Here are some tips for useful sites you can visit in the line of duty (all sites commence with http:www. unless otherwise stated).

Not only are they our lords and masters, the Further Education Funding Council has actually put together a really good set of links on its site.

There are more than 90 of them, ranging from Academic Maps of the UK to Welsh Office Industry and Training. Go to: fefc.ac.uklinksindex.html from where you can jump to any of the linked sites. My favourites are the DFEE, BBC, NILTA, BECTA and FEDA. Hopefully, FEFC (sorry LSC) will put the email addresses of all colleges on here soon - it certainly is quicker than Snail-mail, and by using “WesternUnion” English you can get short messages to important people rapido.

For the accountants, look at inlandrevenue.gov.uk and note that most large accounting firms also have their own sites. Specialist management sites are also common, for instance hse.gov.uk for all matters of safety. Even Acas has its own site! I have to say, some sites are tedious but the afficionados rave about them.

Fo those lucky enough to still have some work at the chalk face, go to: http:web.uvic.cahrd halfbaked for software to create interactive exercises which use the internet; homeworkcentral.com to see 10,000 study subjects (any age group) with links to other relevant sites; howstuffworks.com a huge library, by subject area, explaining how things work (but not the FEFC funding methodology).

Since you have to relax a lot in a job like this, surf to unitedmedia.com which holds the Dilbert cartoon strips (and much more). Finally, not that I should give them a plug, but you can also access tes.co.uk, whose self-assessment is “online edition of the British education newspaper, including an archive of back issues and resources for teachers”.

Working in today’s turbulent and paper-rich environment, it is easy to think you haven’t got time to play with this kid’s stuff. Don’t fool yourself - you can save immense amounts of time using the Web and email. Have a shot at it, and happy surfing!

John Rockett is principal of Rotherham College and chairman of the computer management informationsystems operationscommittee of the National Information and Learning Technologies Association