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.
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.
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.
