This is not simply a manifestation of the wired generation holding undue expectations of their print-generation teachers. It reflects a trend in the larger society to make information easier to find and access by publishing it online. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now publishes all U.S. nautical charts online and in digital format for fishermen; most companies publish their product catalogs on the web; and most businesses maintain a private intranet on which they make available all of their key working documents to employees with the correct password.

Schools, which employ as much or more printed material than most other organizations, are ripe to take advantage of this opportunity. But in order to do so, teachers, administrators, and students must know how to publish their works on the web. This week's article suggests some places to start.

School Web Server

Every school district in the country has a dedicated web site address. The Dismal Seepage, Massachusetts district would be found at http://dismalseepage.k12.ma.us. Every college or university has one as well, in the format http://dsu.edu. And most schools have set up a web server on which to place the documents they want to make available online.

In many schools, the easiest way to publish student or teacher materials online is to place them on the school or district's web server. For my students, and I, we use the address http://www.bu.edu/jlengel to publish many of the things we need to get at easily. But in order to do so, we must ask the school Webmaster to set us up with a directory and a password. The directory is the place on the school's server where my documents reside -- referred to as /jlengel/ in the URL listed above. The password is my unique key to getting at my directory -- only the password-holder can put things up there. (Anyone can see what's there, but only the Webmaster or I can add new documents or delete existing items.)

To use this method of web publishing, first find out who is the Webmaster in your school or district -- the administrator of the web server. Ask the Webmaster to set up a directory for you, give you a password, and show you how to send your files there. A good Webmaster will go out of his or her way to help you publish your work.

Once it is set up, you can place any kind of digital document into your directory: syllabi in Word format; web pages constructed by your students; podcasts; video clips; images to illustrate a lecture; anything that can be saved as a file on your computer can be made accessible to others through the web server. If I were to place the syllabus for my summer course (summersyl.doc) on my directory on the web server, students could access it by connecting their browser to http://www.bu.edu/jlengel/summersyl.doc. That's all there is to it.

Course Management System

To make this process even easier for teachers, many schools have added course management software such as Blackboard or WebCT or Moodle to their web servers. These facilitate the process of getting the files from your computer to the web server, and from the web server to your students' eyes. These systems let you publish a document for your students with a couple of mouse clicks and no assistance from the Webmaster. If your school has one of these CMSs (Course Management Systems), find out from your Webmaster how to connect to it, and start publishing.

Teacher Web Pages

Doctors, lawyers, dentists, painters and accountants these days all have their own web pages that help them communicate with their customers and carry out their business. So do many teachers. A teacher's web site is another good way to publish educational materials online. Many schools set these up routinely for each of their teachers; others will require some prodding. Some use software designed expressly for this purpose, such as FinalSite. Others simply set aside a directory for each teacher on the school's web server. Your Webmaster will know how it works in your school. For more information on this form of web publishing, read the article Teacher.com in this series.

Your ISP

Suppose your school is behind the times, and has not set up its web server for online publication. Or your Webmaster is uncooperative or burdened with other duties that prevent helping you get your documents on the web. You can do it without their help, if you have Internet access from home. Just about every Internet service provider (ISP) provides you with space on their web server to post your own documents. All the major providers, from Verizon to Cablevision to Earthlink to Comcast include this as part of the basic monthly fee.

To use this capability, connect to your ISP's web site and find the section on setting up your own web site. Follow the directions, and you can establish your own online library of documents.

Blogs and Wikis

Another way for you and your students to publish educational works online is through a Blog (short for web log) or a Wiki. A recent article in this series, Wikis in the Classroom, provides an introduction to publishing in this format. To start your own classroom blog, read the wiki article, then set up a blog for yourself at blogspot.com, following the easy onscreen directions.