Resources

FREE Web Site—The federal government’s most dynamic Web site for learning resources—www.ed.gov/free—recently added nearly 20 new online resources in science, health, and social studies to its collection. The Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) Web site is designed to make it easy to find teaching and learning resources on subjects ranging from arts to vocational education, from more than 35 federal organizations. This site is updated weekly. Recent additions include:

• Hubble: A View to the Edge of Space from the National Science Foundation offers a tour of the Hubble Space Telescope launched into orbit in 1989. It also looks at the path of communication between Earth and the telescope, the crew that keeps the Hubble running, and images of the universe captured by the telescope.
• Open Wide and Trek Inside, from the National Institutes of Health, examines the mouth—its various purposes, types of teeth, bacteria, decay, and diseases—and includes a teacher’s guide for grades 1-2.
• Hands on the Land, from the Bureau of Land Management, provides teacher and student materials about the Everglades eco-system, bat habitats, rock classification, invasive species, forest carnivores, water quality in the wilderness, and the use of Geographic Information Systems to map vegetation.
• I Hear America Singing, from the Library of Congress, features recordings and histories of dozens of patriotic songs, including“America the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” along with a collection of 9,000 pieces of sheet music published from 1800 to 1922.

Digital Leadership Divide: Without Visionary Leadership, Disparities in School Technology Budgets Increase—A 2004 survey of school technology decision makers revealed disparities in technology spending among districts. The survey also revealed that good leadership and strong community support allow some school districts to bolster their technology plans and budgets. Grunwald Associates (a San Francisco-based research firm, in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking, a professional group representing technology officials) conducted the survey. To read the survey, visit www.cosn.org and click on Ed Tech Resources, then Grunwald Survey.

Teacher-to-Teacher Workshops—Sessions from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher workshops can now be viewed online. The online video sessions focus on subject-specific teaching methods and were conducted live by master teachers in seven regional workshops in 2004. The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative Web page also includes teaching aids that can be downloaded and used to follow along with the video. The recorded sessions are available online at www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative.

PBS TeacherLine—The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TeacherLine provides online pro-fessional development through facilitated and standards-based courses, supportive and collaborative learning communities, and exemplary Internet-based resources. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, TeacherLine offers more than 90 courses at reduced rates. Choose from the areas of mathematics, reading, instructional technology, instructional strategies, science, and curriculum mapping. For more information, visit www.pbs.org/teacherline.

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