THE INTERNET AND CHOOSING SITES
Sue Clarke, Teacher and trainer, British Council, Portugal

Many families have access to the internet at home. On this page find out why the internet is a useful resource for learning languages, and how parents and carers can find sites that are suitable for children.

Why use the internet?

			There are lots of different websites to choose from, and there are interesting sites and pages for everyone.
			Good websites will have up-to-date, relevant and modern information, and do not 'date' like pages in a school textbook. Many websites regularly update their sites.
			Many children are already familiar with using the internet and enjoy using it. For some children, learning through the web does not feel like 'work' or 'study'.
			Being able to follow their own interests, clicking from site to site or sections of a website promotes decision making and encourages children to be more independent in their learning.
			Accessing information on their own particular interests is extremely motivating for children.
			It is an excellent means of communication as children are taking in information and concentrating on meaning rather than practising grammatical structures in a meaningless way.
			Many websites feature multimedia or interactive resources. Some websites will have soundfiles; some activities will involve movement (using the mouse to click on things for example); some activities will even involve interacting with other people or texts. This can make the learning experience richer.

Choosing the right sites

There are a lot of websites on the word wide web. Some of these sites are not suitable for children. They may contain inappropriate material, they may ask for identifying personal information. Some sites have inappropriate advertising, or links to unsuitable pages. Some sites might ask for money. How do parents choose sites that are safe and fun for children?

You can install filters on your computer. Filters block certain sites and pages. However, filters are not always 100% reliable, and it is good practice to teach your child about using the internet safely. You can find advice and links to safety websites for children and adults on the 'using computers and the internet safely' page.

There are many sites that are informative, fun and motivating for children. How do you find them?

You can use your usual search engines to find sites. If you are using search engines such as Yahoo or Google, encourage your child to use the UK versions. There are also child-friendly seach engines which have sites that have been selected by an editor. If you use these child-friendly search engines you will know that the sites are safe and of good quality. Here are two child-friendly search engines:
http://www.askforkids.com
http://kids.yahoo.com/

Whichever seach engine you use you will often come across many sites. Have a look at the sites with your child. Some sites will be too difficult, or not interesting for your child. When you find sites or pages that your child enjoys visiting, make sure that you bookmark them and add them to your 'favourites' list. You can create your own list, and your child can then easily visit their favourite sites again and again.

If you would like a place to start looking at websites, we've selected some sites that we think are useful for children who are learning English. Have a look at the LearnEnglish parents links page.