Thought of in these terms, class newsgroups are good for posting assignments, lesson plans, class discussions, study questions, grades and class or program announcements. In this section you will find an overview of Internet research tools. The possibility for classroom applications of these tools in limited only by the imagination of teachers to design learning tasks that involve research. Libraries Many computer networks include access to local, national, and international libraries. This enables the user to do research from a terminal in the classroom or in an open computer lab.
Library databases are available at all times, even when the library is closed.
Databases Databases, such as ERIC, can be accessed through computer networks giving students and teachers improved access to information that may be used for learning and research tasks. FTP is an advanced network technique, but it can be easily learned and used by teachers and students to gather information for solving learning tasks. Gopher Gopher is another Internet research tool. It's name comes from the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where Gopher was developed. Gopher is a more user-friendly system for finding information on the Internet because the user follows menus to search for information.