As an approach to teaching argumentation and persuasive writing, an Advanced Placement English teacher and his class investigated samples of hate-group rhetoric on the Internet as part of their persuasive writing study. Students prepared for the experience by reading Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language." They then…

Describes efforts of five school districts to develop their own online instructional programs: Basehor-Linwood Virtual Charter School, Basehor, Kansas; Clintondale Virtual High School, Detroit, Michigan; Evergreen Internet Academy, Vancouver, Washington; Hop-On!, Hopkins, Minnesota; and The Internet Academy, Federal Way, Washington. Includes the…

The ability to display an accurate image is commonly assumed to be a benefit of dynamic geometry software--it seems reasonable to conclude that the task of noticing and interpreting relationships between objects is easier if figures are drawn to scale. However, results of a study involving preconstructed, web-based, dynamic, geometry sketches in…

By and large, educators are honest and ethical. Yet, copyright violations such as those described in the following scenarios are all too common in many, if not most, schools: Teacher Gray shows Disney's The Little Mermaid to reward her students for scoring exceptionally well on a recent test. Teacher Black adds images taken from various Internet…

Recently, the popular press has pointed to increasing evidence of misuse and abuse of emerging technologies in U.S. schools. Some examples include using Web sites to intimidate or threaten students, downloading music illegally from the Internet, plagiarizing information using the Internet, using cellular phones during class time, and playing games…

The Internet has become a commonly used venue for seeking healthcare information. Young adults search the Internet for health information more than any other group, yet little is known about use patterns among community college students. The authors surveyed a diverse community college to assess students' use of the Internet for health-related…

The author of this column describes several instances in which secure data on computers were compromised. In each of these instances, a different route was involved in gaining access to the secure data--one by office-based theft, one by hacking, and one by burglary. Is is proposed that the most difficult factor to guarantee in the protection of…

February is Black History Month and time to celebrate the contributions of African Americans throughout history. This paper provides a selection of websites that can serve as starting points for learning and can be used all year long.

At least once a year, teachers generally request a historical fiction assignment. Bare facts make dry reading but historical fiction, set in an actual time period with plausible dialogue and credible characters, is more palatable to youngsters. This column discusses the most widely-requested historical periods of study for intermediate and upper…

There comes a time when one asks even of Yahoo, even of Google, "Is this all?" Yahoo and Google do an admirable job of categorizing the Internet and making its contents more accessible. But ultimately they're search tools, not research tools. There's a great deal of information not on the Internet, particularly thoroughly researched,…

Have you ever been harassed on the Internet? If so, you're not alone. The three most visible organizations that deal with cyberstalking and similar Internet issues receive about 30,000 complaints a year, according to Jayne Hitchcock, the president of one of them. And this number is related to adult crimes, not those directed toward children, says…

This article gives tips on how to avoid having content stolen by plagiarists. Suggestions include: using a Web search service such as Google to search for unique strings of text at the individuals site to uncover other sites with the same content; buying a infringement-detection program; or hiring a public relations firm to do the work. There are…

The Internet was designed as an open system that promoted the two-way flow of information. In other words, everything that is sent has a return address called an IP or Internet Protocol address of the form: 000.11.222.33. Whenever you connect to a website, the site learns your IP address. It also learns the type of computer you are using, the…

The authors present an experimental design used to teach concepts in the economics of auctions and implications for e-Business procurement. The experiment is easily administered and can be adapted to many different treatments. The chief innovation is that it does not require the use of a lab or class time. Instead, the design can be implemented on…

A computer virus is a program--a piece of executable code--that has the unique ability to replicate. Like biological viruses, computer viruses can spread quickly and are often difficult to eradicate. They can attach themselves to just about any type of file, and are spread by replicating and being sent from one individual to another. Simply having…