How the list was developed: This list of Bookmarks or Favorites was developed over the course of two years and represents hundreds of hours of research and web surfing on the part of its author. Although the list is not an exhaustive one, it includes most of the major web addresses (URLs) which should be of special interest to bilingual and ESL educators and others interested in issues of educational equity and diversity. Because bilingual and ESL educators must teach all subjects to students of all ages and therefore need access to the best mainstream sites as well as specialized ones, selected educational sites that will be of interest to mainstream educators are also included.

Kinds of sites featured: The majority of the sites listed are non-commercial ones, but a number of commercial sites of high quality, which offer free as well as paid-for products and services, have been included. Commercial sites all have the extension .com in their domain names. Most of the listed websites are sponsored by educational organizations such as universities and state education agencies (extension .edu), non-profit organizations such as professional associations and research centers (extension .org), and government-funded organizations such as the US Department of Education (extension .gov).

URLs that don’t work: As all who have surfed the Web for any length of time know, it rapidly changes. New sites are continually added, and old ones wither and die. As a result, some of the addresses may no longer work because the site has changed its address or has become non-existent. When you try an URL and it doesn’t work, this may be the case. On the other hand, sometimes URLs cannot be reached for a variety of complex electronic and technological reasons beyond the comprehension of most of us normal humans (like me). My suggestion is to try the URL two or three times and then come back to it later in a few hours or days. If it still doesn’t work, it may have died or moved.

If you can’t find what you want from any of the addresses listed, try one of the search engines, but be aware that you may waste a lot of time investigating sites that are far removed from your needs as an educator. Learning how to do effective, efficient searches will help. The Major Links section is another good place to start.