K12Net: Begun on the Fidonet hobbyist network, K12Net is now also carried on many Usenet systems and provides a host of interesting and valuable services. These include international chat for students, foreign-language discussions (for example, there are French and German- only conference where American students can practice those languages with students from Quebec and German). There are also conferences aimed at teachers of specific subjects, from physical education to physics. The K12 network still has limited distribution, so ask your system administrator if your system carries it.
Kidsphere: Kidsphere is a mailing list for elementary and secondary
teachers, who use it to arrange joint projects and
discuss educational telecommunications. You will find
news of new software, lists of sites from which you can
get computer-graphics pictures from various NASA
satellites and probes and other news of interest to
modem-using teachers.
To subscribe, send a request by e-mail to kidsphere-
request@vms.cis.pitt.edu or joinkids@vms.cis.pitt.edu and
you will start receiving messages within a couple of
days.
To contribute to the discussion, send messages to
kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu.
KIDS is a spin-off of KIDSPHERE just for students
who want to contact students. To subscribe, send a
request to joinkids@vms.cis.pitt.edu, as above. To
contribute, send messages to kids@vms.cist.pitt.edu.
Knoxville Using the newspaper in the electronic classroom. This
News- gopher site lets students and teachers connect to
Sentinel the newspaper, and provides resources for them derived
Online from the newsroom. Use gopher to connect to
gopher.opup.org
MicroMUSE This is an online, futuristic city, built entirely by participants (see chapter 11 for information on MUSEs and MUDs in general). Hundreds of students from all over have participated in this educational exercise, coordinated by MIT. Telnet to michael.ai.mit.edu. Log on as guest and then follow the prompts for more information.
NASA Spacelink: This system, run by NASA in Huntsville, Ala., provides all sorts of reports and data about NASA, its history and its various missions, past and present. Telnet spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov or 128.158.13.250. When you connect, you'll be given an overview of the system and asked to register. The system maintains a large file library of GIF-format space graphics, but note that you can't download these through telnet. If you want to, you have to dial the system directly, at (205) 895- 0028. Many can be obtained through ftp from ames.arc.nasa.gov, however.
Newton: Run by the Argonne National Laboratory, it offers conferences for teachers and students, including one called "Ask a Scientist."
Telnet: newton.dep.anl.gov.
Log in as: cocotext
You'll be asked to provide your name and address. When you get the main menu, hit 4 for the various conferences. The "Ask a Scientist" category lets you ask questions of scientists in fields from biology to earth science. Other categories let you discuss teaching, sports and computer networks.
OERI: The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Resources and Improvement runs a gopher system that provides numerous educational resources, information and statistics for teachers. Use gopher to connect to
gopher.ed.gov.