Nearly every day, a handful of education Web sites and Internet resources go online.

        Some are started by textbook companies, others by retired teachers or entrepreneurs looking for a quick cash-in.

        They all hope that teachers will hook classroom computers into these sites, using them to enhance student learning or expand options for research and professional development.

        The real test is how well such resources can be incorporated into class, or into teachers' plans for continuing their own education, said Rick Johnston, history department chairman at Withrow High.

        When done correctly, teaching with technology “makes a big difference,” Mr. Johnston said.

        While students expect to learn using the computers, videos and other technology that are a part of their everyday lives, they need teachers to help them sort through the information and resources available.

        Mr. Johnston does his homework before introducing students to new information. He visits education sites, looking for the best to use in class.

        “I've found that this opens up such windows of learning and resources,” Mr. Johnston said.

        In his freshman history class, students use five computers to research information about the Revolution of 1848. Through an Ohio education Web site called www.infohio.org, they learn about the art, politics and music of the Romantic period.

        Others look up similar information through computer encyclopedias loaded into the terminals.

        In a senior theory of knowledge class, students search for definitions of the words fallacy and false dilemma.

        The real value of the new technology is that it connects students to new resources they otherwise could not access, said David Gordon, who edited The Digital Classroom, a compilation of articles, reprinted from the Harvard Education Letter, about how technology is changing the way teachers teach.

        “Kids expect video and these kinds of media,” Mr. Gordon said. “They expect more than books because they get their information in all kinds of ways. Even in their own work, they take advantage of all these tools.”

        And for that reason, it's imperative that teachers know the technology and its uses, he said.

        “Students come in with the advantage,” Mr. Gordon said. “Teachers are more important than ever because kids don't know how to sift through this information. That's what you learn from teachers.”

        That's why Withrow's Mr. Johnston works so hard to make the school technology-rich.

        Homework and other assignments are posted on class Web pages. Parents and students can communicate privately with teachers through e-mail.

        Teachers like Mr. Johnston literally begged, borrowed and scrounged for computer equipment and resources. Crayons to Computers and 3M helped out. Yet many of the terminals and printers were purchased with teachers' own money.

        Now, through a partnership with IBM, Withrow will become a “thinkpad” school.

        In the next few weeks, all teachers will receive wireless laptops. Those teachers will spend a year taking online classes through ACTNow and Virtual Learning to learn how to use the laptops and incorporate the new technology into their classes.

        To Mr. Johnston, computers and online resources mean more tools for students.

        “Students learn that computers are not the answer,” Mr. Johnston said. “They are the tools that can take you to the answer.”

        Using the computers in small groups also teaches the social skills of working together, he said.

        Maury Kenny and Devon Brand demonstrate that in their freshman history class. The students said they like using the Internet because it makes research easier and faster.

        “There's more information here than in our textbooks,” Devon said.

        Savanna Sun was able to look up a picture of the painting “Liberty Leading the People” to learn about the art of the Romantic period.

        “We can find out a lot more about what we're learning about this way,” she said.

        The technology even helps connect students to other learning communities.

        Spanish teacher Diane Thomas just went online with a class Web site.

        She posts assignments and information about her classes and the International Baccalaureate program in which she teaches. She e-mails assignments to students who are out sick.

        The three computers and printers she purchased for her classroom get nearly full-time use by students. They use links to Spanish sites and are able to work on their own, at different levels of difficulty.

        And all students in Withrow's International Baccalaureate program can access students studying the same courses in other countries.

        John Kobara, CEO of California-based OnlineLearning.net, one of the most successful providers of online-learning courses for teachers, said it is crucial that teachers know how to use the technology.

        “You have to look at how this is going to be taught, and who will teach it,” Mr. Kobara said. “People who are used to face-to-face learning aren't necessarily prepared for the online world, which is very different.”

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