The process of hooking into the Internet starts with the purchase of a modem for approx. 100 and subscribing to a service provider for about another 120 per year. The ongoing costs are the telephone charges at local call rates. The only time this will be noticed is if the World Wide Web is used for hours at a time. Our first step in using the Internet was through email exchanges with schools and children around the world.
Email is composed and read off-line making it a very cheap exercise.
Our first ever exchange a year ago came about after we contacted a school in Point Hope, Alaska . We supplemented the email by using the postal service to exchange Christmas cards and our school magazine. I was working with the year 5 and year 6 children whose Geographical abilities ranged from level 2 to level 5. By studying weather conditions in different parts of the world. By seeing that settlements vary in size and that their characteristics and locations reflect the types of economic activities in the settlement.