Education on the Internet
Number 13: 9th January
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
National Grid for Learning: The British National Grid for Learning (NGfL) portal is to be relaunched on 9th January at the education technology show, BETT 2002. The site has a new image-driven design which represents a radical change from its previous look. It has been restructured and rebuilt to cope with the ever-increasing quantity of content that makes it the largest educational portal of approved sites. The NGfL is part of a Government initiative which aims to widen access to learning for everyone in all sectors of education, both formal and informal. The portal incorporates quality-assured educational web sites for people of all ages and interests.
eSchoolnet, the educational portal for schools in Europe, is officially launching on at 3.30pm on 11 January 2002. The launch will take place at one of the UK’s biggest educational events, the BETT show, on the Apple stand. The portal is a service for schools and teachers provided by European Schoolnet. The portal includes the latest eLearning news, online training opportunities, European curriculum resources and innovative school practice research. On the website European teachers, trainers and students can meet through collaborative school projects and learning communities. During the launch, the eSchoolnet team will also unveil exciting news of a Europe-wide cartoon competition for school children. Children and teachers will be invited to work on a special digital cartoon, with the theme ‘tolerance’.
Connecting the Future: The decisions we make today will shape online education and training tomorrow. But will they be the right decisions? How can we plan for a future that we know will not be the same as the present? The Global Summit of Online Knowledge Networks will bring together representatives of key educational networks from around the world. Each will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience. And each will be puzzling over problems for which there are no easy answers. The Global Summit offers a unique opportunity to pool the collective wisdom of today's leaders in online learning to address two key questions: How do we ensure the strategic development of current and future online networks? What should we be doing, individually and collectively, to influence change? The Global Summit of Online Knowledge Networks taking place in Adelaide, Australia on 4th and 5th March 2002.
BBC Online Educational Resources: The government has scrapped a £42 million scheme in which BBC and Granada were developing material for three GCSE subjects. However, the BBC is now proposing to spend £150 million over the next five years, developing core curriculum material for all ages, across the UK's four education systems. It plans to commission half the content outside the BBC.
The Ambassadors – Online Analysis: Using the awe-inspiring work of Hans Holbein, court painter to Henry VIII, students are encouraged to analyze the political, social and religious meanings of an incredible painting and thereby reach a deeper understanding of the period. An excellent, original way of approaching picture sources and the Tudor period in general, produced by Russel Tarr of ActiveHistory.
The Russian Revolution: A comprehensive directory website on the Russian Revolution. The websites are listed under the categories of the February and October Revolutions, the Civil War, People, Political Parties, Images and Maps and Postmortem. There is also a FAQ section.
Special Operations Executive: This website tells the story behind the role of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. There are sections on Beginnings, Facts, Missions, Tools of the Trade, Operatives, Myths and Legends, the SOE in the Far East and Picture Gallery. The website is produced by Maurice A. Christie, whose father worked at the SOE Laboratories that were to make and test some of the first James Bond type Gadgets. He was later sent on a undercover operation in Singapore.
Little Animals Activity Centre: Another excellent website produced by the BBC for young children. Characters featured include Micky Maker, Digby Mole, Foxy Dancer, Count Hoot, Puzzlesnuff and Storybear. Each one has a set of activities for children including word and music games, riddles, mazes, math activities, treasure trials and interactive games.
George Orwell Resources: This website, devoted to the work of George Orwell, includes a short biography, an extensive bibliography, quotes, photographs and links to online texts. This includes novels, nonfiction books, pamphlets, broadcasts, essays, articles, poetry, letters and book reviews. The website also includes links to resources that can be used by students studying 1984 and Animal Farm.
Reading-Now has resources for building early word recognition skills. These teacher created materials provide the necessary practice to help students succeed in decoding and sight word recognition skills. The practice is done in context along with game cards, flash cards, and certificates for achieving success at each level. The veteran teacher-author enables students to practice with varied reinforcement activities.
Mass Media
Carte-de-Visite Photographs: From 1859 onwards there were millions of small studio portrait photographs produced all over the world in a format known as Carte-de-visite. In the UK they were discontinued from about 1905. They were the first cheap, mass produced form of having an image of yourself, family and friends or even famous people! The were placed in albums made for them and now turn up in sales and are very collectable. They show how the Victorians looked in their Sunday best! This website, created by Roger Vaughan, contains a large section of these photographs.
American Photographers: Biographies of 42 photographers working in the United States between 1840 and 1980. There are also brief articles about Pictorialism, Documentary Photography, The Camera Club, Camera Work Magazine, Photo-Succession Group, Group f/64, Photo League, Surrealism, Farm Security Administration, Standard Oil Project, Photojournalism, Family of Man Exhibition, Life Magazine and Photomontage.
Music
Music Education: Created by Deborah Kay Jeter, the editor of Diversified Learning, this website is a collection of hypertexted articles on music education. Articles include Multiple Intelligences (using music to teach other subjects), Sound Stories (musical story telling), ESL Songs (music and special needs), Does the Gesture Matter? (directing musicals), Songs to Soothe the Savage Beast (using music to reduce school violence) and Musicals for the Musically Timid! (teacher's guide to the musical).
Music Education Launch Site: Created by Jeffrey S Brenan, The Music Education Launch Site was created to serve as a launching point for web travelers interested in music and music education. It includes lesson plans and Mr. Note's Gameland to teach children musical notation.
Songfile hopes to establish itself as the website that "brings the entire world of music to everyone with Internet access." Songfile currently has seven channels of music information on lyrics, sheet music, recordings, live events, instruments, licensing and music business links.
Design & Technology
Great Buildings: This outstanding website is the gateway to architecture around the world and across history documents a thousand buildings and hundreds of leading architects, with 3D models, photographic images and architectural drawings, commentaries, bibliographies, web links, and more, for famous designers and structures of all kinds.
Samuel Franklin Cody, as well as being one of the early pioneers of aviation, is fondly remembered as being a flamboyant Wild West showman. There is a Cody Appreciation Society, which actively teaches young people about the subject of aviation and in particular the life and work of the first man to fly a powered aeroplane in the UK. He even has a chain of high street shop named after him selling novel gadgets, toys, gifts and ingenious electrical products. If you wish to find out more about this fascinating character visit the latest addition to the Design and Technology Department website.
How Stuff Works: Electronics: HowStuffWorks is a media company that is internationally recognized as the leading provider of information on how things work. Founded by Marshall Brain, HowStuffWorks offers in-depth articles that explain the world from the inside out to millions of readers every month. HowStuffWorks electronics offerings enables you to learn about video systems, including your TV, your DVD player, the cable TV system and MP3 players.
Art & Design
Web Gallery of Art: The Web Gallery of Art presents over 3,500 digital reproductions of European paintings and sculptures created between 1200 and 1700. Visitors can browse the collection from the Artist Index (an alphabetic list of artists) or by using the website search engine to find particular paintings. There is a biography of each artist (usually taken from Encarta) and a list of their paintings in the database. As well as the picture itself, details are provided of its size and where it is being displayed. Guided tours are provided that attempt to help the visitor understand the artistic and historical relationship between different artworks and artists included in the collection.
Arts Reference Library: BUBL Information Service, based at Strathclyde University Library, is a searchable database of Internet resources of academic relevance. The websites are organised by Dewey Decimal Classification and is browsable by subject or class number. The Arts main page has fourteen main categories that include: The Arts: General Resources, Fine and Decorative Arts, Art Galleries and Museums, Civic & Landscape Art, Drawing, Painting and Paintings and Graphic Arts. Each website listed has a brief review with information on the people and organisations that have created the website. This is an impressive site that fully deserves the large number of visitors it receives every day.
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.
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.
