Education on the Internet
Number 114: 31st March, 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 47,695 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
Innovations in Online Learning: During the early 1990s, many of those interested in the impact of information technology liked to talk about "paradigm shifts." Despite its attainment of cliché status, the concept of a paradigm shift is a powerful one. Most who were once skeptical of the impact of the Internet on the ways we do business in all facets of society now recognize that our paradigms are, in fact, shifting. Colleges and universities are now offering thousands of online courses and, in the process, are ostensibly altering centuries-old methods of teaching and learning. Some would argue that this represents a paradigm shift. This is a question that Carol A. Twigg tries to answer in this fascinating article.
Safe Surfing Guide: The enormous power of Internet learning comes an equally enormous safe surfing challenge for teachers. To help this challenge, Easynet has reiterated its strong commitment to responsible use of the Internet in schools with a specialist resource for teachers, The Safe Surfing Guide. The guide answers basic questions about safe Internet use in schools, and also provides teachers with in-depth advice on how to manage classroom use of online resources such as email, chat rooms and instant messaging. You can download the guide from the Easynet website.
All Refer: This website is a hub of good reference information containing outstanding database of articles and reference materials. Students, teachers, and researchers can depend on it for information that is authoritative and up-to-date. AllRefer has extensive information from trusted sources on over 100,000 articles covered under earth & environment, history, literature & arts, health & medicine, people, philosophy & religion, places, plants & animals, science & technology, social science, law, sports, everyday life, and more.
History
Online History Detective: If you are interested in tracing the history of your house, or indeed any building in your town or village, this site has been designed for you! Inspired by the BBC TV series 'The House Detectives' and based on a new book on the subject, Tracing the History of Your House, this website will provide you with realistic and practical advice about house history research and how to start researching, with online assistance if you require further advice. It will also help with Architectural History and property history research in general.
Local History Trail: Take part in the National Grid for Learning's local history trail and explore the people, places and events that have made your community what it is today. The trail features online activities to show you how to get started in local history, how to explore further and how to use the Internet to help you discover the past. You can try out your new skills by investigating the history of your local area - and return to the trail to share your discoveries with others in the online gallery. Hundreds of contributions have already been sent in, so make sure your region is represented – you can submit photographs, memories, stories, articles or even links to other interesting local history websites.
English
Alistair Cooke: The former New York correspondent of the Guardian (1947-1972) died yesterday at the age of 95. To celebrate his achievements the Guardian has placed online some of the articles he wrote for the newspaper. This includes articles on the United Nations (1947), Humphrey Bogart (1949), Al Jolson (1950), Cancer and Smoking (1954), Art and the Age of Violence (1957), Fidel Castro (1959), Marilyn Monroe (1962), Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963), Cassius Clay (1964) and the Assassination of Robert Kennedy (1968).
WriteNet: Teachers & Writers Collaborative was founded in 1967 by a group of writers and educators who believed that writers could make a unique contribution to the teaching of writing. The organization runs WriteNet, a valuable resource for writers and teachers interested in teaching imaginative writing! You can register to join its popular e-mail listserve, where writers and teachers advise each other on methods for teaching writing to students. All WriteNet list-serve messages are automatically routed to your e-mail account. To view an archive of these lively and informative messages, go to the Teachers &Writers Discussion Group.
Religious Studies
RE Quest: This is a cross-denominational primary source about what Christians in the U.K. do and believe today. Each section on a Christian denomination was written by a member of that group. Although sponsors of RE:Quest come from the Protestant evangelical tradition, every effort has been made to include writers representing all the main Christian denominations. 'Christian' is defined as one who subscribes to the Nicene Creed. The main sections are prepared with Key Stage 2 and 3 in mind. The 'Churches' section is supplemented in places to resource project work and Key Stage 4 coursework. Wherever possible links are provided with other relevant Internet sites.
Christianity for Children: This website created by Carol Rainbow sets out to describe the life and teaching of Jesus and includes some of his better known stories. It describes the main beliefs of Christians. It is written for primary school age and includes material under the sections: Jesus' Life, Jesus' Teaching, Beliefs, Celebrations, Festivals, Denominations, Symbols, the Bible, Clergy and Worship.
Science
BBC Health: An excellent website that includes a great deal of information on health. Every week day, Dr Trisha Macnair and DR Rob Hicks answer one question exclusively for BBC Health. The extensive archive includes all topics the doctors have covered so far. It's continuously growing as a fresh topic is added on a daily basis. The A-Z Illnesses and Conditions section contains information about the vital facts about a plethora of illnesses and conditions from around BBC Health whereas Healthy Living looks at nutrition, weight, fitness and complementary medicine.
Net Doctor: As well as an extensive encyclopedia covering diseases, medicines and examinations, there's a forum for discussing medical issues. There are articles on lifestyle subjects including fitness, parenthood and giving up smoking. You can also take interactive tests for certain conditions such as addictions and depression. You can also email questions directly to the doctor. There is also a database of previously asked questions.
Music
The Music House: This brand new interactive resource is a musical activity aimed at young children. The software is for PC. Click on the picture to use the music programme online or click below to download it onto your own computer. The activity is in four parts: Listen to and learn the names and sounds of four percussion instruments. Hear a sound and match it to an instrument. Listen to a rhythm and copy it on the onscreen drum. Hear a piece of music which uses three of four instruments and find the instrument which doesn't play.
BUBL Music Reference Library: BUBL Information Service, based at Strathclyde University Library, is a searchable database of Internet resources of academic relevance. The websites are organized by Dewey Decimal Classification and is browsable by subject or class number. Each website listed on BUBL Music Reference Library has a brief review with information on the people and organizations that have created the website.
Modern Languages
French Teacher: The site is aimed at secondary teachers of French. It is maintained by Steven Smith, Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Ripon Grammar School. It is primitive in appearance, but downloads very quickly and is uncluttered by irrelevant graphics. The worksheets tend to link with Encore Tricolore course, but are of general use. It is a "no nonsense" site of great use to teachers looking for clear, accurate and sensible grammar and vocab worksheets. The website is regularly updated.
Welsh Second Language: This Bitesize website helps you to revise GCSE Welsh as a Second Language syllabus including essential areas of reading and writing at foundation and higher level. Sections include: Exam Skills, Reading Activities (Foundation/Higher) and Writing Activities (Foundation/Higher).
Internet Services
Google: Google, like all search engines, uses a system called an algorithm to rank the web pages it knows about. All search engines make periodic changes to their ranking algorithms in an effort to improve the results they show searchers. These changes can cause pages to rise or fall in rank. Small changes may produce little ranking differences, while large changes may have a dramatic impact. Google recently made a change to its algorithm. The change has caused many people to report that some of their pages fell in ranking. These pages no longer please Google's algorithm as much as in the past. Some feel Google has dropped their sites to make them buy ads. In the short term, purchasing ads will be the only way they can be found. For some, it may even be the only long-term solution. In either case, it means more money for Google.
Toolbars: Search engines have tripped over each other this past year in offering up toolbars. While the Google toolbar may be the best known - it was introduced at the end of 2000 - other companies had launched various toolbars even earlier. Google upgraded its toolbar last year, while AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, Teoma, Dogpile, HotBot, Lycos, and many others hit the market. These toolbars are free to download and install. They become embedded in the browser or the Windows taskbar and offer quick access to the search box, along with other helpful features such as highlighting search terms and blocking pop-up ads. In this article, Greg R. Notess looks at the advantages and disadvantages of using a toolbar.
Book Section
The Great Zapruder Film Hoax: The Zapruder film has been described as "the most significant amateur recording of a news event in history." This 27-second "home movie" of the Kennedy assassination is often claimed to be a bedrock fact, against which all theories of the assassination must be judged. Yet from the beginning disturbing questions have been raised. The Zapruder movie contradicts eyewitness evidence, photographic evidence, medical evidence, and ballistics evidence. The events depicted in the film even contradict the laws of physics. The Great Zapruder Film Hoax presents the remarkable new findings of leading scientific and technical experts, rigorously tested and meticulously documented. These findings demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that the Zapruder movie is, not merely touched up and altered, but wholly fabricated. (Edited by James H. Fetzer, Catfeet, ISBN 0 8126 9547 X, £13.80)
