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 17,800
subscribers to the newsletter.
Teaching
and Learning: The Teaching and Learning section of TeacherNet
is a gateway to the very best educational resources currently available
on the internet. From this page you can access more than twelve hundred
lesson plans, tap into the support services of museums, libraries
and charities and ensure that you are making the most of the educational
activities that your local community has to offer. You will also find
comprehensive directories for Community Learning Grids, teaching unions
and other affiliated bodies.
ICT
in Schools: The Fischer Family Trust carries out a yearly survey
on the impact of websites and software packages across different secondary
school curriculum areas. The main aim is to reliably identify important
resources that are already in reasonably widespread use. The survey
asked for responses to include ratings for both frequency of use and
learning impact. In total over 1,800 responses were received from
over 1,300 schools – nearly 1/3 of the secondary schools in England
and Wales. The sample was representative in terms of both geographical
spread and type of school. The results of the latest survey can be
found on the Fischer Family Trust website.
US
Web Usage: The
Department of Commerce reports that 143 million people, or 54 percent
of the total population, are now online in the US. The report says
that there were an average of 2 million new Internet users in the
US every month last year. The digital divide seems to be narrowing
in the US. Black and Hispanic households are also going online at
a more rapid rate than white and Asian-American households. Furthermore,
the number of rural households getting Net access for the first time
is increasing at a faster rate than the number of urban households.
The report also found that email continues to be the most popular
online activity. It is now used by 45 percent of the total population,
up from 35 percent in 2000.
History
Development
of Railways: In this activity, produced by Learnall, students
access the Spartacus Historical Encyclopedia in order to research
the development of the railways. A class is put into groups, and each
group researches a particular event, machine or personality, then
summarises their findings and reports back to the class in the form
of a word-processed document. National Curriculum key objectives are
specifically targeted along with language for learning. Students and
teachers wishing to make use of the Learnall site have to first get
themselves registered on the site and thereby gain a username and
password.
Scottsboro
Case: The film
Scottsboro: An American Tragedy and this companion website offer insights
into topics in American history including race relations, civil rights,
the Depression, the Communist Party of the United States, and judicial
due process. You can use part or all of the film, or delve into the
rich resources available on this website to learn more about this
tragic case. Teaching activities
on the website are grouped into 4 categories: history, economics,
geography, and civics.
Violette
Szabo: After
hearing that her husband had been killed at El Alamein, Violette
Szabo, developed
a strong desire to get involved in the war effort and was recruited
to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The violette Szabo
Museum website tells the story of how she was parachuted into occupied
France to help the resistance. Szabo was captured and executed by
the Gestapo and was posthumously awarded the Croix
de Guerre and the George Cross.
English
Walt
Whitman: The Walt Whitman Archive is an electronic research and
teaching tool that sets out to make Whitman’s vast work, for
the first time, easily and conveniently accessible to scholars, students,
and general readers. Whitman, America’s most influential poet
and one of the four or five most innovative and significant writers
in United States history, is the most challenging of all American
authors in terms of the textual difficulties his work presents. He
left behind an enormous amount of written material, and his major
life work, Leaves of Grass, went through
six very different editions, each of which was issued in a number
of formats, creating a book that is probably best studied as numerous
distinct creations rather than as a single revised work. His many
notebooks, manuscript fragments, prose essays, letters, and voluminous
journalistic articles all offer key cultural and biographical contexts
for his poetry. The Archive sets out to incorporate as much of this
material as possible, drawing on the resources of libraries and collections
from around the United States and around the world.
First
World War Poetry: This seminar is intended as an introduction
to First World War poetry. As well as the poets Wilfred Owen, Rupert
Brooke, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon and Edward Thomas the seminar
looks at women poets in the First World War. Each poet and topic includes
the following: (a) an introduction, (b) a featured poem, appropriate
to the seminar's theme, (c) some literary criticism of the featured
poem, (d) other relevant information or texts, (e) a selection of
other poems appropriate to the poet/topic.
Wilfred
Owen: This website includes four of Wilfred Owen's most popular
poems: Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, Strange Meeting
and The Parable of the Old Man and the Young. There are also links
to other websites on Wilfred Owen and his poetry.
Music
Music88
Recorder Resource: Most people do not consider the recorder to
be serious musical instrument. The mission of this website is to promote
the understanding and learning of recorder as a serious yet versatile
musical instrument suitable for everybody. Even King Henry VIII played
and collected recorders and Shakespeare used it in his plays! A brief
history and interesting facts as well as FAQs about the recorder can
be found here. There are pictures on the different types of recorders
and a mention of their sizes. There is a section on composing, methodology,
fingering charts and recommendations of recorder instructional books
and music. The presentation of content is geared towards teachers
and students researching on recorders for the first time. They may
then choose to visit our featured links to other specialized sites
for more in depth information.
Music
India Online: A comprehensive website on Indian music. The material
is organized under the categories: Carnatic, Hindustani, Jugalbandhi,
Light Music (Devotional, Folk Music, Ghazals, IndiPop, Qawwali, Patriotic)
and Regional (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarathi, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,
Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Tamil and
Telugu).
Music
in Latin America: An impressive website run by the University
of Texas. The material is organized under the categories: Latin American
Resources, Regional Resources (Andean, Caribbean, Hispanic/Latino)
and Country Resources (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago,
Uruguay and Venezuela).
Design
& Technology
The
Memphis Group was founded in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass with a group
of recently graduated designers and journalist Barbara Radice as public
relations/art director. The group's main aim was to revive Radical
Design. The products created by the Memphis group included limited
production creations of unusual objects and functional designs. Most
products featured plastic laminate surfaces, bright colours and bold
patterns. The Memphis Group attempted to make a political statement.
They strived to break down the barriers between high class and low
class. To some, this concept was alien but to others it offered freedom.
Viking
Boat: This project
from Minersville Area High School got its start as a requirement for
senior graduation. Sixteen seniors were divided into groups of from
one to three. Just like the Viking builders, each senior had a set
of building tasks. The project's goal was to replicate a twenty-one
foot cargo boat. Plans were obtained from the Viking Ship Museum in
Oslo, Norway. Upon completion of the boat successful sea trials were
held on a local lake and the boat was donated to the Nordic Heritage
Museum in Seattle, Washington for its final resting place. Educationally,
the project combined the disciplines of Social Studies with Industrial
Technology. The website was created and maintained entirely by the
students. The site includes the boat's history, sailing and tour information,
photos of the boat's construction, displays including a visit to the
Smithsonian Institution, animated blueprints, and a 360 degree view
of the boat.
Science
Biology
GCSE: GCSE Biology Revision is just one section of Nigel Purchon's
wonderful Science website. Although initially produced for his students
as Kingsbury High School, this comprehensive website is available
to the whole Internet community. Categories in the Biology section
include: How to Revise, Cells, Digestion, Photosynthesis, Respiration,
Circulation, Ecology, Muscles and Bones. Other features include Science
Investigations (how to improve your score in GCSE Investigations),
Skills (how to succeed with your 'A' level biology course) and Homework.
The
Science Museum: The Science Museum at South Kensington covers
seven floors and has more than 40 individual galleries. It is now
possible to visit the museum online to see some of its 15,000 objects
in its collection. The best feature of the website is its exhibitions
centre. This currently includes Japan: Gateway to the Future, Alfa
Romeo - Sustaining Beauty, Apollo 10, Challenge of Materials, Flight
Gallery, Flights of Inspiration, Cosmic Globes, Making the Modern
World and Strange Surfaces.
Economics
and Business Studies
Tutor2u
is a portal site for students of Economics, Business Studies and Politics.
The objective of Geoff Riley is to build a comprehensive, user friendly
study portal, and to contribute to the study and examination success
of all our users. At the heart of Tutor2u lies the Discussion Forums.
A widening range of bulletin-board style discussion groups that provide
users with a unique opportunity to interact with each other. In just
16 months, the Discussion Forums have attracted over 2,000 registered
users and some 19,000 posts. Tutor2u also includes a range of study
materials. The comprehensive collection of revision notes covers the
key areas of economics and politics. Tutor2u maintains one of the
Web's most comprehensive collections of reviewed study links, carefully
categorised and described to help users find the data and support
they need.
International
Finance and Development:
As part of the University
of Iowa's Global Studies Program, Enrique R. Carrasco and his students
have produced an electronic book on International Finance and Development.
The E-Book has been written for laypersons and is fairly easy to read.
It looks at the key concepts relating to international finance and
development. Key issues covered include the role of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the globalised economy. The website
has a chronology of key events relating to international finance and
development and a Bulletin Board to exchange ideas and information.
An outstanding website that provides an insight into what reference
books will be like in the future.
UK
Business Park: This website provides comprehensive information
on UK business activity, including news on acquisitions, new projects,
expansion plans, strategy and major new products. Material is organised
under sixteen topics: chemicals, computers, construction, energy,
engineering, financial services, food & drink, health care, leisure,
media, motor, packaging, retailing, transport, opportunities for employment
and mergers & acquisitions. Information can also be accessed by
searching for specific companies.
Modern
Languages
Alternative
and Complementary Language Site: Complete, graded lesson packs
suitable for both self-access and teacher led lessons in French and
German for key stage 3, 4 and beyond; all come with worksheets, vocabulary
lists, schemes of work, national curriculum levels and programmes
of study where applicable. Use these for cover lessons, independent
work, or incorporate them into the scheme of work. Grammar packs are
project based or free-standing with clear explanations, worksheets,
printable summaries and online self-marking practice games. Students
can use further topic based online, interactive, self-marking games
and exercises for revision or to practise vocabulary and grammar.
The site is constantly updated, and there is a newsletter to inform
subscribers about additions to the resources.
French
Cyberbook: This website provides free online French courses that
are designed to help French instructors to integrate technology into
their teaching. The courses on the French Cyberbook website have been
designed by Fabienne Gérard and Claudia Griesing, two high
school teachers at Cary Academy, North Carolina.
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.
