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The Internet offers education professionals a chance to communicate easily with peers without worrying about distance. Here are some sites that can help foster this communication.

Listservs are a way to receive a plethora of information from people all over. You sign up with a listserv, and then you are e-mailed questions/answers/ideas from other people on the list.

There are two types of listservs: monitored and unmonitored. On a monitored listserv, one person reads all of the messages and sends the important ones out to everyone else. On an unmonitored listserv, any mail that is sent to the listserv goes out to everyone else. Everyone would receive a copy of each person's message. So, if you are on an unmonitored listserv, don't send anything you wouldn't want everyone else on the list to read! It's almost as if the school secretary copies every piece of paper that goes into any teacher's mailbox, and then puts that copy into everyone's mailbox. However, listservs are focused on a particular topic, and all of the responses should relate to that topic. That way you don't get lots of "junk mail" in your box. Be forewarned, though--sometimes you will get lots and lots of mail! Look at the subject of each e-mail, and that might help you go through your mail quickly. If the subject isn't interesting to you, go ahead and delete it. Some listservs do archive, or save, all old messages. Therefore, if at a later date you become very interested in a particular topic, you can check old messages. And if it becomes too much, you can "unsubscribe" from the listserv and you won't get anymore mail.


Here are a few places to look at listservs. To participate in one (once you have found one you like), all you need is an e-mail program (Outlook, Eudora, QuickMail, AOL or Netscape Communicator) and an Internet connection. You can use any type of computer, even an out-of-date one. Once you have signed on to the listserv of your choice (usually by sending a message with the word "subscribe" as the message), all you need to do is remember to check you e-mail, and send responses if you wish. Just remember, if you have a slow Internet connection (14.4 bps or slower), it may take you a while to get your mail.

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