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Dear Subscribers:

Many thanks again to all of you for your great responses to our Subscriber Survey. Here's our lineup for this second week of November:

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From the White House

The PR people for the White House contacted us this week. The White House wants you to know about four new anti-drug Web sites from its Office of National Drug Control Policy, and we think many of you will find them useful. As we were surfing through one of them - Freevibe, for kids - this caught our attention: "The world, thanks to technology and the Internet, moves at lightning speed. Kids have so many choices today, both good and bad, that it's both a blessing and a curse. Drugs are easy to find. Young teens aren't anxious to have sex, but adults are inadvertently convincing teens that they are expected to be sexually active. Parents don't understand what it's like being a kid today. Teens, however, very much want to know their parents better and spend more time with them.

That's the view from a young American's vantage point right now, according to a recent study, "A Portrait of Adolescence," by the Institute for Youth Development. We're not sure why that's in a site for kids, but we thought you'd find it interesting, too.

Elsewhere in Freevibe: In "headsup," kids can go to a searchable database, name a drug, and find out how it affects body and mind. "Shout out" is a discussion board on drugs, and - true to its name - "hangtime" looks like a regular teen 'zine with a variety of entertainment-related subjects. The other three sites are:

Your own thoughts (as well as your children's) on any of these sites would be most welcome. The White House would probably appreciate feedback, too (we'll forward it for you). Email feedback@netfamilynews.org.

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Web News Briefs

  1. 'She sites'

    Women's sites and women's use of the Web were in the news this week. Web user measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings says 49.5% of all US Net users are women now, though competitor Media Metrix says that figure is 41.9%. According to Wired News, the data shows some trends in what women use the Web for: They "tend to patronize sites specializing in health and quality of life issues." For examples, Wired cited Oprah.com, seventeen.com, and healthyideas.com. Another finding says women don't spend as much time online as men (6 hrs., 43 min. a month for women, 8 hrs., 20 min. for men). One reason given is that women are newer users, so the Internet isn't as ingrained in their lives yet. Another reason given is that women are inclined to use the Net as a "time-saving device" - for shopping and research rather than for entertainment.

    CNET has a whole roundup on women's Web sites, including news about the IPOs of Martha Stewart's company and Women.com. In a news analysis, CNET quotes analysts saying the women's portals - including Women.com, iVillage.com, CondeNet.com, chickclick.com - are a bit of a blur; they need to do a better job of differentiating themselves now. We think they'll just spin off (or fold in) "niche sites" that line up with specific interests and hobbies. The most interesting stats in the article say that, although "women primarily use the Net for email and Web browsing" now, the activities that "have seen the most growth this year are shopping for cars, making travel plans, and tracking investments." That's research from USAData.com/Mediamark Research."

    What do you think? Will these very general women's mega-sites go the way of other huge general-interest sites like Time-Warner's Pathfinder? Will women's lifestyle sites get less popular as women's Web literacy grows? Do email us your thoughts.

  2. Cash for classrooms

    Move over bake sales. There's a new strategy for school fundraising. At Web sites like SchoolCash.com, SchoolPop.com, and ShopforSchool.com, schools get a percentage or rebate of purchases you make. According to Wired News's report, the sites say it's a much more efficient way for parents and students to raise money for schools - by shopping for things they'd buy anyway. It's also an efficient way for the sites to market themselves - in sending constituents to the sites, schools do a lot of the promotion and marketing.

  3. Connecting Cambodian kids

    Students in 200 village schools throughout Cambodia will soon have solar-powered Apple computers connected to the Internet via satellite. According to Reuters via Wired News, American Assistance for Cambodia and Japan Relief for Cambodia are funding the effort. Though the schools will be the first beneficiaries, the project is really about connecting whole villages to the rest of the world, Reuters reports. Villagers will be able to use the connected computers to set up home pages on which they can sell local handicrafts. Realizing that vision may take a little time, but it's fun to ponder the possibilities for us first-world folk to support distant artisans and needy village economies.

  4. Spotlight on cyberstalking

    The headline reads, "Cyberstalkers must beware of e-law," but the article seems to be more about how law enforcement in the US is scrambling to keep up with the Internet version of stalking. USAToday describes cyberstalkers this way: They "harness the tremendous power of the Web to learn about their prey and to broadcast false information about the people they target. The Internet - the same tool they use to investigate and spread terror - provides stalkers with almost impenetrable anonymity." The piece takes a pretty thorough look at the problem, including a sidebar with "Tips for Protecting Yourself." The good news is, awareness is growing in the law-enforcement community. As one officer pointed out in the article, despite their anonymity, cyberstalkers are still being identified through old-fashioned police work.

  5. Cold, hard facts (maybe)

    Net-industry and media heavyweights in the US are putting together a think tank to produce research about the Internet's impact. According to CNET's News.com, AOL, the Washington Post, Nasdaq, and Network Solutions are among the first organizations to fund the planned nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization. It will hire academic experts to research the Net's effect on privacy, traditional business, taxation, health care, and so on. A short-term goal is "to get presidential candidates up to speed on critical issues facing the New Economy." The long-term one: to replace hype and opinion with something a little more empirical - maybe what we've all been waiting for!

  6. More Microsoft

    You've probably had your fill of Microsoft news this week, but we'd be remiss in not pointing you to some coverage of this important Net-industry news and landmark antitrust case. CNET's News.com has a whole quiver of stories about federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's 207-page findings of fact. Wired News contributes "So It's a Monopoly - Now What?". And the New York Times cites legal experts saying Judge Jackson's sweeping criticism may be vulnerable to judicial scrutiny in a Microsoft appeal. This could go on forever, folks!

    For an opinion just north of Silicon Valley, see San Francisco Chronicle technology columnist Henry Norr's "Microsoft Findings Brilliantly Insightful: Judge started out knowing little about computer industry". MSNBC looks at "What's Next for Microsoft?" RedHerring.com ponders valuation after a Microsoft breakup. Just a sampler, mind you - a good one for debate teams maybe. :-)

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Child Online Protection law: An editorial

COPA, the Child Online Protection Act, is back in the news this week, getting ready for a final decision on its fate. It's not to be confused with COPPA, the children's online privacy law, passed by the US Congress last year and to be implemented next spring (see our latest COPPA coverage). Both are of interest to parents and teachers of online kids. But that's where the similarity ends.

COPA was signed into law a year ago but blocked last February by a federal judge's injunction that said it probably violates the First Amendment. The US government is appealing the injunction, and arguments on both sides were heard last week by a three-judge panel in a US Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Coverage of the arguments, including the New York Times's, say the judges asked tough questions and "seemed skeptical" that the law could pass the constitutional test.

COPA looks to be a last-gasp effort to pass a law that protects children online by restricting content (emphasis on "content"). Because the law focuses on the publishing rather than the user end of the equation - on controlling freedom of speech, in effect - it bumps right into the First Amendment. As one lawyer following the COPA proceedings told us, we're seeing a shift of focus in Net laws now being drafted and discussed in Congress: "We didn't see any content-based Internet laws [concerning children] in Congress this session. What we saw instead were mandatory-filtering laws," said Liza Kessler with the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). "I think that people who may have very different views on the best way to protect children or on what kind of material is appropriate for them are all recognizing that, in the US, content-based restriction is very unlikely to pass constitutional muster."

There's also a First Amendment factor to laws about filtering (the user end of the equation), when it concerns restriction of access in public spaces, such as public schools and libraries. Wherever more than one "interest community," or set of values or standards, share a space in the US, freedom of speech comes into play. The subject came up in the COPA arguments last week. Liza told us Judge Garth asked tough questions about "community standards" - which community's values apply in a law about a global medium. He was referring to geographical communities, but conservative and liberal interest communities are just as relevant on the Internet. The healthy question being raised (and quite possibly not answered) by the COPA case is: What community decides for everybody what types of content on the Internet is harmful to minors?

It's a tough question for everyone in the interest community of which we are all a part - grownups responsible for online kids. (We were interested to note that more than two-thirds of you answered "yes" to the question in our Subscriber Survey about whether there should be filtering in public spaces.) Judge Garth himself symbolizes the dilemma. The Times reported, "Garth noted that he was a grandfather, and said that children should not be looking at certain kinds of material in cyberspace."

The question of restricting children's access - filtering - in public spaces certainly won't be resolved by the COPA decision, when it comes down in a month or two, or three. But COPA, with all the questions it raises about the Internet and children, is another worthwhile test of the US's pluralistic and democratic principles. It gets people thinking about the greater good, as well as personal, family, and community values. It's a great subject for school debates! And if it gets whole families together to talk about what their own standards are - and making policies that help members stick to those standards - it's something to be grateful for during these days of Thanksgiving.

We'd love it if you'd share stories about your own family Internet policymaking, and about school debates and classroom discussions on the Internet and freedom of speech. Email us any comments.

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Of teaching & the Net

Following up on our teacher feature last week, here are two features that we think educators will find very informative. We found them at ConnectforKids.org, a children's advocacy Web site by the Benton Foundation in Washington:

  1. "As Schools are Wired, are Teachers Prepared?" by Andy Carvin. Andy created the long-standing EdWeb Web site on technology and school reform and is moderator of WWWEDU, which the Benton Foundation calls "the Internet's longest-running email discussion on the role of the Web in education." He looks at some interesting new data on tech in the classroom:

    • A February '99 finding by the US Department of Education that only 20% of America's teachers feel comfortable in integrating technology into their lessons.
    • And Milken Exchange research that says teachers on average receive less than 13 hours of technology training per year, and 40% of all teachers have never received any kind of technology training.

    Then he looks at reasons. Two key ones that leaped out at us are constraints in the kind of professional-development training teachers are getting in the technology area and - even more interesting - in teaching styles. Here's the insight we gained (teachers, we'd love to hear if this is meaningful to you): Of the two main teaching styles out there today - traditional and constructivist/collaborative/student-centered - one is naturally allied with the Internet. It makes sense to us that teachers with a collaborative teaching style would find the Net - an inherently interactive medium - to be a useful teaching tool. Teachers with a more traditional, one-way style would not. So, for some teachers, there are some fairly formidable barriers to integrating the Internet into everyday learning: a lack of good training and possibly their own teaching style.

    Andy and other educators may find our summary a bit simplistic, so we urge you to check out his report. We'd also love to hear your comments on the article - and on this insight about the Internet and teaching styles. Just email us.

  2. Inside a tech-integration project

    "Integrating Technology into the Literacy Classroom" is a case-study Web site. It tells the story of how staff members of two Philadelphia women's literacy centers are integrating technology into the classroom - in this case with the "Philadelphia Adult Literacy Technology Integration Project." They invite us to "browse this Web site to find out what [we're] are learning and how you might be able to duplicate the process." There are lessons the staff learned from the process, classroom activities, links to educational sites the staff used in the project, a glossary of the technologies used, and a project journal/timeline. If you've found inspiration in a Web site like this, do send us the URL and your comments via feedback@netfamilynews.org.

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Subscribers write

Texas was well-represented in our feedback this week….

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That does it for this week. Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Net Family News


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