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 21,400
subscribers to the newsletter.
Neilsen
Norman Group: Children get just as frustrated as adults when navigating
around poorly designed websites, a new survey has found. A study by
the US design think tank, the Neilsen Norman Group (NNG), observed
children using a wide range of websites. It found that the bells and
whistles often used on sites designed for kids do not necessarily
impress. "Our study convinced us that most websites for children
are built upon pure folklore about how kids supposedly behave,"
said web design guru Jakob Nielsen from NNG. "While
it is true that kids love whizz bang animation and sound effects,
even these things won't hold their attention if they come upon something
too difficult to figure out or they get lost on a website."
Life-Long
Learning: UNESCO's Institute for Information Technologies in Education
in Moscow has recently launched an international project entitled
"ICTs in technical and vocational education and training"
that deals with life-long learning, education for all, and information
literacy in a world increasingly marked by convergence. In the framework
of this project, the Institute has begun to prepare information material
on existing experience and best practice of ICT usage in technical
and vocational education and training (TVET) around the world.
Internet
Proficiency Scheme: Becta is the British government's lead agency
for ICT in education and supports national organisations in the use
and development of ICT in education to raise standards, widen access,
improve skills and encourage effective management. Becta is now seeking
50 schools to help test a new Internet proficiency scheme which aims
to develop safe and discriminating online behaviours for KS2 pupils.
The pilot scheme is due to run from May to July 2002. For further
information contact internetprof@becta.org.uk
History
World
War Remembered: People are a great resource - their memories can
unlock the past for us. World War Remembered is a Web site that publishes
personal accounts of the wars of the last century. Students and teachers
from the East Riding of Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, have collected
spoken and written memoirs from people who experienced war - in the
armed services, or as civilians. This site is growing, as more people
contribute - and this site can help preserve their stories for future
historians.
The
Great War 1914-18: As well as general information on the Ypres
Salient the site includes an innovative detailed study of the Second
Battle of Ypres, 1915. The study so far consists of 80 pages of text
and maps for the Prelude to the Battle and the battle from 5.00pm
to midnight. It also features unique map and timeline windows. The
next phase of the battle study for 23 April 1915 will be added to
the site shortly.
Our
Manchester: A
collection of articles on the history of Manchester. Recent illustrated
articles added include Belle Vue Revisited, Rochdale - A History,
Ardwick School, Longsight Station, Longsight Memories, Edgar Wood
- Architect, The White City and A Manchester View.
English
Little
Explorers: This website provides 1,885 illustrated dictionary
entries. Each word is used in a meaningful example sentence. Most
entries have links to a related web site. Just click on an underlined
word (or its accompanying picture), and you'll link to a great web
site related to it. A picture-dictionary format is used to link to
hundreds of carefully-chosen child-friendly sites around the world.
Since the pictures are links, even pre-readers can surf with a minimum
of help and guidance from their favorite adult. Older kids can use
Little Explorers as a school reference. This is the English version;
just click to use the English-French, English-German, English-Italian,
English-Portuguese, or the English-Spanish version.
Project
Gutenberg: This
website publishes out-of-copyright works online for free. This generally
means that the Gutenberg texts are taken from books published pre-1923.
So you won't find the latest bestsellers or modern computer books
here. You will find the classic books from the start of this century
and previous centuries, from authors like Shakespeare, Poe, Dante,
as well as well-loved favorites like the Sherlock Holmes stories by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Tarzan and Mars books of Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Alice's adventures in Wonderland as told by Lewis Carroll, and thousands
of others.
Redbridge
Literacy Website: This website is for all primary and secondary
teachers of literacy, both within English and beyond. The site features
downloadable lesson plans and resources, ideas to support literacy
work in schools and relevant news and updates from official bodies,
such as QCA, the National Literacy Strategy and OFSTED. The Key Stage
1 and 2 areas of the site are well established, and offer particular
support to English Co-ordinators working in primary, whilst the Key
Stage 3 area offers a whole range of Year 7 and 8 units of work in
medium and short term planning formats, along with Literacy Across
the Curriculum resources. The website also features details of all
INSET courses, primary and secondary, run by the London Borough of
Redbridge; these courses are open to teachers from all areas.
Maths
Maths
A-Level Revision Website: A website providing extensive easy to
read revision notes for students studying advanced level mathematics.
The site covers a wide range of topics, including pure mathematics,
statistics and mechanics sections and is frequently expanded and improved.
The pure mathematics section currently includes algebra topics such
as partial fractions, the binomial theorem, logarithms, sequences
and series. In addition, there are a number of pages of trigonometry
notes, which introduce radians as a way of measuring angles and deal
with the important trigonometric formulae. The pure maths section
also contains an extensive section on calculus (differentiation and
integration), including a variety of pages on various integration
and differentiation techniques. The statistics section currently includes
details of numerous probability distributions as well as topics such
as confidence intervals and ways of calculating probabilities. The
mechanics section includes notes on the 'suvat' equations, Newton's
Laws of Motion, moments, centre of mass, friction and restitution.
GCSE
Higher Maths: This website provides free ICT resources for GCSE
Higher Maths. Written to accompany the Longman book, GCSE Higher Maths,
these activities can also be used even if you aren't using the book
with your class. Activities include ready-made Excel activities, Factfinder
activities and accompanying downloadable worksheets and teachers'
notes. Offers registration facility to notify you when new materials
and special offers of interest are added to the website.
Design
& Technology
Food
Link is organised by the Food and Drink Federation in association
with the Food Standards Agency, the Royal Environmental Health Institute
of Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the
Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards,
the Departments of Health, Food and Education, the National Farmers
Union, the British Retail Consortium and the British Hospitality Association.
The programme provides a focus for communicating messages aimed at
helping everyone understand and carry out the basic precautions which
they can take to reduce the risk of suffering from food poisoning.
DT
Online is produced by the National Association of Advisers and
Inspectors in Design and Technology, in cooperation with Dial Solutions,
using materials provided by teachers for pupils. DT Online is free
at the point of use and has three aspects: (1.) It is an online repository
of information relating to most DT focus areas. (2.) For electronics
and packaging, there are interactive designer sections that allow
online production of circuits and packaging nets (3.) There is a developing
projects section that also provides access to remote manufacturing
centres in volunteer schools and colleges.
Science
Imagine
Mars Project: Due to popular demand, the Mars Millennium Project
is being relaunched as the Imagine Mars Project by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) in partnership with the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA) on Space Day 2002. Building on the success of the
Mars Millennium Project, the Imagine Mars Project is a national arts,
sciences and technology education initiative that harnesses America's
fascination with space and leads young people to work together with
educators and civic leaders in designing a Mars community for 100
people. As part of
the Imagine Mars Project students explore their own community and
decide which arts, scientific and cultural elements will be important
on Mars. Then they develop their ideal community, from an inter-disciplinary
perspective of arts, sciences and technology.
Space
Day 2002: On May 2, 2002, join other students, teachers and space
enthusiasts and participate in a fun and informative webcast broadcast
live from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Cyber Space
Day allows viewers to ask questions of Mars experts and participate
in student surveys and polls.
BioWeb:
Mrs. King's BioWeb is a help site for students and teachers in the
field of science. This site was designed to assist students and teachers
with science information that might otherwise be difficult to locate.
Major concepts are compiled together in a user friendly fashion to
make learning science interesting and educational. The BioWeb includes
links to lab experiments, educational games and activities, science
fair help, homework help, science journals, teacher lesson plans and
resources, distance learning, continuing education, testing aids,
and benchmarks for state standards.
ICT
Questionmarker
is an e-tool that enables the classroom teacher to deliver the testing
and assessment of their students on-line. Featuring the first ever
personalised on-line-markbook, it opens up the world of e-learning
and maximises the potential of the Curriculum online. Ideal for homework,
revision and study leave. Give students test codes, they do the test
at home and their results appear immediately on the teacher's computer.
Kar2ouche
is interactive software that enables pupils to produce storyboards,
animations and publications. This develops contextual understanding,
encourages reasoned interpretation and facilitates creative expression.
Each title has relevant characters, backgrounds, props, text and audio
that pupils manipulate to create storyboards, presentations and publications.
These can be played back, printed and emailed encouraging pupils to
communicate ideas and evaluate other’s work.
Book
Section
The
Internet in School: Duncan Grey's book, The Internet in School,
provides an invaluable insight into the use of the internet in schools
for anyone involved in education. It deals with the practical applications
of the Internet as a resource in the classroom and its potential to
enhance teaching and learning. Written in a non-threatening and non-technical
style, the book examines both the pitfalls and the opportunities of
Internet use in schools.
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.
