What makes e-mail important to the Eratosthenes project is not that it allows classrooms to share information, but that it allows teachers to find other teachers to collaborate with. Online Databases and Networking When many people talk about the Internet and the promises it holds for students, they point to databases and other information sources. While the vast wealth of data available via the Internet is incomprehensible, not much of it is of great value to K12 schools. The high speed connections that make these databases worthwhile are still very expensive. It will be some time before these high speed links can be justified for many schools.
Teachers are able to connect with other teachers to share failures and successes.
Students are able to write to other students, making their writing mean more to them than a grade. Some teachers have students write in journals, but even then, if the teacher reads them, or even looks at them, then the writing is ultimately directed at the teacher. Having students write for other students offers a new writing experience. Writing for someone whom you may never see removes the threat of embarrassment, yet makes the importance of being clear and descriptive more poignant. Students then focus on how to write better rather than on why to write better.