It's easy enough to visit Internet resources, but quite a different matter to evaluate and use them in your classroom. The following pieces give suggestions on these important issues. 

• Evaluating Web Sites 
• Integrating the Internet into Your Curriculum 

Anyone can create a Web site for almost any purpose, from an individual sharing family photos to a company selling computers. Few Web sites, including those containing educational material, undergo formal review or inspection. Educators using the Internet in developing curricula, therefore, must themselves determine the legitimacy of information presented. 

To evaluate a Web site, ask the following questions: 

• Who operates the site? Is biographical or background information provided? 
• What is the purpose of the site? 
• Is the presentation of the topic balanced or biased? 
• Who wrote the material? What are the author’s credentials? 
• Is the information up-to-date? Has it recently been revised? 
• Are additional sources, bibliographical documentation, or links provided? 

Evaluating Web Resources: Bibliography 
http://www3.widener.edu/Academics/Libraries/Wolfgram_Memorial_Library/Evaluate_Web_Pages/659/
Widener University provides this bibliography of Web site evaluation resources. 

net.TUTOR: Evaluation of Web Sites 
http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/les1/index.html
This page offers a tutorial on evaluating Web sites. 

To evaluate a Web site for classroom use, ask the following questions: 

• Is it age-appropriate for my students? 
• Will it hold their attention? 
• Does it relate to curriculum standards? 
• Is it current?
• Will my students be able to navigate within it? 
• Does it load quickly? 
• Do the links work? 

The Web site http://www.cyberbee.com/guides.html provides a Web site evaluation form, created specially for teachers, that addresses these and other questions. 
Involve your students in Web site evaluation by having them rate a site before using it. The following Web site provides evaluation forms for primary through secondary grade levels: http://mcps.k12.md.us/departments/isa/elit/subtop/evalws.htm. 

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The Internet, an ever expanding global resource, has vast potential for use in the classroom. Even if your school is not equipped with Internet access for students, you can integrate the Internet into your curriculum. Web sites relevant to almost any topic you teach—from broad subjects (a timeline of the Civil Rights movement) to specific details (minutes from the 1866 Freedmen's Convention in Raleigh)—are now accessible. The rapidly increasing number of primary materials on the Internet can be of great use in the classroom. For example, in addition to reading the text of a document, letter, or journal in a textbook, your students can see a scanned image of the original printed off the Internet. Here are several ways to expand this idea: 

• Create a file in which teachers can deposit printouts from Web sites they have used. Encourage students to share their finds as well. Placing the file in a central location will encourage teachers and students to add to and use the file. 
• Take your class on virtual field trips via the Web sites of historic sites, museums, and historical societies.
• Develop WebQuests—inquiry-oriented projects in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web—to creatively lead your students to high-quality, relevant Web sites. (For more information on WebQuests, visit http://webquest.sdsu.edu/.)

• North Carolina Public Schools Infoweb (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/) contains the North Carolina social studies curriculum matrix, information for teachers, recent legislative reports and assessment results, a calendar of events, and other information. 
• The American Memory Learning Page (http://learning.loc.gov/learn/index.html), from the Library of Congress, offers lesson plans, activities, and more that you can adapt for use in your classroom. 
• Cyberbee (http://www.cyberbee.com/intclass.html#Social Studies) provides many links to Internet lesson plans. 

• Visit http://www.teachers.net/chatboard/, a chat room for teachers worldwide, to gain insight into issues important to you. 
• Begin an e-mail pal program with a class in another state or country. Have your students create a message, then e-mail it to the class. Print the responses you receive to share with your class. This is an exciting way for your students to learn about different parts of the country and other cultures around the world. 
• Contact teachers in other countries through a bulletin board or chat room for educators. Ask questions about their culture and country that are relevant to your curriculum. For instance, ask them for details about a civil current or past civil rights issue in their country, then use their responses in your class as a comparison to the American Civil Rights movement. If you receive questions from other teachers, assign your class the task of researching and formulating the responses. 

For more ideas on using the Internet in your classroom, see the following sources: 

Linda C. Joseph, Net Curriculum: An Educator’s Guide to Using the Internet (CyberAge Books, 1999). 

Joseph, one of the world’s leading authorities on the use of the Internet in schools, presents dozens of online projects, Web site links, search engines, information resources, research tips, and virtual field trips. The book covers all school subjects and grade levels. 

Scott M. Mandel, Social Studies in the Cyberage: Applications with Cooperative Learning (SkyLight Training and Publishing, Inc., 1998). 

Mandel, a middle school teacher and developer of the Teachers Helping Teachers Web site, educates teachers on how to use the Internet to complement their social studies curriculum. 

Scott M. Mandel, Cybertrips in Social Studies: Online Field Trips for All Ages (Zephyr Press, 2001).

Mandel offers tips on using and creating virtual field trips in the social studies classroom, and provides twelve complete trips that cover common themes in social studies. 

Classroom Connect 
http://www.classroom.com/
Classroom Connect offers many resources, both print and online, on using the Internet in the classrooms. (Much of Classroom Connect is available only through a paid subscription.) 

Curriculum Ideas from CyberBee
http://www.cyberbee.com/intclass.html
This page contains examples of how the Web can be used in the classroom. 

History/Social Studies Web Site for K–12 Teachers
http://k-12historysocialstudies.com/
This site, named one of the top ten teaching sites for the twenty-first century by the Education Source, encourages the use of the World Wide Web as a tool for learning and teaching and provides help for K–12 classroom teachers in locating and using the Internet in the classroom. 

LEARN NC
http://www.learnnc.org/
A program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, this Web site offers quality resources for K-12 classroom instruction (including lots of lesson plans) and teacher professional development (including online courses), all tied to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. 

Teachnet.com: Smart Tools for Busy Teachers
http://www.teachnet.com/
This site offers a little of everything for teachers of all grade levels and subjects. 

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