Education on the Internet
Number 130: 28th July, 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.
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
Why Love Matters: Sue Gerhardt has just published her book, Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain. The book is a survey of recent research into the development of the brain. For example, a group of researchers studied the brains of Romanian orphans - children who had been left to cry in their cots from birth and denied any chance of forming close bonds with an adult. They discovered that these babies had a “virtual black hole” where the orbitofrontal cortex should have been. This is the part of the brain that enables us to manage our emotions, to relate sensitively to other people, to experience pleasure and to appreciate beauty. In other words, this early experience had left permanent brain damage. How do scientists explain this? Well, according to Gerhardt, our earliest experiences are not simply laid down as memories or influences, they are translated into precise physiological patterns of response in the brain that then set the neurological rules for how we deal with our feelings and those of other people for the rest of our lives. If you have views on this subject, register with the Education Forum and join the debate.
News and Articles
Education on the Internet: As a result of a problem with KeepAhead this will be the last time you will be receiving Education on the Internet and Teaching History Online for a while. Please visit our home page to discover the latest details of how you can receive future editions of these two email newsletters.
Ask Jeeves: Ask Jeeves Incorporated is a leading provider of world-class information retrieval technologies, brands and services that are available to consumers across a range of platforms including destination websites, downloadable search-based applications and portals. In addition, Ask Jeeves syndicates its search technology and advertising units to a network of affiliate partners. Research firm Nielsen/NetRatings last month said that Ask Jeeves is the ninth most visited site in the United States, with more than 32 million unique users.
School Admissions: When it comes to school admissions, the government's mantra of choice is a deceitful illusion, says Phil Willis of the Liberal Democrats, in this Education Guardian article. "The mantra of choice may be dominating the thoughts of parliamentarians and political apparatchiks, but in the real world many see choice for what it is - a deceitful illusion. No government could guarantee choice, because to do so would require unrealistic levels of investment, even if such a proposal was workable. We have had the illusion of parental choice, or "preference", for the past 20 years. Yet despite the best efforts of successive governments, local authorities, admission forums, adjudicators et al, many parents do not get choice - they get rejection for their children." Willis goes on to argue that the plans of both the Conservative and Labour parties will make matters worse.
History
Ask an Historian: Spartacus Educational is now offering a new service to its visitors. In future people will be able to ask a panel of experts questions about history. The panel will include teachers, historians, authors and researchers with expert knowledge of the period. Where possible, people with actual experience of these events, will also join the panel. The following sections are currently available: Life and Death of John F. Kennedy, The Cold War, The Vietnam War, Nazi Germany, Second World War, First World War, Women’s History, Black History, Spanish Civil War and History of Russia.
Burnt Cakes: Whiteboards seem to be the way forward for using ICT in history - if you can't regularly get into the ICT suite, then bring the ICT suite to your classroom! Combined with a data projector they introduce a wide range of versatility into the way we can use technology in an interactive way. The materials on Burnt Cakes are designed to take full advantage of these opportunities. They do not replace the teacher, but allow pupils and teachers to interact in a way that aids learning. They encourage 'what if' questions, and help develop an open approach to learning. Produced by practising teachers, these are materials that work. Colleagues who have used them all agree, these are quality resources that aid teaching and learning in the classroom.
Business Studies
British Economy Survey: Statistics for Education has made available on its web site, back issues of the British Economy Survey going back to the autumn 1999 issue. This journal provides an essential up-to-date source of information on the state of the British economy. The contributors are all experienced writers in the areas of Economics and Business Studies and choose their own approach to each topic. The blend of analysis and vital factual information will vary from section to section, but the overall aim is to provide a critical understanding of a wide range of contemporary developments. It is organised under 14 regular sections: 1: Government economic policy; 2: Structure of industry; 3: The public sector ; 4: The monetary system; 5: Public finance; 6: Industrial relations and employment; 7: The UK balance of payments; 8: The UK and the European Union; 9: The UK and the world economy; 10: Human resources in business; 11: Production and operation; 12: Marketing; 13: Accounting and finance; 14: Special article; Questions and answers.
Times 100: The Times 100 Case Studies with Business News is a resource for 14 to 18 year old students of business studies and their teachers. It provides case studies on actual companies and other organizations demonstrating business theory in practice. Edition 7 is designed to run three times faster than previous sites. It's also designed to be easier to navigate, with more links between more pages. However the most important navigation feature helps you find exactly what you need from the 100,000 words on the site. You can now search by course e.g. GCSE and from this page, you can also search by specification e.g. GCSE AQA 3132.
Science
Exploring the Environment: This website places cooperatively grouped students into problem-solving roles requiring them to conduct research and generate a proposed solution. The problem sets, which deal with environmental issues, engage students in such matters as population growth, biodiversity, land use patterns, water pollution, and global warming. Online information provides students with problem-solving guides, problem-specific background material, links to other resources via the World Wide Web (WWW), and access to NASA's database of Earth Science satellite images. Teacher materials provide information concerning specific content, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, and assessment.
Nature Grid: Canterbury Environmental Education Centre is located on the 23-acre Broad Oak Nature Reserve. The reserve is a fine example of how a former industrial site (gravel pit) has been reclaimed and enhanced to provide a variety of habitats including, large areas of open water, marginal reed beds and wetlands, woodland, scrub and grassland. Carefully constructed pathways, bridges, bird hides and other structures enable the visitor to enjoy the variety of life living here. It is possible also to view the reserve from the unique vantage point offered by the Water Trail. The centre's website includes teaching material on grasslands, woodlands, ponds, rivers, plants and biodiversity.
Geography
Earthquake Kid Zone: The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) operates a web site that includes a quiz, crossword puzzle, word search games (for preparedness kits for cars, earthquake terms, and tsunamis), and answers to common earthquake questions for kids. The earthquake site as a whole focuses on mitigation of earthquake hazards through preparedness planning, particularly for traffic disruptions, and mitigation, particularly for housing. It offers maps identifying shaking, liquefaction, and dam failure hazards focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area. ABAG is the regional planning agency for the San Francisco Bay Area and is owned and operated by the cities and counties in that area. ABAG's Earthquake Program has received funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, California Department of Transportation, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and others.
HungerWeb: A website sponsored by the World Hunger Program and produced by Brown University. The authors point out that the main "aim of the site is to help prevent and eradicate hunger by facilitating the free exchange of ideas and information regarding the causes of, and solutions to, hunger." The information is organised under: Research, Field Work, Advocacy & Policy and Education & Training. As well as the World Hunger Education Service, the material is supplied by Food First Information and Action Network and Hunger Notes, an online journal. There is also a clear and concise introduction, explaining the issues of hunger and malnutrition.
ICT
Ask an Expert: The latest free service provided by the International Education Forum is called Ask an Expert. So far fourteen educators with a wide range of experience of using ICT in the classroom have joined the panel. This includes John Simkin, Richard Jones-Nerzic, Marco Koene, Graham Davies, Andy Walker, David Wilson, David Richardson, Rob Jones, Nico Zijlstra, Derek McMillan, John Birchall, Dan Moorhouse and Alf Wilkinson. They will attempt to deal with all questions put to them by teachers and parents.
Ask Jack: Every Thursday Jack Schofield answers questions in Online Guardian. The questions and answers are added to this website. For example, Owen Wilkinson asked: "I've recorded my 1,500 records on to a 60GB hard drive. Each side was saved as a single MP3 file. I'd now like to transfer the files to a portable player, which I could connect to my hi-fi. I would like to divide each file (one LP side) into tracks to name individually." You will need to visit the website to discover Jack Schofield's reply.
Services
Google: It is estimated that the world's largest internet search engine, Google, will be worth as much as $36bn ($19.5bn) when it goes public next month. Some 82m people every month use Google to search four billion web pages. Some experts are advising against buying Google shares. They claim that many people use it for barely a few seconds before moving on. There are also concerns that new technology could allow web browsers to block advertisements - which would jeopardise Google's income.
Email Blackmail: According to BlackSpider Technologies, spammers are firing off 19,000 emails a day warning users that they have installed child pornography on their computer and demanding £50 not to inform the police. This is an unpleasant hoax and you should not be tempted to pay them any money. The advice if you get the email is to ignore this request and notify the police about the scam.
Book Section
The President of Good and Evil: George W. Bush talks constantly about ethics and values - in starkest terms, about good and evil. It is the hallmark of his presidency and impossible to ignore. This book is an attempt to hold the policies of George W. Bush, and his actions as president, up to an ethical standard, including his own. But it goes beyond that: it is also a study in a distinctively American ethic, for there are many features of his ethic that are not widely held elsewhere in the developed world. Peter Singer's penetrating examination of Bush's ethics asks whether they are anything more than self-serving - a vitally important question, since the actions which follow the rhetoric affect the lives of everyone on the planet. (Peter Singer, Granta, ISBN 1 86207 693 6, £8.99)
