http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/net/net.html

The Multicultural Pavillion is part of EdChange, a website is founded and maintained by Paul C. Gorski, Ph.D., which provides "resources and dialogue for equity in education." This section on Ed Tech & Digital Divide offers online resources and articles on the digital divide and multicultural e-learning. Gorksi has also posted a 28-page report that combines various conference presentations, articles, and research he has done over the past three years on Multicultural Education and the Internet: Tools, Resources, and Commentary. Other sections of the Multicultural Pavillion offer listservs, historical documents, news updates, awareness activities, a poetry journal, movie reviews, songs for initiating multicultural dialogue, a working definition of multicultural education, and other resources on multicultural education and teacher action research. [VF]

http://www.ice.org.uk/educationzone/homepage/index.asp

The Institute of Civil Engineers, based in the United Kingdom, offers the Education Zone. From this website, students ages 7 and up can access educational resources and information on careers. The website is divided by age group, offering young students interactive games to learn about engineering and older students resources for doing course work and learning about careers in engineering. Parents and teachers in the UK will also find a section that lists local events. [VF]

http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/kids/kids.html

U.S. Census Bureau offers a Kids version of the American FactFinder, where kids can learn about the U.S. Census, get facts on their state, and "have fun with quiz questions." The website was designed in partnership with kids ages 7 to 11 and researchers from computer science, education, art, robotics, web development, and other fields, with additional design support from IBM. An interactive U.S. map links to information about each state, including the total population, urban and rural residence, school attainment, school enrollment, and languages spoken. The interactive quizzes let you test your knowledge of the U.S. Census figures. General information on the U.S. Census is also provided. [VF]

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

The Pathways website, developed by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, "synthesizes research, policy, and best practices on issues critical to educators engaged in school improvement." The main aspect of this website is their Critical Issue section, which synthesizes research on an issue in education. The issues, which are chosen annually in consultation with experts in the field, are grouped into the following categories: Assessment, At-Risk Students, Family and Community, Instruction, Leadership, Literacy, Mathematics and Science, Policy, Professional Development, and Technology in Education. Each Critical Issue includes an overview of the issue, sets goals to address the issue, discusses action options, implementation pitfalls, different points of view, and provides illustrative cases, additional resources and contact information. Some examples of Critical Issues in mathematics include: Ensuring Equity and Excellence in Mathematics and Locating, Using, and Integrating Internet-Based Mathematics Materials. Examples of Critical Issues in technology in education include: Technology Leadership: Enhancing Positive Educational Change, and Using Technology to Support Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students' Learning Experiences. [VF]

http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/index.asp

United Kingdom Center for Materials Education offers its 12 Guides for Lecturers free online. The guide begins with a section on attracting materials students by working with schools and the wider community. Another section discusses ways to teach materials engineering, taking the perspective that it's a more complex activity than deciding on a list of topics to teach, but also involves Developing Professional Skills. Other sections focus on specialized curricula, such as Materials for Engineers and Materials Chemistry, or on instructional strategies, such as tutorials, labs, case studies, problem based learning or distance learning. Finally, two sections deal with assessment. One section addresses Assessing Materials Students in ways that "do in fact give marks for those things we want to acknowledge, rather than those aspects that are simply easy to assess" while another section offers tools for evaluating a materials course to "enable you to develop an improved course for next year's cohort." [VF]

http://www.scienceu.com/geometry/

Science UTM offers online articles and activities "for people who like science." Science U and the web-design and development company that owns and operates the website, Geometry Technologies, were formed as a result of the closure of The Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota. One of the conditions of that grant, which funded The Geometry Center and ended in 1998, was that the Center would find a way to keep their materials available to the public. In anticipation of the day when the Geometry Center goes offline, they are slowly migrating materials to this website. The Geometry Center section at Science U offers lessons on solids using interactive models, geometry tiling activities, an interactive fractal generator, and many other puzzles, articles and activities. Visitors can search their resources using an online query form or by browsing the topic index, subject listing or content listing. The content listing gives you an idea of the different types of resources available, such as articles, facts and figures, classroom materials, online simulations, hands-on-projects, or software. The Science U also offers other sections on astronomy, graphic arts, and a library with various online and print resources on science. [VF]