Staying current is incredibly important in this electronic world where technology makes changes and new learning appears almost overnight. Every opportunity that you have to check out the latest reveals that there's some new piece of software or technique, or even an upgrade to a technology that you currently have embraced.

Traditionally, this has meant reading professional educational or technology journals. There sure are a lot of them available for sale at news stands, corner variety stores, or through professional organizations. Can you trust them to give you the latest?

Well, no -- not really.

There are lead times for authors, publishers, and printers that all have to be met in order to get the product to the news stands. So, what you feel might be breaking news in the October issue of your favourite journal may already be old hat in the field of those in the know.

There is a more immediate source and that's through the Internet with electronic journals. These can be accessible by the world just as quickly as the save and upload commands are sent by the authors. The print industry isn't thrilled with the prospects but that's the benefit of being connected to the Internet in the year 2002.

For the past ten years, the Ontario Ministry of Education has funded the Educational Network of Ontario. Its mission is to provide Ontario teachers with the tools and inspiration to stay on top things electronically. It has addressed its mandate through electronic newsgroups, electronic mail, a web site, involvement in various online projects (such as the Flat Stanley project) and finally, through providing free Internet access to Ontario teachers.

This initiative has been responsible for raising the level of technological abilities throughout the province. It hasn't been without problems -- down servers, slow speeds, busy signals, but the premise was there and the support through ENOREO was there to correct things, to the best of their resources, when they went wrong.

ENOREO promises to continue address this mandate via the newsgroups and conferences. However, it was announced this week that the Ministry of Education would no longer fund free internet access for educators. The announcement hit us all without warning.

My immediate reaction spawned questions about how many of our teachers took advantage of this facility. With the access to DSL and cable internet, along with the many local Internet providers, just how many people continue to use this service? The number of busy signals in the evening is a hint that the answer may well be many. The number of responses via email from teachers indicates that this is true. Many of our teachers will be affected by this change in policy.

In Greater Essex, we have many teachers using this service to stay current with technology. Teachers use it to take online courses, send report files to and from school, remain connected to our First Class email and conferencing system at work, and research topics for use in their classroom.

It is truly unfortunate that this free service will go away.

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