Education on the Internet
Number 108: 18th February, 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 45,050 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 Debates
Obesity in Children: A report published last week urged the government to put together a coherent strategy to fight the obesity epidemic in Britain. The incidence of obesity in children is growing at an alarming rate. It has more than trebled in 6 to 15 year olds from 5% to 16% between 1990 and 2001. What role should schools play in this campaign. For example, should they be providing vending machines in schools selling high-fat and high-sugar snacks. Schools can make a difference. Look for example how Finland have been able to reverse this trend in obesity in its young people. If you have views on this subject, register with the International Education Forum and join the debate.
News and Articles
14-19 Reform: Mike Tomlinson's interim report calls for a root and branch overhaul of the curriculum and qualifications for 14- to 19-year-olds. It proposes absorbing GCSEs and A levels into a new system of diplomas, which would allow students to continue specialising in their chosen subjects, but would also require them to have the numeracy and communication skills needed for modern life, and to demonstrate other skills such as the ability to work in a team and to study independently. The proposals would sweep away the present qualifications framework and would introduce a system of diplomas at four levels: entry, foundation (roughly equivalent to GCSE grades D-G), intermediate (at the level of to GCSE grades A*-C) and advanced (like A levels or advanced vocational courses). The aim would be to create "a flexible ladder of progression" which all students could climb, with each level leading on to those above, and vocational courses valued equally beside academic counterparts. Students would take courses when they were ready rather than at set ages.
TIPD: The Teachers' International Professional Development (TIPD) programme was introduced by DfES in May 2000. The programme provides opportunities for teachers in England to develop their teaching skills by experiencing best practice in a number of key themes through short-term international study visits. Such visits also aim to create valuable international links between schools, facilitating international school partnerships and the sharing of information on a global level. TIPD will provide 2500 places per year between 2000 and 2006 and the programme is delivered for DfES by 3 providers: the British Council Education and Training Group, the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers, and the Specialist Schools Trust. Each Local Education Authority (LEA) in England has its own allocation of places.
Global Gateway: This new international website, enables those involved in education across the world to engage in creative partnerships. It is a one-stop-shop, providing quick access to comprehensive information on how to develop an international dimension to education. On this website teachers can find a partner school in another country and access teaching materials on international education. It also shows how you can work with school leaders worldwide and provides information on the latest international research. There is also a selection of case studies on the website.
History
Academic JFK Assassination Site: Kenneth A. Rahn is currently Professor Emeritus of Oceanography Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies at the University of Rhode Island. He is also interested in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and is the author of this website. It takes its "academic" name from the fact that it attempts to approach the assassination in a way that is as scholarly, dignified, and rigorous as possible. This site presents a great deal of material on all sides of the JFK assassination. However, according to Rahn: " This site shows that the proper investigative techniques lead inevitably to the strong conclusions that JFK was almost certainly killed by a lone gunman firing from the Texas School Book Depository, that he was almost certainly acting alone, and that he was almost certainly Lee Harvey Oswald."
Think History: The website is maintained by Richard Drew of Croesyceiliog School in South Wales. The site is designed to allow students, parents and teachers to access homework and revision resources and links, games & quizzes, powerpoint presentations and schemes of work for all of the topics taught by Richard Drew at KS3 and GCSE History, AS & A2 Level Politics and AS Level Sociology. There are sections on Germany 1918-45, Crime and Punishment, Sport Leisure and Tourism.
Design & Technology
Design & Technology On The Web: A continually growing resource, currently of over 500 original pages for KS3, KS4 and KS5 students that covers all strands of study in the subject. Project help and advice sections and a gallery of exemplar work are featured for Resistant Materials, Graphics, Electronics, Systems and Control, Industrial Products, Engineering, Product analysis and Food and Textiles. There are project outlines with supporting worksheets for KS3 and KS4 that will be of use to teachers and a crossword section has been introduced. Coursework help sections guide students through the expectations of a variety of tasks and the material is expanding in response to requests for materials from students and teachers. A growing section on Designers and another section on Inventors supply information that would be useful reference sources for homework topics. As an additional useful resource a 'What's New' section allows regular users to discover the new corners of the site that might give starting points for students' design pages or a source of new inspiration for teaching ideas.
IEEE Virtual Museum: This website is premised on the belief that examining what was increases our understanding of what is. It explores the global social impact of electrical and information sciences and technologies and demonstrates the relevance of engineering and engineers to society. Designed for educators, pre-college students, and the general public, the virtual museum debuted with two exhibits. The first, Socket to Me! How Electricity Came to Be examines the early history of electricity and how it has been used in fields such as communications, computing, laser technology, and medicine. The second, The Beat Goes On: How Sounds are Recorded and Played explores sound recording from the early days of the phonograph to digital recording and distribution. Recent exhibitions include Microwaves and World War II: How War Impacted Technology. Exhibits feature interactive features and animations, audio and video clips, and images of artifacts and historical social events.
Geography
Teaching Geography in Southfields: The BBC is currently producing a series of documentaries about politicians doing public service jobs. This includes Clare Short teaching Geography in Southfields Community College in London. The Guardian newspaper asked the teacher she replaced, Celina Viner, to keep a diary of what went on during this week in the classroom. In this article she describes a week of poor punctuality, untidy work and bad temper. The programme, My Week in the Real World, will be shown on BBC2 on Wednesday, 25th February.
InsideWorld is a collection of country and region web sites providing local news and information to a worldwide audience. You can also use the site to access the latest stories. InsideWorld provides country background information for many countries and regions. Information covers topics like economy, government, demographics, geography and more. You can also sign up to receive a free daily e-mail with news about the countries you select.
ICT
ICT Education Community: Microsoft is attempting to create an online community for UK teachers to share information and ideas "about the best use of ICT in schools". The Education Community has a news service to update teachers and managers with stories of best practice, and experts are brought in to field curriculum questions. The website facilitates the pooling of information to avoid duplication and share learning on the effective use of ICT to improve learning outcomes and school management. The home page contains an overview of the latest content and resources that you will find throughout the site.
Derek McMillan: This is the website of a teacher at a West Sussex school. It is under continual deconstruction. It has material and links on cyberpsychology including the "Letters to Lara" project which examines the relationship between children and the characters in a computer game. It will develop alternatives which can be used to subvert (or improve) the Government Framework for ICT and links connected with ICT generally.
Religious Education
Religious Education: The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has just published a controversial report on the teaching of Religious Education. It has upset some traditionalists by suggesting that atheism should be introduced into the RE syllabus. The IPPR report also proposes the introduction of teaching about humanism. Critics of the report have claimed that RE should be about teaching faith. However, others have argued that schools should be mainly concerned about providing knowledge and understanding of different religions. Humanist have replied that schools should be helping pupils to explore ways in which people can find meaning and purpose without religion.
Jewish Virtual Library: The Jewish Virtual Library is the world's most comprehensive Jewish cyber encyclopedia with more than 8,000 entries covering everything from anti-Semitism to Zionism. The Library has 13 wings: History, Women, The Holocaust, Travel, Israel & The States, Maps, Politics, Biography, Israel, Religion, Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, Vital Statistics and Reference. The Reference section has bibliographies of more than 1,000 books and 1,000 web sites, and a glossary of more than 1,000 words and a time-line for the history of Judaism.
Modern Languages
Japan: Following the Japan 2001 Festival in Britain, there has been an increase in interest in studying Japanese culture and language in the UK. The British Council, with funding from the Department for Education and Skills, has recently extended its activities for Japan and continues to work closely with Monbusho (the Japanese Ministry of Education) on a number of projects. It is anticipated that schools and colleges will establish sustainable links that will impact on the development of those institutions, contribute to the professional development of their staff, enrich the curriculum and support language awareness and learning. Information on how to apply for any of these grants can be found on this British Council website.
Learning, Language & Technology: Language Learning & Technology is a refereed journal which began publication in July 1997. The journal seeks to disseminate research to foreign and second language educators in the US and around the world on issues related to technology and language education. It is published exclusively on the World Wide Web. In this way, the journal seeks to (a) reach a broad audience in a timely manner, (b) provide a multimedia format which can more fully illustrate the technologies under discussion, and (c) provide hypermedia links to related background information. Language Learning & Technology is currently published three times per year (January, May, September).
Book Section
How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World: Francis Wheen evokes the key personalities of the post-political era - including Princess Diana, Deepak Chopra and Osama Bin-Laden - while charting the extraordinary rise in superstition, relativism and emotional hysteria over the past quarter of a century. From UFO scares to dotcom mania, his hilarious and gloriously impassioned polemic describes a period in the world's history when everything began to stop making sense. How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World begins in 1979 with the election of Margaret Thatcher, who kick-started the era of voodoo economics, and the Iranian revolution, which heralded the return of militant Islamism. (Francis Wheen, Fourth Estate, ISBN 0 00 714096 7, £16.99)
