Welcome to EnergyNet Discussion

Special Notice - If you are under the age of 13, or are a parent or teacher of a child under the age of 13, special rules apply to you. Read below for more information.

Discussion Areas

General Project Discussion

EnergyNet participants and guests are welcome to participate in online discussions in the Collaboratory's Forums. An area has been set up for Energy Detectives, Energy Auditing and the Community Partnership Initiative. To get to these Forums after logging in, simply click on Messages. The navigation buttons at the top of the page will change and you will have the option to click on Forums. Do so and scroll down to the EnergyNet Forum of your choice.

The Collaboratory offers a variety of tools for students and teachers to collaborate online, such as live chat, discussion, messaging, and user-defined projects. New users should read this instructional document.

Teacher's Only Discussion

All teachers may go to the Educational Dividends' website and post messages on the Teacher's Lounge Discussion Board. This discussion area is designed for teachers and the topics tend to focus on issues relevant to the teaching profession.

Privacy for Children

EnergyNet respects the privacy of all of our visitors. Special rules do apply to children under the age of 13 that all parents and teachers should be aware of. Please read our privacy statement to learn more about how we protect the privacy of our visitors.

Special precautions need to be followed with regard to the Collaboratory's discussion area. Please use the following suggestions as a guide to protecting your privacy or the privacy of your child.

If you are under the age of 13

You should not give your full name or your e-mail address to anyone online. When registering with any website online, including the Collaboratory's website, please ask for help from a teacher or parent.

If you are a teacher of children under the age of 13

You should not allow your students to give their name or their e-mail address without explicit parental permission. You should create a generic account for your students with the name being generic, such as "A Student in Mrs. X's class" or "An EnergyNet student from X school". When asked for an e-mail address, you should give your e-mail address.

If you are a parent of a child under the age of 13

You are the ultimate guardian of what your child sees on the Internet; therefore, it is your decision whether to allow your child to use his or her name and give their personal e-mail address. However, it is usually recommended that you always use your e-mail address when registering for an account for your child.