At Shareology.org, a web site managed by the nonprofit Nicholas Foundation, educators can exchange best practices, review new technologies, post feedback on their innovations, learn from each other's experiences, and find resources to help them succeed in the classroom. After registering (which is free), educators will find ideas for K-12 instruction, funding sources for projects, and information about technology products and services. The site also includes a Podcasting Corner, which features samples of how students are using podcasts and gives educators ideas for how to use podcasting in their own lessons.

Cappex.com has launched a free service to help students make informed choices when selecting a college by letting them know which colleges are likely to want them before they actually apply. Students create an online profile that details their interests, extracurricular activities, grades, and test scores. Next, they receive invitations from colleges who think that, based on their profile, the students would be a great fit. The site has optional features that enable collaboration among students, parents, and guidance counselors. The service is free to students, parents, guidance counselors, and-in many cases-free to colleges.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is making primary source documents and educational resources from all eras of American history available for free online. The web site receives more than 1 million visits per year, and offers a variety of free online resources to improve the study of American history. Features available on the web site include podcasts of historians discussing their work, lesson plans on major topics in American history, a searchable database of more than 60,000 primary source documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, featured documents with printable images and transcripts for classroom use, and online exhibitions.

CollegeBrain.net is a free, web-based course management system that enables instructors to manage their courses online and gives students access to collaborative tools. The site lets instructors build courses, manage students, collect and grade assignments, post announcements, manage discussion forums, and keep in contact with colleagues. All courses that are created and materials that are uploaded are permanently stored on CollegeBrain.net, unless deleted by the creator, according to the service. This allows information to be referenced and used at any time.

Adobe Systems Inc., maker of the popular photo-editing software Photoshop, has launched a basic version of the program available free of charge online. While Photoshop is designed for trained professionals, Adobe says its Photoshop Express, which it launched in a "beta" test version last month, is easier to learn. Photoshop Express is completely web-based, so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system, and browser. And, once they register, users can get to their accounts from different computers.

"Google Earth Lessons" is a free public resource created by teachers, for teachers, to give educators tools and ideas for using the free Google Earth software in their classrooms. Using the ideas and resources found on this site, teachers of all subjects and grade levels can incorporate Google Earth into their curriculum.

To help teens better understand the risks associated with the internet and to educate parents, guardians, and teachers, Sprint has launched a program called 4NetSafety in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Education Association's Health and Information Network. The initiative offers free resources designed to help teens understand the impact of online decisions and the potential dangers they face

IBM recently launched a free multiplayer online game, PowerUp, that challenges teenagers to help save the planet "Helios" from ecological disaster. The game is part of IBM's TryScience initiative, which encourages students to investigate, discover, and try science by linking it to engaging, real-world activities.

The research department at Children's Hospital Boston has developed a series of web-based Flash tutorials to present complex medical and biological concepts in an interactive, user-friendly format. These free science "interactives" are useful for students and educators, as well as anyone interested in the latest medical research and how it works.

Inspired by his experience making Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg established the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation in 1994 to gather video testimonies from survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. In January 2006, the Shoah Foundation became part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where the 52,000-plus testimonies in its archive will be preserved in perpetuity.