Education on the Internet
Number 133: 17th October, 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 51,345 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 Seminars
Modern Foreign Languages at KS4: An online debate led by Audrey Billon. As she points out in her opening statement: " MFL are going optional in more and more schools these days. I know that the decision was made 3 years ago, however, it is only now that we are starting to see the full extent of the decision. I am very concerned at various level. The teacher in me is concerned about the fact that children are not going to be given the opportunity to have some sort of experience of a foreign culture and I think this is a problem very specific to Britain." If you have views on this subject, register with the Education Forum and join the debate.
News and Articles
Tomlinson Report: The Tomlinson working party report on 14 to 19 learning is due out tomorrow. However, it is expected to say that in future all England's teenagers will have to demonstrate English and Maths skills to get a new school diploma. The tests of "functional" literacy and numeracy are the latest effort to address complaints that children might have GCSEs but cannot spell or add up. Everyone would need these core skills to get one of the new diplomas being proposed by the Tomlinson working party. The final report will also seek to raise the esteem of vocational qualifications. It is likely to propose that youngsters could take specialised options within a diploma framework of subject strands - such as engineering and technology or social sciences.
Google Print Project: Google has launched an experimental program that indexes excerpts of popular books, blending the content from these works into regular Google search results. Google Print differs from Amazon's recently introduced Search Inside the Book program, which makes the full text of books available online to readers. By contrast, Google is indexing only a small excerpt from each book. If you want to purchase the book, Google provides links to the book's description page at major online retailers including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. To use Google Print, just search on Google as you normally would. For example, do a search on a subject such as "Books about Ecuador Trekking," or search on a title like "Romeo and Juliet." Whenever a book contains content that matches your search terms, we'll show links to that book in your search results. Click on the book title and you'll see the page that contains your search terms, as well as other information about the book. You can also search for other topics within the book. Click "Buy this Book" and you'll go straight to a bookstore selling the book online.
Search Inside the Book: This Amazon website allows you to search the full-text of more than 33 million pages from over 120,000 printed books. More than 190 publishers are participating in the program, including Wiley, Time Warner Book Group, Simon & Schuster, and Random House. The service is easy to use. Simply enter your search terms into any Amazon search box. In addition to the usual results listing authors and titles, you'll also see short snippets labeled "excerpt from" and the hyperlinked title of the book where your search terms were found. Click on the title link you'll see a scanned image of the page with your search term(s) highlighted. Amazon is using optical character recognition technology to find words embedded in the scanned images. Scanned books are fully browseable. You can move forward or backwards one page at a time using links above the page image. You can also move forward by simply clicking on the page image.
Indymedia: Last Thursday a court order was issued to Rackspace, an American-owned web hosting company in Uxbridge, Middlesex, forcing it to hand over two servers used by Indymedia, an international media network. Indymedia hosts sites, news and radio feeds for anti-globalisation groups and other campaigners for social justice. It is unclear why, or to where, the servers have been taken. The FBI acknowledged that a subpoena had been issued but said this was at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities. Indymedia said some of the 20 sites knocked out by the raid were restored from back-up copies soon after the originals were taken. Others, such as Antwerp, Belgrade, Liege and Lille, took longer to restore. Indymedia said some of its local affiliates lost data because of the seizure. The raid was condemned by the International Federation of Journalists which called it an: ""unacceptable and intrusive international police action". The servers were returned on 13th October.
Studychum is an education portal that aims to bring the various people who make up the full spectrum of education together. Its target audience is principally serving the needs of university students, although a wider net will be cast into the future. Studychum is segmented into 3 arms. The first arm provides for high value added services to students, from assignment guidance, to grammar check, to job hunting including resume and cover letter, to research and summary of their studies as well as analytical services. The second arm of studychum provides for free suite of services to assist students help themselves. Studychum this by providing for well over 2000 discussion forums on university topics of a wide scope. The third part of studychum is its consulting training arm, where Studychum produces training material, provides training and assistance to small to medium enterprises as well as provide HR service by way of assisting teachers gain employment.
Website Reviews: Science
Amazing Space: The teaching tools section of Amazing Space provides educators and developers access to all the teaching materials available on the website. This index includes an 'Overview' with each resource. Topics covered include Black Holes, Comets, Electromagnetic, Galaxies, Gravity, History of Science, Hubble Space Telescope, Maths: Estimating and Sampling, Maths: Statistics, Solar System, Stars and Stellar Evolution. Material is also organized under the headings: Graphic Organizers, Pictures & Facts, Q&As, Myths vs. Realities, Resources with Educator Guides, Science Content Reading Materials and Online Explorations.
Spitzer Space Telescope: The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) was launched into space by a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 25 August 2003. During its mission, Spitzer will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Its highly sensitive instruments give us a unique view of the Universe and allow us to peer into regions of space which are hidden from optical telescopes. Spitzer is the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space and this website provides the latest news and photographs from its travels.
BBC Space: This BBC website provides information on a wide range of topics in space and astronomy. Some of its features include a 3D interactive tour of the Solar System, Planet Gallery (pictures of the planets taken by amateur astronomers), Exploration (the history and future of planetary missions), News (latest news on the Solar System), Constellation Guide (explore the shapes of the constellations and the stories behind them), Sky Maps & Notes (print off a map of the night sky to help you find your way around the heavens), Cosmology Animation (learn how theories about the Solar System have changed in the past 500 years), Interactive Space Map (find your place in the Universe with this map of space), Diary of an Astronaut (follow Claudie Haigneré as she prepares for her mission to the International Space Station) and Future Spaceflight (investigate the options for future space travel).
Hubblesite: This beautifully designed website has been produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute. The website includes a rrichly-illustrated guide to the Hubble Space Telescope. Find out what the science instruments do, how the pictures are made, and why NASA put a telescope in space. The News Centre provides Hubble pictures and news, from the latest discoveries to the earliest images. You can also take a pictorial "tour" of the universe through Hubble's eye. The Gallery presents myriad stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae, and strange celestial phenomena in full colour and exquisite detail. The site also contains games and activities for space explorers of all ages. Reference Desk provides facts and figures about the Hubble Space Telescope.
Book Section
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts: On the 25th anniversary of the first landing on the moon, the story of the first men to visit another world. Through the eyes of the astronauts training to land on the moon, this book reveals previously unknown personal details, as the author chronicles the Apollo missions from their disaster-plagued beginnings, through their spectacular climax to their premature end. From flamboyant prankster Pete Conrad to scientist Jack Schmitt, who had to prove he was made of the "right stuff" to go to the moon, memorable characters abound. With consummate ease, the author makes technological details accessible to the lay person and gives each aspect of the moon voyage, from a Saturn V lift-off to the euphoria of a moon walk, a minute-by-minute feeling of excitement. (£10.99)
