Similarly, the sites that are available for the primary wing may be completely distinct from those found in the upper grades. Managed Internet allows teachers to make curricular choices for students instead of simply allowing a software company s master list to prohibit student use of unsafe sites. Managed Internet looks more like a school that is focused on curricular demands within a secure environment rather than one focused solely on student safety. The World Wide Web is not the only part of the Internet. Frequently, when we use the book or encyclopedia analogy to teach people about this new information medium, we miss the power of what the Internet really is a computer network.
Many wonderful things happen at the library besides reading.
Book clubs meet in the rooms in the basement, politics is debated on the front steps and teaching and learning occur in all areas of its physical structure. Besides being a medium where fact and fiction can be looked up and viewed, the Internet also provides endless communications opportunities. Chat rooms, discussion groups, and e-mail are just some of the ways people exchange ideas in this medium. However, it is in this communications side of the Internet where some real dangers lie. It is here where sexual predators and persons wishing harm on children find sometimes-easy prey.