is distance insensitive and involves transmission of a…

This curriculum guide is intended for use in teaching a unit on telecommunications to students with a basic understanding of computing. Introductory materials spell out the purpose of the unit--to provide an introduction to the sending and receiving of electronic information using a personal computer system and the telephone communications…