Get clued in to the best online resources for students
In a few short days, Summit County will be back to school, and that means the inevitable - homework. Fortunately, there are a variety of online resources to make things easier. We've done some research, and have come up with a list of some of our favorite sites.
On or near the top of virtually every homework help list, is B.J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper at http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/.
Seventeen-year-old B.J. started compiling and posting links for homework help in 1996; today the site contains more than 700 links, which can be browsed alphabetically or by subject. The site offers a large variety of sources and reviewers say the links are extremely accurate, leading directly to useful information.
Another highly rated site is HomeworkSpot.com. The content is sourced by a team of teachers, librarians and journalists who comb the internet for the best sources in all the usual subjects. The resource links are organized into elementary, middle and high school categories making for easy navigation. We were particularly intrigued with www.kidinfo.com. The site is the product of a teacher with 36 years in the classroom, and it shows. What makes the site different is that it is organized by curriculum generally covered in typical elementary, middle and high schools. The site is cleanly organized and easy to navigate.
The University of Michigan's Internet Public Library, found at www.ipl.org, is another great source. The site is organized much like a brick and mortar library with virtual stacks of references and resources, and a librarian (IPL volunteer) ready to answer your reference questions. You'll find Kidspace for younger students and Teenspace for older kids containing help and advice on writing college essays and career advice.
We also must mention Wikipedia at www.wikipedia.org, a free encyclopedia offered in 10 languages. In addition to your more traditional encyclopedia searches, Wikipedia offers a reference desk where volunteers answer questions and a community portal with a bulletin board, projects, activities and more.
Another award-winning site is FactMonster.com, brought to you by www.infoplease.com/aboutip.html Information Please. As the site publishers explain, the site "combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs." We found the site to be fun, intriguing and highly informative.
For those needing a little extra help in math, we recommend Math Forum at http://mathforum.org/dr.math, reportedly one of the best resources for kids needing help with the numbers. Students can search the archive for their answer or ask the "Swat Team," a group of Swarthmore College students that answer math questions.
For younger kids, KidsClick! at www.kidsclick.org is a great choice. Created by a group of librarians and maintained by the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, the site covers more than 600 subjects, is easy to use and is intriguing for kids. Use a bit of caution, though. The site is not an internet filter so parental supervision is encouraged.
Remember, the internet contains several sites with unreliable information. Always check the source of the information, usually found under "About Us" or something similar.