Education on the Internet
Number 1: 4th October, 2001
Introduction
Introduction
Education on the Internet is published by Spartacus Educational every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews of websites and articles on using ICT in the classroom. Members of the mailing list are invited to submit information for inclusion in future newsletters. In this way we hope to create a community of people involved in using the internet in education.
John Simkin
Trenches on the Web: Trenches on the Web is an evolving project being developed by Mike Lavorone in the USA. New material is being added all the time and this reflects the concerns and interests of the people who use the site and are willing to send information to the webmaster. Lavorone describes himself as the trench-keeper ("a history technician, not a historian, recording these events with the tools currently available"). Students can explore a wide variety of themes and topics. It is also possible to look at certain issues in great detail. The range and display of statistics in this website is especially impressive. The visitor is never allowed to forget the human tragedy of this conflict and heart-rendering photographs appear next to the tables and graphs on the screen.
The Battle of Hastings: A comprehensive website on the Battle of Hastings that with the right backup material could be used successfully in the classroom. The website consists of 850,000 words and 300 graphics. There is no search-engine but the material is well organised under headings such as: Kings of Wessex and England, Where is 1066 Country, Why did the Battle Happen?, The Build up to the Battle, Harold's Battle Force, William's Battle Force, The Battle, The Aftermath, Norman Rule After 1066, etc. The author has also provided a comprehensive glossary of words and people.
The Second World War: A comprehensive encyclopaedia of the Second World War. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. So far there are sections on: Background to the War; Nazi Germany, Chronology of the War, Political Leaders, European Diplomacy, Major Offensives, British Military Leaders, USA Military Leaders, German Military Leaders, Japanese Military Leaders, The Armed Forces, The Air War, The Resistance, Scientists & Inventors, War at Sea, Resistance in Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, War Artists, Weapons and New Technology.
British Prime Ministers: A website provided free by Britannia. The site contains pictures and biographical details of seventy-three of Britain's Prime Ministers. It starts with Sir Robert Walpole in 1721 and ends with a small section on Tony Blair in 1997. A biography of the Prime Minister is followed by a time-line of key events that took place during his/her period in office.
Jewish Virtual Library: This website claims it is the most comprehensive Jewish encyclopedia in the world. Created by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), the website includes more than 6,000 articles. Divided into 13 sections such as History, Women, Politics, Biography, Israel, Religion and Vital Statistics, the entries are often illustrated by photographs and maps.
English
The Standards Site: The Standards Site is managed by the Department for Education and Employment's Standards and Effectiveness Unit (SEU). The main objective of the site is to supply teachers with "guidance and tools to help schools improve effectiveness, raise standards and reduce workload". This includes providing literacy materials and schemes of work. There is also a detailed section on 'The National Literacy Strategy' which contains material under headings such as 'What is Literacy?', 'About the Framework for Teaching', 'Resource Area', 'What is the Literacy Hour' and 'What should literate children be able to do.'
Infant Explorer: An excellent website for Key Stage 1 produced by teachers working with the Canterbury Environment Education Centre. Every term a new story designed to be used within the literacy hour is added and so far The Swan Story, In the Autumn and Sebastian's Waddle are available from the site. Each story encourages the children to explore seasonal changes in the environment and includes NLS keywords, photographs, moving graphics and sounds. The story contains interactive sections which encourages the use of email and provides opportunities for the children's work to be published on the site.
Gareth Pitchford's Primary Resources: Illustrated by humorous cartoons, Pitchford has provided a wide range of lesson ideas and resources for primary teachers. This includes a good section on Literacy Hour Resources such as 'Nouns and Adjectives Game', 'Lego Instructions', 'Types of Sentences', 'Conjunctions' and 'Thesaurus Work'. Pitchford, who teaches at Edleston Primary School, also provides materials for Maths, Science and Art and numerous links, including one to Paul Cockcroft's Literacy Hour Resources.
Loopy Land: As the title of this website suggests, Loopy Land provides a less traditional approach to delivering the National Curriculum. Lara Savory has made the material that she has been using with her Y6 group available to the Internet community. This includes, Liquorice Hour (new ideas for teaching the literacy hour), Loopy Learning Discussion (on-line debate), Left to Write (tips for teaching left-handed children) and Loopy Star Sites (ratings, with links, of other educational sites).
Mathematics
Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching: The CIMT was established at the University of Exeter in 1986. As the CIMT is a centre for research and curriculum development in Mathematics teaching and learning it was only a matter of time before it began to explore the possibilities of the Internet. Jointly sponsored by Esso, British Steel, the Post Office and Singapore Airlines, the website is being used to build a database of resources for students and teachers. Some of the mathematics worksheets available include those that cover topics such as Genetic Fingerprinting, Postcodes, Time Zones, Tin Can Design, Bar Codes and Birthdays.
MathsNet: As well as being Head of Maths at the Hewett Comprehensive School in Norwich, Bryan Dye is one of the pioneer developers of educational websites. His fantastic MathsNet website is a tremendous resource for all teachers and students of mathematics. Features include: Interactive, Articles, QuizBank, Magic Grid, MathsNet Art, Puzzles and Maths Links. The website also contains reviews of software and books for mathematicians.
Maths Help: This website provides free help and advice with problems in Mathematics and Statistics at GCSE, A-level, BTEC, GNVQ and foundation degree level. You send in your question and Maths Help will send an email back with hints and general advice and a couple of days later your answer will appear in the Maths Knowledge Bank. Categories include Number and Financial Calculations, Trigonometry, Geometry & Mensuration, Algebra, Functions and Graphs, Calculus, Statistics & Probability and Applied Maths & Mechanics. There is also a Maths Chat Room where you can talk with fellow students or the Maths Help tutors.
Interactive Mathematics: Most of the best educational websites have been created by people who are enthusiastic about the subjects they teach. Alexander Bogomolny definitely fits into this category. Interactive Mathematics is an attempt to reduce what Bogomolny calls "math anxiety". His strategy is to provide a database of games and puzzles that require deductive skills. Bogomolny argues that: "Mathematics is the only deductive science. The peculiar beauty of Mathematics lies in deduction, in the dependency of one fact upon another". He adds that he is attempting to create a resource that will help people learn "if not math itself, then, at least, ways to appreciate its beauty." Bogomolny's website also includes sections on Maths Quotes, Did you Know?, Fast Reckoning, Mathematics as a Language and Inventor's Paradox.
Design & Technology
Design & Technology Department: This impressive website has been created by Andrew Davies, the Design & Technology, Head of Department, at Littlehampton Community School. The website includes details of Design & Technology projects produced at the school. There is also information on a very interesting 'Primary School Technology Day' and a section on important inventions. Andrew Davies has also put the department's schemes of work online.
StudyWeb Technology Education: An excellent collection of resources that can be used for teaching design & technology. A brief description of the resource is followed by comments on its visual content and the age group that would best benefit from the material. The resource list includes: Introduction to Manufacturing System Design, Design Projects for Technology Education, Electric Vehicles, Environmental Technology Education, Technology & Industry, and AutoCad.
Journal of Technology Education: The Journal of Technology Education provides a forum for discussion on topics relating to technology education. Produced by researchers in the USA, articles are available online and contain useful information for technology teachers in Britain. Subjects covered in the Spring, 1998, edition includes several articles on successful school projects.
Science
Nine Planets: The Nine Planets is an amazing website designed by Bill Arnett, a software engineer from San Jose, California. Bill Arnett is one of the pioneering figures of the Internet and is developing standards that hopefully others will try to maintain. Bill Arnett is to the Internet what D.W. Griffith was to the movies. The Nine Planets provides an overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images and some have sound and video. Contents include 'Express Tour', 'Overview of the Solar System', 'Other Solar System', 'Spacecraft', 'Discovery Chronology', 'The Origin of the Solar System', 'Planetary Linguistics' and 'Astronomical Names'. The photographs of the planets and moons are spectacular. There is also an excellent glossary and links with other relevant websites.
Ask Dr. Universe: A wonderful site produced for children by Washington State University. Visitors can ask scientific questions and the university's team of researchers will find you the answer. The site also contains a database of previously answered questions. The keyword from the question is listed in alphabetical order. Question range from: What is a black hole? to "Why are my eyes blue?" Answers are usually two pages long and include a photograph of the person answering the question. Although answered by academics, the answers are written in a style that most children will understand. It is also possible to send follow up questions directly to the person who provided the first answer. A well-designed website that fully deserves the many awards that it has won.
The Why Files: This site is funded by the US National Science Foundation and features stories that explore the technology and engineering involved in current events. In the past the 'Why Files' have dealt with events like the stock market fluctuations and archeological digs. The stories are changed twice a month. In August 1997, the two stories were the 'Sojourner Rover on Mars' and 'Endocrine Disrupters'. The second story is a good example of how a complex subject can be communicated in a clear and unpatronising way. Based on a report by the Environmental Protection Agency, the author provides information pages on how pesticides are causing problems for humans and animals. The story is linked to background information on hormones and a case-study of DDT and eagles' eggs. The final section explores what is being done and the prospects for success. Past stories are archived and can be recalled. Written and illustrated in a lively and attractive way, this site is well worth a regular visit.
The Skeptics Dictionary: This website has been created by Robert Carroll, a professor of philosophy and author of the book, 'Becoming a Critical Thinker'. The main objective of this website is to explain mysteries such as UFOs, crop circles and telepathy. We all like mysteries and I suspect that a large number of the 114,000 people who have visited the site would have been disappointed by Carroll's scientific and rational explanations. However, this is an impressive attempt to encourage rational thinking.
Geography
National Geographic Map Machine: There are several websites on the Internet that provides maps. Probably the best of these is provided by the National Geographic Magazine. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corporation the 'Map Machine Atlas' enables the viewer to select any country in the world. The map is displayed with national flag and other factual information such as: population, capital, main religions, languages, literacy rate and life expectancy. There are also sections on the country's history and economy. The Web Machine also has collections of 'Political' and 'Physical' maps. A recent addition is 'View From Above' that shows maps of countries based on satellite photographs.
New Internationalist: Rivers: An impressive website that provides detailed information on the world's five longest rivers: Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Ganges and the Zaire. The eco-system of each river is briefly described. For example, we are told that the Yangtze has 700 tributaries and one in thirteen on the planet live in its basin. This is followed by an analysis of the dangers threatening these eco-systems. The New Internationalists is more sympathetic to those problems caused by culture (the ashes of 40,000 people put into the Ganges) than what it calls "rampant industrialism" (logging campaigns in Brazil). The website has a campaigning tone but provides a great deal of fascinating information.
Geography World: Geography World has been created by Brad Bowerman, an enthusiastic geography teacher from Lakeland High School in Jermyn, Pennsylvania. As well as creating his own material on Pennsylvania, Bowerman has produced a directory of useful websites for geography teachers. Categories include Ecosystems, Tectonics, Natural Resources, Earth's Surface/Erosion, Weather/Climate, Maps & Globes, Cultures, Population, Environmental Issues and Geography Games.
Virtual Wildlife: Virtual Wildlife has been produced by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Concise and lucid text is accompanied by attractive illustrations. Sections include Polar Regions, Coniferous Forests, Temperate Forests, Grasslands, Tropical Forests, Mountains, Oceanic Islands, Freshwater Wetlands and Oceans. After reading a two-page description of the environment, students have the opportunity to research the wildlife from the chosen area.
Modern Languages
ARTFL Project: The American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL) is based at the University of Chicago. The website contains over 20,000 French texts including the Diderot Encyclopaedia, Roget's Thesaurus and the French Bible. ARTFL is also working on several collaborative projects with French educational institutions. These are all listed and linked from the main website.
Virtual French Literature: An excellent resource for all teachers and students of French literature. Virtual French Literature is a large database of out of copyright classics in French. Writers featured include Appollinaire, Balzac, Colette, Maupassant, Racine, Rambaud, Fanon, Flaubert, Gide, Zola, Hugo, Rousseau, Stendhal, Verne and Voltaire. The website also contains a comprehensive collection of biographies of French writers.
French-English Dictionary: The American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL) is based at the University of Chicago. Mark Olsen of the University of Chicago's ARTFL Project is constructing a French-English Dictionary. So far it contains only 75,000 words but it is still growing and it is hoped that eventually it will be as comprehensive as ARTFL's English dictionary. At the moment you can only search for individual words and not phrases or expressions. However, it does tell you the gender and whether it is a noun or verb.
Travlang's German-English Online Dictionary: Travlang was founded by Dr. Michael Martin in 1995 and is committed to providing a variety of useful tools for those interested in learning a foreign language. Travlang's German-English Online Dictionary contains more than 130,000 entries and enables the visitor to translate phrases from German to English and vice versa. Includes facility for users to add words and phrases to the dictionary.
Learn Spanish Online Tutorial: Learn Spanish is an outstanding website that provides a wealth of information for all students and teachers of the language. The online tutorial includes written and oral exercises and currently covers over 50 separate topics. The Vocabulary section includes hundreds of the most common and useful words needed to speak Spanish. To make it more enjoyable for the student, each category includes a series of interactive games. There is also a Cultural Notes section that attempts to provide the student with "insights into the people, places and customs" of Spanish-speaking countries.
Do you want to have your website listed in our web directory? If so, send a brief description (about 150 words) and the URL to spartacus@pavilion.co.uk.
