iguring out the best way to introduce kids to the Web can be a tricky endeavor. This type of instruction really hasn't been done much, so we're all making it up as we go along. But as the Webmonkeys have worked with teachers and students, we've stumbled upon some useful techniques. We've enlisted one of these teachers to give you a few tips:

My name is Melanie Chaussé and I teach at Osprey Learning Center, a public, but alternative, K-12 school in Garberville, California. For the last three years, the Webmonkeys have been volunteering their time in my classroom, teaching me and the kids how to build and maintain Web sites.

I began this World Wide Web adventure with only a basic understanding of computers, but I dove right in once I saw how much fun the Webmonkeys were having. They were actually volunteering to give up their weekends once a month, drive all the way up here, and teach a rather rowdy group of kids a seemingly incomprehensible language known as HTML? There must be something to this.

When I realized what mastery of this language could mean for my students - namely active participation in the future, not just passive observation - I knew that this was something worth taking the time to learn.

What follows are some things I've learned over the course of the past three years about teaching Web design in my classroom. Some of it may be helpful, but you'll probably need to experiment a little to find what works best for you and your students.