Editor's Note: Year of the Internet

No doubt about it: 1996 has been the year of the Internet- and K-12 education has joined business, government, and individuals in using this network of telecommunications networks. But while many educators are leaping onto the information superhighway, some may have been left behind: the rural school systems that may lack the resources necessary to bring information technologies to their teachers and students.

The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's program Arkansas AdVentures in Networking, or AAN, addresses this situation. Through AAN, several education service providers, including SEDL, are linked in a combined human and electronic network that supplies training in technology and a specific instructional method to educators in seven rural schools in eastern Arkansas. Journalist Michael Burton profiles AAN in "Wired in Arkansas," while SEDL researcher K. Victoria Dimock, who manages the program, describes what she has learned about effective teacher training for technology use in "Lessons in Professional Development."

New R&D products in educational technology are summarized in "Resources for School Technology." And a special insert highlights SEDL's Internet presence, which introduces three new SEDL databases: Science-Rich Resources from SEDL's Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching, the SEDL Catalog, and Rehabilitation Research featured by SEDL's National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research.

SEDLetter closes with Joyce S. Pollard's article "We Must Always Remember the Children," a tribute to Dr. Preston C. Kronkosky, who retires on November 30, 1996, after more than 37 years in public education. As SEDL's president and CEO since 1981, Kronkosky has created a network of education specialists who develop and deliver research-based school improvement products and services to educators throughout the South and Southwest. We at SEDL will miss his leadership and the vision he shaped for the organization. And thank you, Preston, for your wisdom and compassion and for reminding us that it's the kids who really matter.

Next Article: Wired in Arkansas - SEDL and several partners brought local computer networks and the Internet to seven rural Arkansas schools