(Oklahoma City, Okla.) - Education World (www.education-world.com) holds ten of the 100 clues that unlock a treasure chest containing more than $100,000 in cash and prizes for participants of Lycos CyberSurfari Fall '99; an educational expedition where players explore hand-picked destinations throughout the Internet.
Running from Oct. 21, 1999 to March 15, 2000, CyberSurfari's comprehensive online expedition is made possible by a 501-C3 nonprofit organization called the Children's Web Surfing Alliance, Inc. (CWSA) and the contest's generous sponsors; and the contest's generous sponsors; Education World, Lycos, Inc., Discovery School, Educast, FamilyEducation.com, Hewlett Packard, Knowledge Adventure, National Education Association, Steck-Vaughn Publishing and
Zeeks.Com.
The Education World site serves as one of 10 CyberStations where the contest's participants learn interesting facts as they use their deductive reasoning, Web-savvy and reading comprehension skills to decipher Education World's 10 clues and collect treasure codes that count toward their final scores. The more than 100 outpost destinations included on this comprehensive hunt are sites selected for their combination of educational content, organization, entertainment value, Web site performance and a privacy policy for its visitors.
"Education World is proud to serve as a sponsor of Lycos CyberSurfari Fall '99," Education World President Brian Mauck said. "The contest reflects our commitment to increasing the number of students and adults accessing the Internet and making their online experience as rich as possible. We are confident that many of the thousands of treasure seekers who visit our site for the first time during the contest will return to enjoy our content for years to come."
As schools across the nation implement technology in the classroom, educators are teaching students how to use the Internet by incorporating the CyberSurfari contest into their fall curriculum. In 1998, more than 10,000 school team players competed with family teams and individuals from 97 countries - a 20 fold increase from the contest's inception five years ago. Over half the teachers who organized school teams indicated that CyberSurfari had been designated as part of their educational curriculum as opposed to an extra-curricular activity.
"CyberSurfari has become one of the Web's greatest achievements in promoting the integration of technology and schools," said CWSA executive director Sara White. "Teachers, students and parents use the contest as a map to the Internet's uncharted seas. CyberSurfari focuses on safely navigating the wealth of information available on the Internet in a team or individual format. Although it is an educational program, it is also just plain fun! Many classes hold kick-off pizza parties, stay-up all night to finish the race, and devise intricate strategies for mastering the contest. We consider Lycos CyberSurfari Fall '99 a perfect vehicle to introduce students, teachers and families to the Internet, and we're proud that educators and parents agree."
- Further information on Lycos CyberSurfari Fall '99 is accessible at http://www.cybersurfari.org
- The summer contest is currently running through October 15th, and the fall contest launches October 21st at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.
- Practice and sample clues are accessible by visiting CyberSurfari.Org's practice section and playing the summer contest.
- CyberSurfari.Org's Lesson Ideas Section offers curriculum ideas based around themes designed to help teachers incorporate the Web into their daily lesson planning.
- The CyberSurfari Fall '99 graphic may be pulled from http://www.cybersurfari.org/promos.htm
Education World, based in Oklahoma City, is the Internet's largest education-specific search engine, linking to over 115,000 education-related sites. The search engine is appropriate for all ages and searchable by subject or grade level. The site also offers weekly original content -- lesson planning activities, curriculum ideas, education site reviews, worldwide education employment listings, forums, education news and many other features to assist the education community online. Visit http://www.education-world.com for more information.
CWSA is a 501-C3 nonprofit organization that implements CyberSurfari.Org - a Web site dedicated to helping parents, teachers, and students learn to use the Web safely and effectively at home and at school. In addition to three four-month long treasure hunts per year, CyberSurfari.Org offers monthly lesson ideas, links and practice outpost clues. Visit http://www.cybersurfari.org for details.
