
Education: School on the Web
From its start, the Internet has helped scientists and academics share their work, so it’s no wonder that people now are able to use the Web as an educational resource and research library. If you’d like to take a class without leaving your home, find the right college, locate teaching resources or learn about almost anything, we’ve found Web sites that help you do it.
Educators: Click here to sign up for our education newsletter.
Elementary, Middle and High School Student Resources
Students will find a wealth of resources on the Web and, so long as they sort the good from the bad, can benefit greatly from the amount of information available to them online. Here we’ve selected a few educational resources for students of all ages.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Many reference sites (for example, libraries, search engines and Web directories) have sections devoted to student resources: Ask for Kids, Yahoo Kids, and Quintura for Kids, for example. Even news magazines like Time For Kids and the Newsweek Education Program provide information to help kids keep up with the news.
- Ask your teacher for suggestions about Web sites that might be of help. Many school districts provide teachers with lists of homework help sites and other educational sites.
- Check the Web site of the company that publishes your textbook for help with lessons from your text. Often these sites have extra games, study tools and practice problems to help you get a grasp of the subject at hand.
Dulcinea's Picks
Teacher Resources: Lesson Plans, Support and More
The Internet can be a good source of teaching resources and support. In this section you’ll find a few sites to help you with lesson plans and classroom activities, as well as online communities just for educators where you can share ideas and resources with other teachers.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Each state has its own Department of Education, and your state’s DOE Web site is perhaps the most valuable resource a teacher can use: most have state standards as well as online tools and lists of useful Web sites for teachers. The National Center for Education Statistics has a list of state education agencies for each U.S. state.
- If you use a search engine to look for facts or data to present in a lesson, use one that searches only credible sites or databases. Generic search engines give you millions of results of varying credibility and relevance. Instead try Google Scholar, Infoplease, HighWire Press from the Stanford University Libraries or Galaxy of Knowledge from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
- For even more tips and sites for teachers, take a look at the findingDulcinea Teaching Web Guide.
Dulcinea's Picks
Parent Resources: Special Needs, Homeschooling and Tutoring
There’s no reason that your child’s education should stop at the classroom door, and the sites in this section make it easy for parents to find at-home activities to supplement (or replace) what your child is learning in school.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Blogs are a great way to get ideas about how to add to your child’s education at home. Try a blog search engine like Technorati or BlogPulse to find the topic of your choice. Parent Hacks, for example, is a great blog for parenting tips, and it has plenty of entries under the “learning” tag to enhance your child’s education (or just make it easier for you to organize your child’s schooling).
- See our findingDulcinea Parenting Web Guide to find creative ways to engage your child and encourage learning in the home, or to find inspiration for nonacademic activities and games.
- You’ll find a couple of homeschooling resources below, but we recommend a more extensive selection of Web sites for homeschooling in the findingDulcinea Homeschooling Web Guide.
- We have a more extensive selection of picks for homeschooling in our findingDulcinea Homeschooling Web Guide.
- Our findingDulcinea Learning Disabilities Web Guide has information to help you better understand your child’s learning disability, prepare your student for life in college and in the workforce, and connect with other parents of students with learning disabilities.
Dulcinea's Picks
E-Learning Tools: Education-Enhancing Web Applications and Podcasts
Knowledge is power—and you can get quite a bit of it if you know how to use the Internet to your advantage. With just a few clicks, you can access a variety of educational materials such as free online course material, educational podcasts and Web applications to enrich your online activity.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Several universities post course information online that anyone can view. The material ranges in depth and provides a taste of a college course for free.
Dulcinea's Picks
Continuing Education: GED, Career Advancement, Free Online Courses and Technical Schools
Whether you want to get your high school equivalency diploma, take the initiative to further your career or enroll in a technical school to learn a trade, find the information you need online.
Dulcinea's Insight
- If you’re considering advanced certification but aren’t sure you’re ready to take the step, check out CertMag. CertMag is devoted to delivering up-to-date information about certification programs, the technical industry and the job market possibilities for certified individuals.
- If you’d like to do more than just sample a few free online courses, see our findingDulcinea College Courses Online Web Guide to get familiar with the necessary accreditation, available online programs and degrees, and for more online study tools.
- For more information on career changes and advancement, visit the findingDulcinea Choosing a Career Web Guide or the findingDulcinea Career Transitions Guide.