Education

Collaboration, whether between teachers and librarians or classrooms around the world, is fast becoming a crucial educational tool.

Educators have long cautioned students about posting damaging information online, but now it’s also becoming important to build a positive digital footprint. When should students start building their online persona? The earlier, the better.

When was Colorado admitted to the Union? What is the state motto of Idaho? Who were earliest inhabitants of Indiana? Any student tasked with writing a report about one of the country’s 50 states will find a wealth of information to aid their research online. The sites below include detailed state histories, population breakdowns, geographical information, fun facts and more.

No search engine is perfect, but armed with a few tips for better searching you can get great results out of (almost) any search engine.

The sites below have a cool collection of tools to help you learn about different countries. A lot of students have to research countries, and by starting with these sites, you’ll be able to write the most accurate and interesting report possible without boarding an airplane.

Misquotes often spread virally through social media, highlighting the lack of skepticism by Web users when sharing poorly cited quotes. Students should learn to treat quotes with suspicion, and how to verify questionable quotes prior to use.

To write effectively, students must be able to synthesize ideas from multiple sources into a cohesive viewpoint. Here are some strategies for teaching students how to do so.

The ability to fairly incorporate the ideas of another writer into one’s own work is a delicate skill that students of the Internet age must master.

These 10 trustworthy Web sites provide detailed accounts of historical events and figures, and collections of primary source material designed to help middle and high school students research U.S. and world history.

Wikipedia provides Internet users with millions of articles on a broad range of topics, and commonly ranks first in search engines. But its reliability and credibility fall well short of the standards for a school paper. According to Wikipedia itself, “[W]hile some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish. … use [Wikipedia] with an informed understanding of what it is and what it isn't.”

To help you develop such an understanding, we present 10 reasons you can't rely on information in Wikipedia.

Time capsules allow their creators to freeze moments in time and communicate those moments to future generations. They encourage a dialogue with history, and speak through the artifacts of culture. Take a look at some unique time capsules that await opening, and some that have already been unearthed.

Nationwide, more boys than girls seem to be struggling with reading. Here are five tips from teachers, librarians, authors and literacy strategists to encourage boys to read.

Many teachers have yet to fully embrace the potential for the Internet to transform the social studies curriculum. Whether your class is named History, Government, Civics, Economics or Psychology, there is a great wealth of material available online that will engage your students. We’ve assembled just a smattering of the best of it here.

Around report card time many parents hear a familiar complaint: “My teacher just doesn’t like me.” Researchers at the University of Miami acknowledge there may be truth to these grumblings, and that “non-cognitive traits” influence students’ grades.

The dwindling number of male teachers in elementary and middle schools is cause for concern. Boys and girls need male role models in the classroom, educators say.

ADD-ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed disease in American children, but critics have long asserted that it is over-diagnosed. For teachers and parents, it can be difficult to discern the difference between immaturity and a treatable disease. Fortunately, the Web offers a bevy of outstanding, informational resources that help divine between the two, and cope with each of them.

Centuries ago, in a seemingly lost age where rulers built monuments of stone, seven structures stood out for their grandiosity, and for the awe they inspired in all who beheld them.

Explore some of the most significant libraries from the ancient and modern world, including the largest, the oldest and the most technologically advanced, as well as those with unique collections, architecture or locations.

The advent of the Internet has seen many people migrating from the library to the Internet to do research, but libraries are undoubtedly still the best option. Fortunately, it’s easy to find libraries with extensive collections on the Web.

Since the dawn of our nation, there were American women advocating for equal rights. Although women couldn't vote until 1920, pioneers like Abigail Adams were drawing attention to women's rights as early as the 18th century. The following Web sites offer resources about other heroines of the era and the words and actions that paved the way for women's equality.

Libya is experiencing violent upheaval as rebels attempt to end the decades-old rule of Col. Moammar Gadhafi. To understand how Libya has arrived at its present crossroads, one must explore the history of conflict that has shaped the country.

The revitalization of “Alice in Wonderland” shows the enduring appeal of certain fairy tales, and spotlights modern reincarnations and uses in the classroom.

As more cases come to light of tarnished online reputations proving disastrous in the professional world, more people consider changing their names on Facebook.

Living in a dorm is something that the vast majority of college students have to endure for at least a year. Here are some tips and Web sites to help you survive key aspects of dorm life: roommates, relationships, noise, the bathroom and drab décor.

Lauren Pressley is the instructional design librarian at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition to her role as a librarian, Pressley is an author, a blogger and a frequent presenter.

FindingEducation met up with Elizabeth Devine at the annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference in Atlanta, Ga., in November 2009. At the conference, Devine was named as one of the NCSS Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teachers of the Year for 2009-2010. She also hosted a panel focused on helping teachers integrate the study of human rights into their curriculum.

They can’t wait to dig into the turkey and pies, but many kids could use a refresher course in the origins of Thanksgiving. Luckily for parents and teachers, there are excellent Thanksgiving crafts, simple recipes and games for kids to learn about this distinctly American holiday.

At the National Council for the Social Studies conference in November 2009, the Carter G. Woodson Book Awards honored Dr. Robert H. Mayer for his book, “When the Children Marched: The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.” Mayer was recognized for “accurately and sensitively” portraying an issue related to ethnic minorities.

This week findingEducation caught up with Blake Harrison, a.k.a. Emcee Escher, rapper, educator and creative director of Flocabulary, to hear how he and Alex Rappaport, co-founder and executive producer, are bringing their energy and passion for hip-hop to the classroom.

Josie Carbone, the founding principal of Girls Prep Bronx, an all-girls charter school for pre-K through first-grade students in the Bronx, New York, got involved in teaching while volunteering to teach Spanish at a local elementary school during high school. After graduating from college in 1997, she worked with Teach For America in New York. Carbone taught for six more years before becoming involved with the New York charter school movement in 2003.