Georgia signs on with AOL@SCHOOL. (News connection: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).

Georgia has become the sixth state to sign on to use AOL@SCHOOL, a free service from AOL for administrators, teachers and students.

AOL@SCHOOL, which was introduced in mid-2000, is a portal to a number of free educational materials. Turner Broadcasting, part of parent-company AOL Time Warner, will be a content provider via CNNfyi.com, a news Web site with links for K-12 students. Teachers and students can access content from Blackboard Inc., Classroom Connect, Riverdeep, Merriam-Webster and a host of other content partners.

The service provides teachers with the state's content standards, training and assessment resources and planning calendars. Teachers can also be linked to the state's education Web site, "Georgia Learning Connections," which includes information on revisions to the state's core curriculum and a Teacher Resource Center.

In all, AOL@SCHOOL offers four portals for students: one for primary K-2 grades; another for 3-5; a portal for grades 6-8; and one for high school students. Students and educators can also use standard AOL's services, including e-mail and instant messaging.

Georgia's state superintendent of schools, Linda Schrenko, introduced the service to superintendents with a letter that listed the benefits. AOL@SCHOOL features a pop-up window with links to state education information, she notes. "By including Georgia's Focus Feature Window, AOL@SCHOOL will include links to the Georgia Department of Education Report Card, legislation affecting public schools, testing information and State Board of Education rules," she says. Approximately 8,000 Georgia school administrators and 88,000 teachers have access to the service. Georgia currently has 2.8 million students enrolled in public school.

AOL@SCHOOL is already used statewide in Virginia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Colorado.