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As you might expect, many are of a scientific bent. You can find these by typing `l sci.' in rn or using `nngrep sci.' for nn. There are now close to 40, with subjects ranging from archaeology to economics (the "dismal science," remember?) to astronomy to nanotechnology (the construction of microscopically small machines).
One thing students will quickly learn from many of these groups: science is not just dull, boring facts. Science is argument and standing your ground and making your case. The Usenet sci.* groups encourage critical thinking.
Beyond science, social-studies and history classes can keep busy learning about other countries, through the soc.culture.* newsgroups.
Most of these newsgroups originated as ways for expatriates of a given country to keep in touch with their homeland and its culture. In times of crisis, however, these groups often become places to disseminate information from or into the country and to discuss what is happening. From Afghanistan to Yugoslavia, close to 50 countries are now represented on Usenet. To see which groups are available, use `l soc.culture.' in rn or `nngrep soc.culture.' for nn.
One caveat: Teachers might want to peruse particular newsgroups before setting their students loose in them. Some have higher levels of flaming and blather than others.
Several "talk" newsgroups provide additional topical discussions, but teachers should screen them first before recommending them to students. They range from talk.abortion, via talk.politics. guns to talk.politics.space, and talk.environment.
There are also a number of Bitnet discussion groups of potential interest to students and teachers. See section Mailing Lists and Bitnet for information on finding and subscribing to Bitnet discussion groups. Some with an educational orientation include:
biopi-l ksuvm.bitnet Secondary biology education chemed-l uwf.bitnet Chemistry education dts-l iubvm.bitnet The Dead Teacher's Society list phys-l uwf.bitnet Discussions for physics teachers physhare psuvm.bitnet Where physics teachers share resources scimath-l psuvm.bitnet Science and math education
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