Each day/week/year that the Internet exists brings more and more challenges.
If you point specifically to classroom resources, the traditional route is to purchase a textbook, some resource materials, and a great deal of paper. The textbook and resource materials will last as long as they physically hold up and the paper lets you record any changes or enhancements that are necessary because of the passing of time.
In theory, the Internet should take care of the last step automatically. Good content or resource providers keep the content live and current. Every time you access the resources, you're looking at the latest and greatest. Right?
In theory, the answer is yes.
However, the Internet throws in another wrinkle. Unlike a textbook where the upfront costs are incurred once, web resources require an ongoing investment. Not only do you need to provide update to the content, but the Internet address costs money to maintain. This summer saw some disconcerting events.
Unable or unwilling to maintain an Internet presence, some really good sites have either gone away or changed addresses. Normally, that's not a big deal. Anyone who uses the Internet becomes accustomed to the dreaded "404 File Not Found. The requested URL was not found on this server." message. It's just drop back and kick time and try to find the site if it's moved or time to find another site that provides equally as good content.
It could get worse and it did this summer. There were a number of educational websites that decided to no longer stay up. These addresses were quickly snapped up by entrepreneurs who provide content that is not suitable for the classroom. Anyone who had bookmarked the site would be treated to quite a surprise when revisiting the site.
Imagine the classroom teacher who wished to incorporate such a site into a lesson. Or, imagine a computer consultant who maintained a resource of URLs by subject area specifically to direct teachers and students to curricularly relevant Internet resources. Gulp. Credible Internet sites should constantly check links from their sites to others.
This summer, the GEC Computers in the Classroom site had all of its links checked. Any link that went to a site that was no longer in existance was removed. While at it, I went through the database of Webquests to ensure that they were all functional and added about 300 more Webquests to the collection.
At the same time, I overhauled the entire appearance of the site, including the Student Reference Portal. I hope that you will find the new appearance easier and more consistent for navigation.
I hope that you will find the portal and related resources of use. I would encourage anyone who has written a webpage that makes external links to revisit their page and make sure that it is current.
Best wishes for a successful 2001-2002 school year.
