Language Teaching and the Internet

Why use mailing lists?

• Networking with other teachers: May lists have thousands of members all over the world. What better place to share trials and triumphs than among many colleagues?
• Finding new resources: When others find a new resource, create new materials, or think of new ideas for student projects, you can often hear about them on a list.
• FAQ's: Many mailing lists and newsgroups maintain lists of FAQ's, or "Frequently Asked Questions." Many of these become almost book-length resource guides on the subject of the list.

• How to subscribe
  Spanish or French
  Mailing list for this class. To subscribe, put the words SUBSCRIBE LANGUAGE YOUR NAME in the main body of the message.

• How to work the list commands
  Listserv lists
  Majordomo lists
  

• Finding newsgroups at http://www.dejanews.com

Choose a list and subscribe to it. Read the messages, and notice how the discussion is constructed. Change some of your list options (for example, set the list to "Digest" mode) and get comfortable with the list's functions. How do you think this is relevant to you and/or your students? Do messages on the list give you any ideas on where else to look?

Search for a newsgroup that contains information that may be relevant. Did you find any?