The Internet provides a special advantage over previously tried-and-true audio or video classroom aids because it provides an interactive environment. While online, rather than within a classroom setting or at home, students and teachers alike have control over their own environment—what, when, and how long one wants to read a particular subject is up to the user, and one can also talk to others studying the same subject, or research further into a particular area.

In the Sarabande in Education site, we offer the following advantages to the online teacher and learner:

• Professors who adopt Sarabande titles are able to share and discuss their best practice and concerns with each other without the cost of long distance telephones or the time spent waiting on postal mail. This is done in the Teacher Lounge discussion area where the content is password protected, and each question and the responses that follow are sorted by subject.

• Students are able to talk to one another via the Student Lounge where they may discuss particular issues or further challenge fellow students into critical thinking about a selected author of study and their writing. Student discussions will be sorted by author. Once again, the content is password protected for only those students participating in the Sarabande in Education program.

• Students and professors are able to talk directly to the authors via one channel—the Author Interview Chatroom. Interviews in the chatroom will be scheduled, live events for students and authors alike to communicate directly with authors.

• Reader’s Guides for each book and Author Information for each corresponding author are available online for learners to peruse at their own pace, and relevant links are posted to aid in the student’s research of each author and similarly worthy literature.

• An e-mail link to Sarabande is posted on each page for any questions, problems, or concerns you might have either about the site or the authors being studied.

The Internet is no substitute for scholarship and pedagogy that take place within the classroom. The Internet is, however, a useful aid—an extra stimulation to help inspire students to delve deeper into the literature they are studying. The computer should not be relied on as a tool to teach a class, but rather as an added bonus to the books a teacher has so carefully selected. To help structure a successful class with Internet involvement, here are a few suggestions:

• Plan ahead. This may seem redundant for teachers who have their lesson plans in hand months in advance, but the immediacy that technology provides can sometimes be misleading. Authors will need to be contacted ahead of time to schedule live chat interviews; and, as university computer labs are often crammed with students each day, make sure to schedule lab hours at least twice a semester to fully take advantage of all there is on the Sarabande in Education site.

• Allow students to be creative and interactive in the online learning environment. From formulating questions to authors, to wandering off to a linked site, students learn best on the net when their experience is interactive and user-controlled.

• Comprehension has been proven to go down when one reads online, so try to get students to print out the materials they are interested in for further review from the printed page.