ALABAMA SUPERCOMPUTER AUTHORITY

The Alabama Supercomputer Authority sends this E-resource on the first Friday of the month to our friends and supporters in the education community.

During the recent AETC conference we learned that some people have received messages that they were being removed from the E-Resource mailing list. The software we use to manage the list will automatically unsubscribe members if after five attempts over a specified period of time we are unable to deliver our newsletter to you. If your school system upgrades or replaces email or network equipment on or around the first Friday of the month, you might receive a message that you are being removed from the list. We really don't want you to leave the list! If someone you know has been unsubscribed, please ask them to visit http://www.asc.edu/news/e-resource_index.shtml and rejoin. Or, if you or someone you know would like to be added to the E-Resource listserv, send a blank email to e-resource-subscribe@list.k12.al.us. The email must be sent from the email address that you wish to subscribe. Tell your friends to join, too! If you want a large group of people (like everyone in your school system) to be added to the list, send a document containing the email addresses for each person you want to subscribe(one address per line) in Word, Excell, or Notepad to lwoodard@asc.edu.

I would like to include authentic technology stories from schools in Alabama in the Reading About Education and Technology section. If you have an interesting technology story, please send it to me or provide a link to your school website if the information is posted.

READING ABOUT EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY

VoIP New research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the New Millennium Research Project shows that 27% of Internet users have heard of Voice over Internet Protocol phone calling, and 13% of that population have considered adopting VoIP in the home. This translates into 34 million Americans who have heard of VoIP and 4 million who have considered getting the service at home. The survey also found that 11% of Internet users, nearly 14 million Americans, have made some form of phone call over the Internet. This includes people who may have used VoIP at work, home, or downloaded free software that allows calls between Internet-connected computers. You can find the report at http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=129

EDUCATION AND THE INTERNET

Touring the National Parks Summer is the busiest season for the National Park Service. In July alone, more than 40 million people are expected to visit any of the 359 parks, battlefields, campgrounds, trails, seashores and other designated sites across the United States. This month, MarcoPolo invites you to explore all the National Park Service has to offer -- whether by foot, bicycle, automobile or the Internet. Use the warm-up activities to learn more about America's national treasures, then scroll down for links to more lessons and resources. http://www.marcopolo-education.org/MarcoGrams/Jul2004.html.

History Channel Exhibit: The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence serves as one of America's most treasured symbols because it identifies the moment at which the nation was born and, in stirring language, describes the reasons for its birth. The exhibit features: The Call for Independence, Preservation, Biographies, Quiz, Interpreting Resources and a Teacher's Guide. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/declaration/main.html

Declaration of Independence This site provides a wealth of information about the signers of the Declaration, the history of the Declaration, and an online version of the Declaration for you to read.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Technology Literacy Online Assessment Tool An often overlooked requirement of No Child Left Behind is that by 2006 every American eighth-grader must be proficient in technology literacy skills. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) partnered with Microsoft Corp. to develop a new online tool to help teachers monitor student progress toward meeting that requirement. The free online tool will be accessed through ISTE's Web site (http://www.iste.org/), and will contain 12 assessments as well as classroom curriculum and teacher support materials. The first seven assessments will be available beginning with the June 19 debut; the remaining five will be available in mid-August. Each of the 12 assessments involves between five and 10 tasks.

SurveyMonkey.com is focused entirely on allowing YOU to create surveys quickly and easily. No programming experience is required, no software must be downloaded. All that's required is a web browser and a desire for information. There is a free version and a fee version. Visit http://www.surveymonkey.com to learn more.

AVG Free Edition is now available for all single home users worldwide! Get your free copy of this anti-virus program and you will be able to use it without any limitations for the life of the product. You can also download free updates to get the latest program virus databases. Download, install and use AVG Free Edition and get:

AVG Resident Protection
AVG e-mail Scanner
AVG On-Demand Scanner
Basic Scheduled Tests
Free Virus Database Updates
Automatic Update feature
Easy-To-Use Interface
Automatic Healing of infected files
AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files

For additional information, visit http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Edutopia Magazine and The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) are conducting a survey among education leaders and influencers like yourself. This is an opportunity for you to provide input about educational issues and concerns that are top priority for you. Results from this survey will guide the editorial direction of Edutopia magazine and the Foundation itself. By participating in this survey, your opinions will count. To help, all you need to do is click on the link below (or type the URL into your browser's address box) and begin the survey. It will take less than 10 minutes to complete. http://www.insightexpress.com/s/GLEF7367.