Deutsche Welle is the German State broadcast company (http://www.dw-world.de).
The website offers news from the German perspective in English, German and other languages. For language students there are free of charge online courses at levels from beginners to very advanced. Look for 'Deutsch Interaktiv' (or link to http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,11751,00.html ) You can also get live feeds of various TV and radio channels which is an excellent resource for students. Lots of news on Germany and helpful links if you are planning a trip. Sometimes the links are a bit clunky and slow to load. If you or your kids are studying German, it's worth exploring this site.