LAWRENCE, Kansas -- A group university students and professors have turned themselves into electronic middlemen, marketing safe and educational information to children through the Internet. Lee Hornbrook, a project coordinator in the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, is project manager of www.4Kids.org, an electronic clearinghouse of information and tools for children in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"We're brokers between people who create content and people who want original content," he said. "Even though our product is original, it really just provides reviews." The site, which contains links called Fun Stuff, Kid Quest, Cool Spots, Safe Surfing, Ask Amy and Speak Out, has been online for about six years. It is the sister project to the 4Kids newspaper feature that began in 1996.

The newspaper feature, which KU special education professor Jerry Chaffin created, appears on comic, technology and family pages in about 80 newspapers worldwide.  Hornbrook said 4Kids was developed to help protect children from the perils of the Internet, which was relatively new six years ago. The Web site is a continuation of the original idea, giving young people helpful information about safely using the Internet while it provides entertainment and education.

"The idea was to get parents, teachers and grandparents involved in children's Internet activities," Hornbrook said. "Our mission is to provide kid-friendly Web sites in a kid-friendly way."  Some of the strategies for accomplishing that goal included providing interesting Web sites, games and challenges to involve young students in Internet activities that don't include harmful or dangerous links.

The site also provides young people with a question-and-answer service and an uncensored forum where they can present their own ideas.  Hornbrook said that when he took on the project two years ago, he received some guidance but no extra hands. As the project has grown, however, so has Hornbrook's staff, which now includes about 10 students from KU and area secondary schools.

Hornbrook said the project's expansion has given him a chance to work with members of his staff, adding a new layer to the Web site's educational value.  "This has turned into a teaching project," he said. "I try not to do as much, but I provide direction and tell them how to do it. It's fun."

Staff members agree. Amy Schimmel, a Lawrence, Kan. freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at KU, began working at 4Kids as a student at West Junior High. The "real" Amy from Ask Amy, she said the job had given her clues about what she might like to study in the future.

"I'm enjoying this so much," she said. "All of us in this office learn from each other. I know I benefit from it.  "Sometimes it's hard to tell the impact we have on our readers, but the e-mail keeps coming in. I know I'm communicating with real people. I know this is special."  Each week, 4Kids selects three kid-friendly Web sites that introduce young people to interesting information.

On Feb. 24, 4Kids will feature a site called Big Mike's Wacky World of Illustration, created by Michael Irvin. On the Internet since 1998, Big Mike's site caters to students in junior high and high school and features a gallery of submitted works, tips on drawing and keeping a journal, educational information and links to related sites. The featured site is at http://www.geocities.com/mirvin1129.

Hornbrook said the ultimate goal was to train young children how to use the Internet, so that they might use it without struggling with the pitfalls that can come with surfing.

The hope, he said, is that children will eventually grow out of needing the site.  "Our bigger purpose is to get kids to learn from their Internet experience," he said. "That's what we're trying to teach them. In a sense, we're like ambulance drivers. You hope someday your services are no longer needed."

ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.ur.ku.edu/News/02N/FebNews/Feb21/4kids.html

http://www.4Kids.org

http://www.geocities.com/mirvin1129
 

---University of Kansas

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