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 Primary Education, English, Mathematics,
Science, Modern Languages, History, Geography, Design & Technology,
Business Studies, Media Studies, ICT, Sociology, Music, Politics,
Physical Education and Religious Studies.
Professors
are Human: Steven Kries, a history teacher in the United States,
believes that the delivery of information on the World Wide Web has
the distinct possibility of enhancing and transforming current pedagogical
attitudes and practices in higher education. In his article, Professors
are Human: Breaking Down the Barriers Between Instructor and Student
he argues that teacher websites can "break down the traditional
barrier of authority erected between instructor and students and to
empower students with knowledge rather than hide that knowledge as
if it were the instructor's intellectual property alone."
GTC
and Curriculum Online: The General Teaching Council for England
has responded to the government's recent Curriculum Online proposals.
The paper highlights some important issues and argues: "We see
a critical role for teachers in partnership with the research community
to offer the expertise and build the capacity for classroom innovation
and investigation of a digitally enabled education. Our concern is
that the Curriculum Online proposals fall short of understanding and
addressing the need to develop new pedagogical practice. Long-term
success of Curriculum Online will not come from the platform that
the service is delivered on or from connectivity or infrastructure
but from the capacity of teachers to ensure coherent, relevant, supported
and challenging learning."
Higher
Education and Research Opportunities (HERO) is the official national
website for Higher Education and research organisations in the United
Kingdom. The site provides a comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date
database of links to all the key online HE resources. It also carries
topical news and feature content and increasingly powerful search
facilities tapping into a growing range of specialist data sources.
With information on opportunities, institutions and organisations
across the UK, it is becoming a key resource for students, researchers,
HE staff and the business community. HERO is owned by the funding
councils of the United Kingdom, the Research Councils, Universities
UK, SCOP, UCAS, CSU and the TTA.
Primary
GlassForever:
This web site is an online learning resource that promotes the benefits
of glass recycling to a young audience. GlassForever compares the
journey of glass that is not recycled, looking at it’s negative
environmental impact, against the journey of glass that is recycled
and the benefits that recycling offers. The site employs a mixture
of animation, video and interactive activities to cover the following
areas: Why should we recycle glass? Why is glass useful? Where can
we recycle our glass? How is glass recycled? How is glass made? What
are bottles and jars used for? Why choose glass packaging? Additional
features include games and a quiz for pupils, printable worksheets
and planning documents for teachers.
SEN
Teacher is a developing resources site, targeting parents and
teachers of children with severe, profound or complex learning difficulties.
Just over 30Mb of Windows freeware and printed materials are available,
as well as links to other sources of SEN information and resources.
The author splits his time 50:50 between teaching learning disabled
and autistic teenagers and working as a consultant to the Learning
Disabilities and Multimedia Research Project at the University of
East London.
Indus
Valley Civilisation:
This website for teachers created by Ilona Aronovsky co-author of
QCA recommended teaching materials, provide resourcing and teaching
ideas, curriculum planning links, publications, and replica artefacts
for sale. There are 100's of photos, tables of Indus ideograms and
essays, all provided by leading archaeologists and scholars.
English
English
Language GCE: The materials for GCE English language cover all
areas of current examined courses in Britain. They are particularly
closely matched to the syllabus (AQA, syllabus B) taken by the greatest
number of students, but teachers can readily match them to other language
syllabuses. Andrew Moore wrote these materials in the course of teaching
two GCE classes. (The class that got them started achieved a 100%
pass rate.) He has since revisited and gradually updated and extended
some of the guides, with a view to covering the whole AQA syllabus
B course, and other exam board courses, eventually. As well as guides
to components of the syllabus, there are background articles, occasional
quizzes and other activities, including some contributions from distinguished
academic linguists, Peter Trudgill, Paul Coggle and Paul Kerswill.
Performing
Zone Community: This
is a site dedicated to teachers and students of drama and dance at
GCSE, A Level or in college or university. It features lesson plans,
ideas and resources as well as a fun forum/message board and lots
of useful links. To get the most from this site you are advised to
join the community, where you will get the added benefits of clip
arts, and all the documents on Brecht, Stanislavski and Shakespeare.
Science
EuroTurtle:
"Sampling the
Internet has been likened to drinking from a high pressure hose -
lots of water but difficult to swallow!" Roger Poland and the
Biology Department at King's College, Taunton have attempted to overcome
this by producing this excellent interactive website that contains
a wealth of information on the conservation and biology of sea turtles.
There are overviews of all sea turtle species, sections on the threats
to turtles in the Mediterranean, identification keys and an adventure
game involving a loggerhead turtle trying to lay eggs on a popular
Greek island frequented by tourists.
Dynamic
Great Lakes: The Dynamic Great Lakes Website describes how the
author researched her new book, The Dynamic Great Lakes. The book
is about changes in the world’s greatest freshwater system: changes
due to natural forces as well as changes caused by people. The information
will allow people to make good decisions about these lakes. In addition
to excerpts from the book, there are color photos from around the
five Great Lakes and their connecting waters from the U.S.A., Canada
and photos of the Great Lakes taken from satellites. Other photos
and excerpts feature connecting rivers, cities, beaches, sand dunes,
marshes, and international bridges. There is a link to the Great Lakes
Daily News featuring newspaper and radio articles gleaned from numerous
sources every day.
Chemical
Jigsaw Puzzle:
In 1978, Omer Roucoux
published a chemical jigsaw puzzle. It was designed to help pupils
learn about chemical reactions and valencies, and this is does very
well. On its website, it is available in two parts: as a GIF and the
original DrawFile version (for RISC OS), which you can download separately.
Sociology
Stuff
is the sociology site produced by a lecturer at City of Bristol College.
It is intended primarily as a resource for his students, a cyberspace
filing cabinet. Consequently, the site is rather uneven, it reflects
the specifications for the courses taught, and those aspects of the
specifications that are selected by the college. The site consists
of course notes that cover various substantive areas of the AS, A2
and Access Sociology specifications. There is a links section that
includes most of the best AS/A2 British School and College Sociology
sites, some University links and some sites of general sociological
interest. The skills page offers the chance to take some basic online
tests and crosswords and has some suggestions for improving exam performance.
The password protected area of the site contains information specifically
for City of Bristol Students, for example, online work-schemes and
homework timetables.
Sociology
Learning Support: Sociology Learning Support offers self-assessment
material for AS and A Level Sociology students. The tests are self-contained
and run directly from the site without plug ins. All tests can be
used with either AQA or OCR specifications. Students
can do multiple-choice quizzes, short answer tests, match items, gap-fill
exercises and crosswords. Topics for which tests are available include
the Individual and Society (Introduction to Sociology), Research Methods,
Family, and Education. New tests for these and other topics are in
preparation.
Music
Staffordshire
Music is the LEA's award winning music and music education website.
Local and national news, information articles and features. A listening
room, an interactive on-line forum, an "Ask a Musician"
service, some downloadable resources and much more.
Cris
Freeman Music: A website that describes itself as a website for
music teachers by music teachers. The site contains information for
all types of music teachers, old and new, giving advise and equipment
reviews. The site contains links to a wide variety of sites most music
teachers need to survive. The site provides on line lesson plans,
schemes of work, homework sheets and a way for students to upload
work to the instructor. There is an online chat room and a monthly
equipment review. Starting in April there will be a feature on equipping
a department which will run for 12 months. With the online classrooms
this is a site for every Music Teacher.
Music
for Teachers: The Music for Teachers website is being developed
to provide practical support for the design of Music Schemes of Work
to match the requirements of the revised National Curriculum in England.
Clear teaching objectives are suggested to provide a series of progressive
'steps' within the seven 'elements' of music and these are applied
from Key Stage 1 to the end of Key Stage 3. This attempts to address
the difficult issues of skills progression over the whole of the 3
key stages. Many other files and support materials, including extensive
databases of songs and teaching ideas, are also available to download
and the entire series of support materials can be made available on
CD/ROM."
Media
Studies
Filcomedia:
Filcomedia is a web site dedicated to Film, Communication & Media
studies for the 16-19 year old. The
site is particularly useful for students & teachers following
the AQA Communication Studies syllabus with a number of extensive
case studies for the 'Culture, Context & Communication' unit.
There are also a large number of photo-copiable hand-outs for A/AS
Media Studies (in PDF) The site is frequently updated and is produced
by an experienced subject specialist at Filton College of F.E.
A
level Media Studies: Steve Baker's website is an unofficial site
containing materials suitable for all students of Media, but in particular
those studying the OCR and AQA syllabuses. While the site is still
very much under development, there are a large number of shorts pieces
on the main conceptual areas as well as longer booklets. There are
also research links to major media organizations and some limited
advice for teachers. A small amount of material is password protected,
but the majority is open to all.
Media
Web: This is a media studies site intended for students and teachers
and anyone interested in working on the AQA media studies A/AS course.
There are sections on film, advertising, representation, genre, audience,
news, documentary, wider issues, advice on exam coursework and marking
criteria. It's been very popular and is widely used by both students
and teachers alike. The resources can be copied, pasted and printed.
Physical
Education
Sports
Media provides a wealth of information for P.E. teachers and students.
It is an interactive site dedicated to providing lesson plans, tips,
drills, activities and other teaching aids for the physical education
teacher. Sports Media feels that the use of ICT by learners offers
enormous potential to enhance learning in all subjects - also for
physical education & sports. Sports Media/ SportaPolis has members
who are nationally - and internationally - recognized experts in physical
education, sports, fitness, coaching, health and nutrition. Suitable
for all grades the Ask an Expert Page provides links to experts in
a number of different expertises. These experts have volunteered to
answer your questions for free! This service will give you the opportunity
to ask questions about professional development. We are always available
for those who have a question, a need for feedback, and who may have
no one else to turn to.
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.
