The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
NetLearning: Why Teachers Use the Internet
Lesley Howells

This book is clearly intended for those who have not used the Internet as a teaching tool. It provides clear concise information about the Internet. There are first-person reports of teaching projects in which the Internet plays an integral part, together with accounts of how teachers have connected their schools and classrooms to the world.

First we are taken through the steps to connect our classrooms to the Internet, then basic Internet training such as using
  • The World Wide Web
  • E-mail
  • Newsgroups
  • Mailing lists
  • FAQs
  • International Relay Chat (IRC)
  • CU-SeeMee
  • FTP
  • Telnet
  • Gopher
  • Search engines and directories
  • internet sites for learning how to use the Internet.
T he chapter Students in the Internet Classroom looks at how today's classrooms have changed, how the Internet can support learning, the project-based classroom, information literacy, assessing students' learning, and student publishing on the Web.

It seems very likely that the Internet will change how students learn and teachers teach. Here we have access to the experience of many other teachers, their projects, their advice on what works, and as important, what does not.

We can look at online collaborations between teachers, get tips for the design and implementation of online projects, and how to avoid the pitfalls.

An important section deals with how schools can embrace Internet technology: how to cultivate advocates, how to demonstrate the benefits to your school community, how to find the funds, how to keep both students and the school safe while using the Internet. Parents are great allies in getting schools connected. They see the importance of new technology and want their children to be part of it. Many also have business or community connections, or may have expertise of their own to offer.

Having connected our schools to the Internet we can also become connected to our communities; using the Internet for collaborations between business and schools, community groups - such as elderly citizens - local history groups and others are possible.

The text includes URLs for the sites mentioned, and the e-mail addresses of teachers whose projects are included. This give us personal access to their expertise.

The book has appendices containing e-mail addresses of "pioneer" teachers; World Wide Web resources for schools arranged by subject, a glossary of Net speak and an index, but lacks a table of contents.

This is an inspirational book for teachers, especially those contemplating using the Internet in their classrooms, but it also has ideas for those who have already begun to use this exciting educational tool. It would be an excellent addition to a teacher's professional library.
Ferdi Serim and Melissa Koch
NetLearning: Why Teachers Use the Internet
Published by Songline Studios and O'Reilly & Associates
Songline Guides
ISBN 1 56592 201 8
292 pages + CD-ROM (for Global Network Navigator; not useful for Australia)
RRP $49.95


Lesley Howells has been a Library Technician in a secondary college for more than 20 years and helps students to use the Internet.

Reprinted from the April 1997 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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