More sites to see: nytimes.com/learning

As you would expect from the New York Times, this is an excellent educational resource. More aware of what is happening in the rest of the world than almost any other US site, its news summaries alone make a visit worthwhile. The Daily News Quiz could easily be adapted for a civics class. The Word of the Day is a great way to make learning fun. The Science Q & A answers questions we've all wanted to ask at some point in plain English. Overall, a great site and worth book-marking as well as visiting.

www.whatdotheydo.com

Whatdotheydo does exactly as the name suggests it does. It is a site where you can, as it says itself, "Learn about what people do at work and how they make our world a better place." It currently has 55 job descriptions, from accountant to volcanologist, in easy to understand language. (A volcanologist studies volcanoes and has nothing to do with Star Trek, by the way.) Graphics are kept to a minimum, so even the slowest web connection should have no problem accessing it. A worthy and delightful resource.

www.highwired.com

Launched in April 1998, high-wired.com provides site space for American high schools. It targets four areas: school community; student community; sports community; and the extended community of parents and teachers. It is, naturally, US-centric on most things, but is worth seeing for three reasons: most young people are very familiar with the US through TV and movies; the content and writing is very good; and anyone wanting to set up a website should see how well it can be done.

cartoon-network.co.uk

After all that hard work and learning the student in your house deserves a break, and where better than at a cartoon web site? Scooby Doo is on the homepage (sending this reviewer on a nostalgia trip) and the news page is hosted by Droopy, who greets you in that famous, unmistakable voice by saying "Hello you happy people." Great graphics, great sound and a behind-the-scenes look at just what goes into making a cartoon. It's a commercial site, but so what, it's a lot of fun, and not just for kids.

http://freezone.com

Freezone is a new site which is aimed at 9 to 15-year-olds, with the users seeming to have an average age of 11. Its motto is that it is "where kids connect". However, even this lover of most-things-American found it a bit hard to take at times. It is not an overly commercialised site, but seems destined to be heading that way. Despite this, there are probably plenty of Irish children in their target age group who will love it. There is also a section where teachers and parents are invited to share ideas.