Education on the Internet
Number 104: 21st January, 2004
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 43,605 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
News and Articles
Spring Day in Europe 2004: Thousands of schools will take part in Spring Day in Europe on and around 23 March 2004. Spring Day in Europe is a unique event for European pupils to learn about their neighbours in an enlarged Europe and make their voices heard in the debate on key European issues. The event is organised by European Schoolnet in collaboration with the European Commission. This year Spring Day in Europe will have a special focus on enlargement, as ten new countries will become full EU members on 1st May 2004. To mark this historic change in the European Union, all schools in EU member states, acceding countries and candidate countries are invited to debate and learn about the future of enlarged Europe. Almost 2000 primary and secondary schools have already registered for the event on its website.
Australian Flexible Learning Framework is a unique, world-class initiative designed to create and share knowledge about flexible learning and to support its take-up in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. It is hoped that by making the VET sector more flexible, the Framework will contribute significantly to Australia being a global leader in education and industry. As well as the development of innovative online products and services, projects under the Framework cover professional development opportunities and the design of the technological, enabling and regulatory infrastructures that will facilitate the establishment of a flexible learning approach.
Scout Portal Toolkit: This new website allows groups or organizations that have a collection of knowledge or resources they want to share via the World Wide Web to put that collection online without making a big investment in technical resources or expertise. For a resource portal site to be worthwhile it has to provide significant functionality for the average user looking to locate or learn about valuable online resources. The Portal Toolkit provides a number of site features intended to meet this need. This includes Cross-Field Searching, Resource Annotations by Users, Intelligent User Agents, Resource Quality Ratings by Users and Suggested Resource Referrals.
History
Empires in European History: The Academy of European History aims to provide a forum for the discussion of European history among two groups of young professionals, drawn from across Europe: professors at the pre-University level and journalists. The third session of the Academy of European History, sponsored by the Department of History and Civilization of the European University Institute, will be held in Olympia, Greece (1st -10th July). The theme chosen for this year is Empires in European History.
SchoolHistory: This award winning teacher-created website offers a plethora of resources and materials for history teachers and pupils. This includes categorised and reviewed internet links, interactive games, over 650 freely downloadable worksheets and presentations, over 80 PowerPoint presentations, online lessons, interactive diagrams and popular teacher and student forums. In addition to this, recent developments allow history teachers to submit their own versions of all the popular activities which can then be shared with the wider teaching community - and downloaded for their own use.
English
Edgar Allen Poe: His first book, Tamerland and Other Poems, was published at his own expense in 1827. It went unnoticed. It was not until the publication of his first collection of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, in 1840, that the critics began to take note of the work of Edgar Allen Poe It was his pioneering detective story, Murders in the Rue Morgue, published in his own Graham's Magazine, that eventually made his name. On this website, people can access the complete text versions of almost all of Poe's poems and short stories.
Hot Lingo features a 75,000 word English dictionary, comprised of both American and British variants. Version 2.0 is even more user-configurable: including a customizable user dictionary that can now contain up to 32,000 user-defined words. Hot Lingo has applet support for Lotus iNotes, and Microsoft Exchange Server Outlook Web Access (OWA) 5.x and 2000 - the two most popular remote messaging products available today. Hot Lingo is compatible with all of the Windows operating systems.
Mathematics
Teach Kids Math introduces math topics in a variety of creative and challenging ways so as to achieve mastery of the fundamentals. This American website has a large assortment of interactive lessons that demonstrate basic mathematical concepts. The material ranges from basic counting for preschoolers to more advanced topics for secondary school students. Online worksheets help children practice multiplication, division, rounding, fractions and number sequences. It is claimed that the website "has been designed by children and adults".
Maths Tutor: This website has been created by Chinmaya Nagaraja for junior school pupils. There are online interactive activities on angles, rotation, translation, patterns, reflection, perimeter, area and volume. Titles include: Right Angles in Shapes, Measuring Angles, Types of Angles, Identifying Angles in Shapes, Rotating Shapes, Creating Patterns, Reflecting Shapes, Weird Shapes, Areas of Triangles and Volume of Cubes.
Science
Science Coursework: Jonathan Osborne, professor of science education at King’s College, London, recently claimed that the pressure to do well in assessment meant that coursework investigations were now being taught as a set of “receipe-like steps” that have little to do with proper scientific exploration. Osborne argues that assessment of investigation is dominated by just three experiments: measuring the resistance of a wire, the rates of chemical reaction and the rate of osmosis in a potato. Osborne adds: “How can such a limited set of practicals develop or exemplify the wide range of skills and scientific practices that constitute science… It’s a bit like reducing the teaching of performance in music to three standard scales on a recorder.” If you have views on this subject, register with the Education Forum and join the debate.
Green Week 2004: The European Commission invites all children in the enlarged EU and candidate countries, aged between 6 and 16 years, to take part in its Green Week schools competition 2004. The competition is part of the annual Green Week conference and exhibition, which will take place from 1-4 June 2004 in Brussels. This year the competition highlights the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Birds Directive. Younger children may create bird themed drawings and paintings, while older pupils are invited to submit photographs of birds in their natural habitats. The three best entrants in each category of the competition will win a trip to Brussels, accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Geography
Pick A Trail: The Wilderness Society was established in America in 1935. The organization campaigned for a Wilderness Act. Passed by Congress in 1964 it set aside selected areas in the "national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and other federal lands as units to be kept permanently unchanged by humans; no roads, no structures, no vehicles, no significant impacts of any kind". The Wilderness Society has now developed a Pick a Trail website. It offers general information about backpacking and hiking in the United States and different trails in other countries, such as the United Kingdom. Information on each trail includes a brief sketch of the host country, including basic climatic information, local topography, and the type of terrain that each trail traverses.
ENO-Environment Online is a global web school for environmental awareness. Four environmental themes (dimensions of sustainable development) are studied within a school year (Social, Natural, Cultural Environment and a sustainable way of living ) on a weekly basis. ENO Program is a strong and active network of schools. It has been running since 2000 and it is administrated by the city of Joensuu, Finland. The main idea is to lay emphasis on local environment and see it in a global aspect. Information is gathered from local communities and shared together in the website. At the end of each theme there is a campaign week when students share their results and raise them up in their local communities.
Art and Design
Buckminster Fuller Institute: In 1917 Buckminster Fuller discovered synergetic geometry. Over the next few years he experimented with structural designs, aimed at economical, efficient, trouble-free living, intended for mass-production. Today he is best remembered for inventing the geodesic dome, which he hoped would become a model for low-cost housing across the world. This website, created by the Buckminster Fuller Institute, features a great deal of his work, including his views on design science. The site is devoted to advancing principles articulated by Buckminster Fuller.
Visual Media Center: According to the website the Media Center for Art History, Archaeology, and Historic Preservation at Columbia University "explores material culture, vision, media, and pedagogy in the broadest sense to connect faculty research and student learning through the creative application of technology." Featured projects include an interactive 360-degree tour of the Church of La Madeleine in Vezelay, France, and an entire site devoted to Frank Lloyd Wright's famed Fallingwater house.
Holidays for Teachers
Huerta Las Terrazas: Set amongst stunning scenery in the South of Spain, Huerta Las Terrazas is the perfect relaxing holiday destination. Bordering the national park of Los Alcornocales, the house offers unparalleled views over the Straits of Gibraltar and Morocco. Within easy reach are the unspoilt beaches of Zahara, ancient Roman ruins in Bolonia and cosmopolitan Tarifa, renowned for wind and kite surfing. The area is rich in nature, ornithology and the countryside provides a wealth of opportunities to walk, climb, ride and explore its vantage points. Set in 3 acres, seven terraces offer areas of sanctuary and beauty. Towering palms, fresh vegetables, vibrant flowers, fig, orange and pear trees enrich the lush grounds. The pool is constantly replenished with fresh spring water that descends from the mountainous backdrop. The main house offers three ensuite double bedrooms that cater on a bed and breakfast basis. Rooms have been furnished in a simple and comfortable manner, calm colours, soft fabrics and traditional furniture. Set alone in the grounds, the Casita sleeps two and offers privacy away from the main house with its own terrace, providing guests with the choice of self-catering for longer stays.
Book Section
Nelson: This book attempts to show Nelson as he was, focusing not just on Nelson the naval hero, but also including his faults, his emotional life and his relationship, both with his captains and commanders and also with his wife and his mistress, the beautiful Lady Hamilton. Covering all the major battles, Edgar Vincent asserts that Nelson was way ahead of his time in his naval strategies, in particular in his method of mission command and his leadership skills. Vincent seeks to display the development of Nelson's emotional life alongside his professional life in close-up, which has not been done before. The book explores what made Nelson tick as fighter, leader, self- publicist, politician, husband, lover, colleague, subordinate and icon. (Edgar Vincent, Yale University Press, ISBN 0 300 09797 2, £25.00)
