PARENTS HAVE A NEW WAY TO HELP STUDENTS: - FREE ONLINE EDUCATION & SOFTWARE IS JUST A CLICK AWAY.

"In an age where technological geniuses have made it possible to transport incredible educational resources from sites around the world right to any computer connected to the Internet - just by a single click of a button - I contend that every means available should be employed to bypass any remaining obstacles to student expanded learning opportunities." -- per Bob Bowman, technology consultant based in Shenandoah County, Virginia (31 March 1999).

As a public service, I am releasing this article to local media now as part of an awareness campaign to show what extraordinary treasures for education are free for the taking from the Internet.

Because they now have unparalleled opportunities via online access to overcome any type of local limitations (including limited library media resources, among others), parents and students, can directly obtain thousands of free lessons, tutorials, software programs, and other outstanding resources from universities and other significant academic links around the world. The web has also become a global interactive encyclopedia, which far surpasses conventional printed resources insofar as electronic searching finds masses of requested information in a matter of seconds.

As a previous technology coordinator in education, I know that no matter how important these resources are, they will be underutilized unless people are familiarized with what they are, how they can be obtained, and how they can be used to greatly improve student empowerment. That is why I have taken extra steps to make it easier for everyone to locate and use them. I believe they can make a tremendous difference.

This approach is particularly appropriate at this point, because, in my view, the marginal test score showings in the recent Virginia Standards Of Learning (SOL) tests show that local students still need more help with their education than teachers alone are able to provide, and because of the published requests of local school systems for greater parental involvement. I have selected a considerable amount of online materials which show parents how to help students not only with SOL-related websites but with outstanding resources for practically every classroom assignment, including remarkable "homework helper" sites.

There are many websites which provide convenient pointers to educational links on the Internet, but my volunteer efforts in seeking out appropriate free software programs for educational use makes my award-winning website quite unique. This project: BOB BOWMAN'S GUIDE TO FREE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY (http://www.user.shentel.net/rbowman) was started in late 1997 and is updated frequently. When parents see that I've listed software which was formerly selling for thousands of dollars now donated to the world for free, they start looking at the rest of the collection and begin to realize the potential of freeware (free software). I've even included links to the U. S. Department of Education's archive of educational software along with a significant number of university software archives. Online tutorials are outstanding also.

Even if parents and students do not have an Internet-ready computer, local libraries will usually give them access to these resources. Classroom teachers, after-school open labs, and friends should also help in this endeavor. My website provides links to extensive online tutorials, lesson plans, foreign languages with audible words, and allows high-quality software to be downloaded for free. I have provided a 'How-To Guide' along with other offerings which allow for self-paced tutorials on Internet terminology and useful software tools, so that parents as well as others can feel comfortable with this more effective way of helping students online.

Among the free tools which will greatly enhance student empowerment are word processors, spreadsheets, desktop drawing programs, database software, math graphing programs, and scores of other software and reference documents which can not only be used in school, but at home, and in college, and even in businesses. There is something to use in every classroom.

RECOMMENDED DOWNLOADS: Because they are free and can be downloaded for students' use whenever it is convenient to do so, I recommend over a dozen items which represent only "a powerful starter kit" from a greater selection list on my website: 1. Dida HTML - web editor (with viewer) 2.Yeah Write - word processor 3. SC - Spreadsheet Calculator 4. Nanobase - Database generator 5. Kwikdraw - advanced desktop publishing tool 6. Navalcal/MPP - Math plotting program 7. Notecard - a music note teacher 8. DC - Directory Control (copy, rename, etc.) 9. WizUnZip - unzip compressed files 10. AZMATH collection - math programs 11.Word Junction - crossword puzzle generator 12. ViewPro Viewer ( & image converter) 13. F-PROT - Virus detector 14. MAKEHTM - automatic converter (text to HTML).

Teachers and parents need to get much more involved in technology - jointly - and not in the narrow sense of one course in that subject. When teachers and parents work together to show students how to get on the Internet, and then download and uncompress free educational software programs, then technology can be integrated not only between the classroom but incorporated in a school-to-home link via computerized and online homework assignments. This is the tangible meaning of shared responsibility.

The Internet provides additional educational elements which are not being used often enough in schools, and certainly gives students an advantage wherever they can get Internet access. Since presentations are in multimedia format (animation, voice, music, special visual effects, colors, etc) which can be saved for future review, online education often far surpasses local classroom approaches. It should also be noted that the Internet is accommodating with respect as to when it is convenient for students to connect (24 hours a day). If students have this kind of access, then there is no such thing as missing a lesson or not getting enough information from the classroom."

Both teachers and parents should be prompted to use more technology in every setting, because higher students' grades have finally be linked to technology. The latest Journal from the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (Winter 1999 - Vol. 13, No. 2) provides evidence to verify the long-standing hypothesis! (See www.vste.org on the web).

With the incredible amounts of information on the Internet, parents and others need to know some basic fundamentals of searching the web. Sometimes a short introduction to effective searching techniques (also listed in his website) is all that some people need to find appropriate tidbits from the millions of haystacks on the web. I advise clients that at least 3 search keywords should be enclosed with quotes to narrow the search on most search engine dialog boxes.

Educators all over the U.S. have e-mailed their praises and some have contributed software and tutorials to my site. It's a sharing network - that is growing in a very meaningful way.