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Chapter 6
Café Progressive Editorials
http://www.cafeprogressive.com/cpinteractivism.html
Users post thoughts, research, ideas, and resources on education, politics, and community on these discussion boards. Editorials are divided into subsections including "Race & Gender," "Class & Economics," "Institutions & Politics," and "Education." Most users are social activists.
Café UTNE Conversations
http://cafe.utne.com/cafe/cafelist3.html
This site hosts several different discussion forums on a variety of cultural topics. One of these forums, "Education," focuses on school reform. Other forums include "Globe," "History," "Stonewall" (gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues), and "Culture."
Cultural Debates Online
http://www.teachtsp2.com/cdonline/
Tom Snyder Productions hosts a set of dialogue forums about a variety of cultural issues. Several types of forums exist alongside multimedia presentations that help spark the discussions. A "Teacher Information" section helps educators find ways to effectively weave this resource into a curriculum.
Economic Justice Discussion Room
http://www.progress.org/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl
Part of the Economic Justice Network, this very active forum covers social class, capitalism, socialism, and global economy. Current discussion strands focus on NATO, Yugoslavia, and India. Usership includes activists, researchers, and educators.
History Channel Discussions
http://www.historychannel.com/discuss/
The History Channel hosts hundreds of discussion boards on a wide range of topics. Some include "International Personalities," "The Holocaust," "Veteran's Forum," and "Underground Railroad." Though most users are not educators, these boards provide an opportunity for teachers and students to interact with historians and people in other related fields.
Lycos Message Boards: Education
http://boards.lycos.com/
Among its many bulletin board offerings, Lycos includes several on education. The most active of these is "Teaching Methods, Issues & Resources." Current topics range from discrimination in schools to adult literacy. Most participants are K-12 educators, with parents, postsecondary educators, and activists occasionally chiming in.
Multicultural Pavilion Community Forums
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/pavboard/pavboard.html
Part of the Multicultural Pavilion, this is an open discussion on multicultural issues and education. Users can respond to the posts of others or start a new discussion strand, so topics change constantly. Some recent discussions have focused on the philosophy behind multicultural education, the nature of Eurocentrism, and an examination of alternative views on Columbus, Jefferson, and other historical figures. Participants include K-12 and college-level educators and preservice teachers.
Parent Soup Boards: Education
http://www.ivillage.com/boards/?arrivalSA=1&arrival_freqCap=2
Through a subsection called "Education Central," Parent Soup hosts several education-related discussion boards. Parents and teachers interact and maintain dialogues within the boards on topics including Montessori learning, home schooling, and special education. A separate board titled "Hot Education Topics" delves into current events in public and private schools.
People in Action Message Board
http://peopleinaction.info/board/1/1.html
People in Action for a Better World, a Web site that covers a wide array of social issues, hosts this discussion board. Participants include educators and activists around the world. Recent conversation strands have included "Women and Spirituality," and "Assimilation."
Teacher Focus
http://www.teacherfocus.com/phpBB2/
This collection of threaded discussions facilitates dialogues for educators of all types. Topics include "The New Teacher," "Educational Technology," and "Special Education."
Teachers.Net Chatboard
http://www.teachers.net/chatboard/
Teachers.Net is one of the top teacher-related Web sites available. It includes this discussion forum "as an online tool for teachers everywhere." Because of a high level of participation (usually over one hundred posts per day), discussion topics are varied and responsive to day-to-day educational happenings. Current discussion strands include the Ten Commandments in schools, ability grouping, parental participation, and multiple intelligences.
The Teachers' Place
http://www.unicef.org/voy/research/reshome.html
The Teachers' Place provides a series of forums for teachers to exchange ideas and resources related to human rights education. The site also contains strategies for beginning the process of dealing with human rights in the classroom.
TeachNet.org Bulletin Boards
http://teachersnetwork.org/bb/Topic_List.cfm?boardID=7
TeachNet hosts a series of very active, topically distinct discussion board sites for teachers. These include "Learning Styles," "Equality of Education," and "The Authentic Assessment Debate."
UNICEF Voices of Youth
http://www.unicef.org/voy/
UNICEF hosts a set of dialogues for students discussing human rights issues. Current discussions address gender inequality, children's rights, and AIDS.
ProTeacher Community
http://proteacher.net/
A feature of Proteacher, this discussion board was created for new teachers to share their joys, frustrations, concerns, and experiences. The moderator of the board has done an admirable job creating an online atmosphere of support, empathy, and the free flow of ideas.
Y? The National Forum on People's Differences
http://www.yforum.com/welcome1.html
Y?, created and maintained by Phillip Milano and Robin Dycus-Milano, is a unique and progressive series of forums. Y? challenges users to post their most uncomfortable—and discomforting—questions, working from the philosophy that stereotypes and assumptions can only be broken down when such forums exist and such questions are asked. Choose from categories including "Religion," "Sexual Orientation," "Gender," "Disabilities/Challenges," "Age," "Race/Ethnicity," and "Class."
Chat Rooms
Author Chats
http://www.authorchats.com/
The site hosts regularly scheduled chats featuring children's book authors. You can also use Author Chats to schedule a chat between your class and an author—a great opportunity to connect your students to somebody in the field.
Dave's ESL Café Chat Central
http://www.eslcafe.com/chat/chatpro.cgi
Dave Sperling hosts a chat room dedicated to bringing educators together to discuss the teaching and learning of English as a Second Language. There are usually at least six people in the chat room, but sometimes fifteen or twenty participants can be found there.
Homeschooling Chat
http://homeschooling.miningco.com/mpchat.htm
The home schooling section of About.com, hosted by Beverly Hernandez, runs chats on Thursday and Saturday nights for people interested in issues and concerns related to home schooling.
Illinois Early Learning Project Interactive Chat
http://www.illinoisearlylearning.org/chat.htm
IEL runs periodic chats on issues related to early childhood education, usually featuring a guest presenter. Recent topics have included "Autism," "Father/Male Involvement in Early Childhood," and "Supporting Children's Social Development."
PBS TeacherLine Community Center
http://teacherline.pbs.org/teacherline/calendar/calendar.cfm
The Public Broadcasting System's TeacherLine site features occasional Web chats for educators. Topics have included "Gender Equity in Mathematics," "Techno-Constructivism," and "Information Literacy."
Teachers.net Chatboard
http://teachers.net/chatboard/
One of the leading educational Web sites in the world, Teachers.net hosts dozens of open chat rooms with topics including "Politics," "Student Teachers," and "Classroom Management."
Washingtonpost.com Live Discussions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/liveonline/?nav=hpleft1
The Washington Post offers several free live chat opportunities daily. These events are moderated by an expert participant. Topics of the discussions are often education related.
Y? Chat
http://www.yforum.com/welcome1.html
Through this chat forum, Y? National Forum on People's Differences encourages participants to "ask and answer questions about differences related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, etc." Y? Chat is moderated, so individuals relying on personal attacks can be "bumped out" of the discussion. But in general, "political correctness" takes a back seat to honest dialogue and challenging questions in this forum.
E-mail Discussion Groups
Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences
http://www.kovacs.com/directory/
This award-winning site is a guide to scholarly e-mail-based discussion forums. Users can search the directory for keywords, browse the forums alphabetically, or scroll through categories including "Cross-Cultural Studies," "Economic Development," "Education," "Gender Studies," "Men's Studies," "Social Issues," and "Women's Studies." Each entry includes a description and contact/subscription information.
Gender-Related Electronic Forums
http://www-unix.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/forums1.html
Joan Korenman maintains an alphabetical directory of gender-focused listservs. Subcategories include "Education," "Activists Lists," "International," and "Women of Color." Each listserv description contains subscription information.
Student Affairs Listservs: Diversity Issues
http://www.studentaffairs.com/lists/divers.html
One of the many resources at StudentAffairs.com is this searchable directory of e-mail discussion groups, pertaining primarily to higher education. Users can also scroll through an index of the groups divided into categories including "Diversity Issues" and "Student Activism."
BARRIER-FREE
http://barrier-free.arch.gatech.edu/Listserve/index.html
A group providing collaborative support among students with disabilities, parents, and teachers. For subscription information visit
DIVERSEGRAD-L
An e-mail group focused on multicultural and cross-cultural counseling. This forum is run out of American University and can be reached at diversegrad-l@american.edu.
DSSHE-L
A list that shares information among providers of services for students with disabilities in higher education. DSSHE-L is a very active list of over eight members with an average of 225 posts per week. Access DSSHE-L at Listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu.
HEDDVSTY
A discussion group specific to diversity issues at colleges and universities. Estimate numbers of subscribers and weekly e-mails are unavailable. Subscribe to this listserv by writing to Listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu.
MCPAVILION
A discussion group of the Multicultural Pavilion linking teachers, teacher educators, activists and others interested in multicultural issues and education. To join this list, visit http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/issues.html. The list has 650 members and receives about twenty e-mails per week.
NAME-MCE
The official listserv of the National Association for Multicultural Education. Over nine hundred people, mostly educators, are currently subscribed, with membership growing quickly. About twenty-five messages are distributed weekly. To subscribe, write to listserv@listserv.umd.edu.
NGLTFCAMPUS
A list hosted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and designed to coordinate communication among individuals across the country involved or interested in the work of the NGLTF Campus Project. The list can be reached at Ngltfcampus-request@nenet.org. This listserv services about 150 people with an average of thirty e-mails per week.