Education on the Internet
Number 24: 10th April 2002
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 20,550 subscribers to the newsletter.
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, Economics, Photography, Art & Design, Theatre Studies, Physical Education and Religious Studies.
John Simkin
The Great Crusade: Birmingham, the UK's largest education authority, received an excellent Ofsted report today. The report points out that in 2001 41.4% of Birmingham pupils achieved five or more A to C grades at GCSE compared with 33% in 1996. At key stage 2 for 11-year olds, in 2001 71% achieved level 4 or above in English compared with 46% in 1996, 67% in maths compared with 44%, and 85% in science compared with 48%. In this fascinating article, Wendy Berliner explores the reasons for the recent improvement in Birmingham's schools.
Internet Access: Home Internet users account for almost one eighth of the world's population and this number is still rising. Nielsen//NetRatings report indicates that 498 million people around the world have access to the Internet. Furthermore, figures show that 24 million people used the Internet for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2001, an increase from 15 million who went online in the third quarter. Close to 40 percent of the world's Internet users are based in the United States and Canada. Europe, Middle East and Africa region is home to 27 percent of users. The Asia-Pacific region has 110.1 million people who access the Internet from home and Latin America has 20.7 million. The rest of the world has 41 million home Internet users, equivalent to eight per cent of the total number.
eSchola 2002: This year's eSchola takes place from 8th April to 9th May 2002. This European Schoolnet event is an online celebration highlighting practice and innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools. Teachers and pupils are invited to meet online, share experience and build new friendships for the future. In @Europe teachers and pupils of all ages find collaborative projects for schools to work together for longer or shorter activities that emphasize getting to know Europe and each other. The eXplora Challenge is a web-based competition for teams of learners in secondary schools. The challenge is to create a website with educational value which is interesting to fellow pupils.
History
Queen Mother: Memorial Website: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday 30th March 2002, at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The official website of the British Monarchy has produced a detailed biography of the Queen Mother. The website also allows the visitor to view images from the 101 years of the Queen Mother's life.
Child Labour: A comprehensive encyclopedia of child labour in Britain. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. There are sections on Life in the Factory (10), Factory Workers (22), Factory Reformers (18), Supporters of Child Labour (26), Tactics & Issues (4), Factory Acts (8) and Statistics (6).
Anne Frank Project. Anne Frank was an average girl who became a legend. Today her legacy consists of more than her famous diary. According to Simon Wiesenthal she is a saint. More then a saint she became a symbol for oppressed and persecuted victims of racism everywhere. Her life and death also became a warning for what can happen when hatred and bias take over. This European project is aimed at making students aware that racial bias sadly is not a historical phenomenon but, if we are not aware, can still happen today.
English
Charles Dickens: David Perdue's impressive website provides a comprehensive account on the life and work of Charles Dickens. The site includes a detailed biography of Dickens by David Cody, notes on his complete work and a compendium of his characters. There is also a timeline, an interactive map of 19th century London, an article on Dickens' journalistic career and a message board where you can post questions on Dickens.
Questique is a unique strategy crossword board game that can be played in a home, school or further educational environment. Rare amongst skill based games, it is suitable for children, families and adults. Play is possible from elementary to advanced levels. A simple handicapping system allows players of mixed abilities to all compete as equals. Even a highly educated language teacher and a below average ability child of eight can be a match! It is an excellent language teaching aid, especially in relation to spelling and vocabulary development. The game includes many options, one of these being "fast play". This is ideal for active minds and impatient players of all ages - no need for an egg timer here to keep the game moving! Questique is fun, challenging and educational and can be played solo or by up to four players.
Maths
Longman Maths: This website provides free, timesaving resources for Maths teachers. These include interactivities using Excel, plus ideas for creating your own, along with fully differentiated Maths challenges. Ready-made activities for using the Internet to teach Maths are also included, and all are updated regularly. You can also use this website to access Longman's range of companion websites and its comprehensive online catalogue.
Megamaths: This excellent BBC website concentrates on multiplication tables and shapes for young students. Shape properties, mirror lines and transformations become hands-on activities. Take a trip around the World of Tables where practice makes perfect. Find your way round the MegaMaze, play the Grid Game or have a go at the Table Tournament, in this invaluable website for testing and reinforcing Times Tables.
Economics
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.
American Stock Exchange: The Amex website provides a comprehensive resource for investors and issuers seeking the unique market environment offered at the American Stock Exchange. Investors and issuers now have access to the market and historical data, charts and tools, and news and education. Students will find American Stock Exchange Financial Dictionary very useful.
Science
Exploring Science: A free companion website from Longman to accompany the course Exploring Science, but also very useful even if you don't use this course. Resources for Key Stage 3, including detailed weblinks with accompanying notes to match specific topics and extra practical lesson ideas. A comprehensive range of worksheets and tests for Special Needs pupils are provided, allowing less able pupils to use the same materials as their more able peers. A full set of cover lessons is also included. The website offers a registration facility to notify you when new materials and special offers of interest are added to the website.
Nutrition Foundation: Every aspect of nutrition and food safety is covered on this website. There are sections on Nutrients, Diet, Food Commodities, Food Functions, Balanced Diet, Mood and Food, Topical Information Sheets, Food Requirements and Careers Information. There is also a Teacher Centre and Parent Area.
Geography
Essential Guide to Rocks: An outstanding website on rocks in Britain. This includes Britain's Rocky Past a spectacular animation and interactive timeline featuring 4600 million years of continental drift, fossil life and rocks. There are also ten virtual walks around Great Britain that provides the student with the opportunity to discover the rocks of our urban landscape.
NFU Farm Studies: A series of eight farm case studies. They all include detailed information, farm data, photographs, maps and other graphics. All types of farming are covered from different areas of Scotland and England. They are viewed from the perspective of the farmer and focus particularly on the management of the farm for wildlife and amenity. All the materials are available in Portable Document Format and are designed to be printed out for use in the classroom.
Modern Languages
European Treasury Browser: The ETB Project has just released a multilingual thesaurus for education in Europe, available in eight languages: Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Swedish. The thesaurus is aimed at indexing educational resources, and help to build an interoperable infrastructure to exchange and network metadata on educational resources for schools in Europe. The ETB will link together existing national repositories, encourage new publication, and provide a reliable level of quality and structure. The project aims to add value to national resource collections by adding an interoperable layer to help teachers and students locate resources Europe-wide.
French Revision: This site, produced by Mr. Dyer, a Modern Foreign Languages teacher at Holywells High School, Ipswich, contains many hundreds of interactive French exercises. These are aimed at Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and 'A' Level students. The site contains numerous past papers, covering three different exam boards, to enable students to practise online.
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