Education on the Internet
Number 100: 10th December, 2003
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. Currently there are 42,000 subscribers to the newsletter.
All reviews are added to our web directory. There are sections on Internet Services, Online Seminars, Primary Education, English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Languages, History, Geography, Design & Technology, Business Studies, Special Needs, Media Studies, ICT, Sociology, Music, Politics, Economics, Photography, Art & Design, Theatre Studies, Physical Education and Religious Studies.
John Simkin
Online Seminars
Creating Effective Online Lessons: In this excellent seminar Andrew Field argues that the most effective online lessons are those created and tailored by teachers for individual students with built in opportunities for differentiation. "Strict, formulaic lessons set on a rigid pattern for all students in the school, or indeed the country, to complete are clearly not the way to go". Andrew Field adds that by using "standard ICT applications (Wordprocessor, spreadsheet, presentation software, database and DTP) you can create some fabulous activities to encourage more effective history". If you have views on this subject, register with the History Forum and join the debate.
News and Articles
Entitled Workforce Reform: The school of the future need employ just one qualified teacher. The controversial suggestion is contained in a Department for Education and Skills paper that sets out priorities for the next phase of school workforce reform during 2006-8. Entitled Workforce Reform - Blue Skies it was circulated on 11 November 2003 to all the organisations that signed the Government's Workforce Remodelling Agreement. The report says that schools are able to operate under new "freedoms" brought in by the workload agreement. Suggested ways of exploiting this new situation includes: teacher numbers being cut to pay for more support staff; other staff being bought in from agencies or coming in on secondment; support staff being supervised by one qualified teacher only – the headteacher; and reducing overall teacher numbers to pay for a better adult-pupil ratio.
National Literacy Strategy: Ofsted yesterday published its latest report on the government's national literacy and numeracy strategies. David Bell, chief inspector of schools, warned that the government will continue to miss its primary school improvement targets. The report points out that eleven-year-olds' English scores have been stuck at 77% (reaching national targets) since 2000. Bell claims that the main reason for this is that "too many teachers still had too poor a grasp of English and Maths to help struggling pupils." The chief inspector called for more training for teachers to boost their subject knowledge and teaching techniques.
Hinde House School: This is England's first school for the entire 3-16 age range, where children can enter part-time in the nursery and stay until they have completed their GCSEs. The school is a result of a merger of two existing schools in an economically deprived part of Sheffield - a failing primary school, Bracken Hill, with its neighbouring secondary, Hinde House, which had also been in special measures. While education secretary, the local MP, David Blunkett, authorized £15 million to be spent on the project. Another £4 million is being found under the private finance initiative.
English
The Devil's Dictionary: In June 1913 Ambrose Bierce went to Mexico where he disappeared. It is not known exactly when or how he died but it has been suggested he was killed in January, 1914. Ambrose Bierce's classic work, The Devil's Dictionary was first published under the title, The Cynic's Word Book, in 1906. Definitions include: Learning (the kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious); Education (that which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding); History (an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools); Mad (affected with a high degree of intellectual independence); Happiness (an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another) and Positive (mistaken at the top of one's voice).
English Teaching in the UK: This site is maintained by Harry Dodds, a former Head of English in Oxfordshire, and now Senior Lecturer in Education and freelance in English and ICT. Harry has set up this site to be a forum for teachers of English. The site provides nearly 3,000 links links to other websites under headings such as A Level Resources, Booklists, Children's Literature, Classics, Antiquity, Mythologies, Drama and Theatres, Essentials for Teachers, Gender, Hypertext Writing, Key Agencies, Literacy, Literature Resources, Teachers as Managers, Old English Resources, Poetry, Reference Materials, Lesson Plans, Revision Pages, Special Needs, Subject Organisations, Student Self-Assessment and Writing your own Web Pages.
Geography
EPSA: The European Primary Schools Association (EPSA) was created by four primary school teachers, (2 UK, 1 Italy, 1 Netherlands). The association's website provides free resources, ideas and information for any primary school teaching about Europe. There is a large selection of maps, flags, crests, and other images to download, including outline masters. There is a large section giving details about how to make links in Europe - and what to do once the links have been created. There are also some outline details of primary level education across Europe.
Cool Planet is Oxfam's award-winning and newly redesigned site for teachers and children. As part of Oxfam's Development Education Programme, Cool Planet offers information and resources to encourage young people's development as global citizens. Visit the site and find exciting and interactive educational pages with global themes for pupils to explore, teachers' pages packed with ideas, information, and useful links to help bring a global perspective to your classroom. There is also an easy-to-follow curriculum information for planning global citizenship activities using our highly regarded 'Teachers Guide to a Curriculum for Global Citizenship'.
Science
East Anglia Food Link is a not-for-profit cooperative representing all parts of the sustainable food chain. The "Healthy Food - Healthy World" project has developed educational materials to accompany sustainable food provision and healthy eating. The "Healthy Food - Healthy World" educational materials produced by EAFL and Cambridgeshire Environmental Education Centre at Stibbington are now available to browse online. The "Life Cycle Sequencing" consists of a set of click-through sequences telling the stories of eight components of a day's meals. The "Pupil and Teacher Materials" are files (mostly Adobe pdf) to print out or save for classroom use.
Alex's Paper Aeroplanes: This website provides plans that enable students to cut and fold paper into a wide range of aerodynamic shapes. This includes the Rapier (flies like a glider but has the elegant shape and great precision of a dart), Flying Fish (flies well in a straight line), Dragon Plane (will fly for 30 meters), Helicopter (will stay aloft for ages and spiral down excellently), Rocket (designed by a Physics lecturer) and Floating Paper Airplane (with its wide wing span and the stabilising winglets at the end of wings it is very stable and flies for long distances).
Art & Design
Illuminating the Renaissance: Manuscript illumination, the quintessential medieval art form, enjoyed a final flourish during the Renaissance. In the wake of the invention of printing, Flemish illuminators created extravagant and lavish manuscripts in which their art was revitalized and given new direction. This brilliant new style resulted in some of the most colourful and luminous book illumination of the late medieval era and quickly gained patronage throughout Europe. Illuminating the Renaissance at the Royal Academy (29th November 2003 - 22nd February, 2004 ) is the first exhibition to bring together the greatest works produced by Flemish illuminators during this exceptional period.
Louvre Museum: The Louvre Museum houses more than 6,000 European paintings dating from the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 19th century. The paintings are organised into national schools. This includes: the French school, the Italian School, the Flemish, Dutch and German Schools and finally the Spanish and English Schools. A selection of the paintings from each gallery can be seen on the website. The website also provides information on the formation of the Louvre Collection.
Sports Education
Food Fitness: This website provides practical advice on diet and exercise. It claims that the suggested programme is based on sound science and has developed from current research on healthy eating and physical activity. The main purpose of the Activaters section is to promote enjoyable healthy eating and physical activity to primary school children. Students are also given the opportunity to input information for an online lifestyle assessment.
CollegeSportsConnect: A regularly updated collection of directories of college athletic directors, sports information directors, and head coaches for football, baseball, field hockey, and men’s and women’s ice hockey. These directories include school name and address, athletic website links, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The website is designed to help provide advice and guidance to student-athletes seeking colleges that best meet their needs.
Internet Services
Vmyths: Established in 2000, the main objective of Vmyths is the eradication of computer virus hysteria. From this website you can learn about computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria, and the implications if you believe in them. You can also search a list of computer virus hoaxes & virus hysteria.
SupaNames is an award winning business & consumer web host with over 17,000 active users from many countries around the world making us one of the largest independent web hosts based in the UK. Since being the first company in the UK to introduce low cost professional web hosting & domain packages in 1999 SupaNames has come a long way and is now a multi-million pound service provider.
Book Section
Ancient Egyptians: This extraordinary book reflects the dramatic, groundbreaking TV series Ancient Egyptians, revealing what life was really like in this empire. The text, which encompasses cutting-edge research, leads the reader through the ancient world. It is complemented by specially shot photographs and exclusively created computer graphics, which breathe life into the civilization to reveal it as never before. Part one of the book follows the entire history of Ancient Egypt, from its start in 5000 BC through to the end of the empire. Part two of the book focuses on four specific stories of ordinary Egyptians, as dramatised in the TV series. (Anton Gill, HarperCollins, ISBN 0 00 714399 0, £20.00)
