It's late evening and you're beat from a long day when your 10-year-old pops in
with a sheepish grin and the news that she has a report due first thing tomorrow
on the Wright brothers. OOPS. Now, of course, the library is closed and there's
no encyclopedia in sight. You start to blow your top when you remember back to
the days that YOU pulled those tricks on YOUR parents.
Luckily, times have changed since you were a kid and help is at hand. All
you need is a PC, a modem and an on-line service like America Online with access
to the Internet. Homework help is available in cyberspace around the clock, seven
days a week. Let your fingers do the walking.
For starters, try these three simple steps:
- Check Out the Commercial On-Line Services. America Online and other
subscription services offer a slew of homework help aids. Check out the Kids Only
section of America Online. Click on the Homework Help button and up pops several
handy tools. The Ask a Teacher segment lets you submit questions via electronic
messages to volunteer teachers specializing in English and reading, math, social
studies and science. Look it Up provides on-line access to a set of classic references,
including Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia and the Merriam-Webster dictionary
and thesaurus.
- Use Internet Search Engines. Search Engines are software programs on
the Internet that act like a super telephone information directory service and
go by funky names like Web Crawler and Alta Vista. Type in the key subject and
a search engine will deliver lists of web sites (web sites are where the information
"lives" on the Internet, kinda like homes on the information superhighway). There
are even search engines tailored for kids. The Yahooligans web guide for kids
(http://www.yahooligans.com/)
offers a basic search engine and special features including one called School
Bell. Click on the School Bell button and you gain access to the Homework Answers
area, with a vast array of on-line references.
- Buy an Internet Directory Listing Study Aids. Bookstores carry lots
of directories crammed with lists of Internet web sites. Pick up one like The
Internet Kids Yellow Pages by Jean Armour Polly (published by Osborne McGraw-Hill)
for Internet addresses to thousands of homework resources such as the popular
University of Michigan's Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org);
The Discovery Channel's This Day in History (http://www.historychannel.com/today/);
and Ask Dr. Math (http://mathforum.com/dr.math/).
There are plenty more sources on-line for helping you and your kids with their
schoolwork.
Mark Ivey and Ralph Bond, the PC DadsSM, are technology literacy
managers at Intel Corp. (NAPSI)
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