Education on the Internet
Number 33: 28th August 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 26,363 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
Internet Use in Europe: Germany has the highest number of Internet users in Europe, according to the latest research from NetValue. At the end of March, there were 16.3 million Internet users in Germany, compared to 15.9 million in the UK, 11.4 million in France, and 7.8 million in Italy. Men continue to outnumber women on the Net in Europe particularly in Spain and Italy where men are almost twice as likely to be online than women. According to the study, the Spanish go online more than their European counterparts. Spanish Internet users connect on average 11.8 days per month. French and Danish Internet users go online 11.4 days per month.
Online Learning Magazine is the leading information source for readers who need quick, targeted, relevant information about e-learning and its impact on business. Through a combination of case studies, product comparisons, trend coverage and industry news, Online Learning Magazine helps readers make sense of an industry that's growing at Internet speed. Stories are written in a lively, interesting, concise manner and covers all the ways technology can be used to help people learn, including online courses, virtual collaboration, knowledge management, and performance support.
World & I Online Archive: The producers of this website claim that it is the ultimate knowledge centre for avid readers. It offers access to more than 12,000 in-depth articles that have appeared in The World & I magazine since 1986. Each month, magazine offers thought-provoking articles about current issues, culture, modern thought, natural science, literature, the arts, and modern life. From the mysteries of the human genome to UN reform, from the legacy of Grandma Moses to Muslim feminism, the magazine delivers a global view of people, places and ideas. Other features include Worldwide Folktales, a compilation of myths and legends from around the world, and Millennial Moments, a 16-part series that re-evaluates the most critical events of the past millennium.
Internet Services
Google Toolbar: The new Google Toolbar increases your ability to find information from anywhere on the web and takes only seconds to install. When the Google Toolbar is installed, it automatically appears along with the Internet Explorer toolbar. This means you can quickly and easily use Google to search from any website location, without returning to the Google home page to begin another search. The Google Toolbar is available free of charge and includes several great features: Google Search (access Google's search technology from any web page); Search Site (search only the pages of the site you're visiting); PageRank (see Google's ranking of the current page) Page Info (access more information about a page including similar pages, pages that link back to that page, as well as a cached snapshot); Word Find: (find your search terms wherever they appear on the page).
LNDN Webmail: This free service lets you check your existing email account using a standard web browser. You can use it to keep in touch from anywhere with access to the Internet. You can read any messages waiting for you, send replies, and delete unwanted items from your Inbox. The only thing you need to use the service is an active POP3 email account. This includes virtually all email accounts provided by internet service providers, schools and universities.
Free Internet Services: A new report from Jupiter Media Metrix indicates that more than two-thirds of Americans are unwilling to pay for services on the Internet. Approximately 69 percent of US consumers say they do not want to pay for services such as email, instant messaging, or file-sharing capabilities. According to Jupiter, consumer resistance to paying for online services is six percent higher than resistance to paying for online content. Eight percent of consumers would pay to access recruitment and job sites, while six percent would pay for enhanced instant messaging and file-sharing capabilities. However, only two percent would pay for personals and dating services. Jupiter analysts suggest that companies should consider offering bundled online services and price them at less that $30 per year if they want to encourage users to pay.
History
Navajo Code Talkers: Early in 1942 Philip Johnson, met Major General Clayton B. Vogel, the commanding general of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, and suggested that the U.S. Marines used the Navajo language as a secret code. Johnson, who had grown up on an Navajo Reservation, argued that because it of its complex syntax, tonal qualities and dialect, the Japanese cryptographers would find it impossible to decipher. He also pointed out that Navajo was not a written language and less than 30 non-Navajos understood it. Vogel was convinced by Johnson's arguments and it was decided to establish a Navajo code programme at Camp Pendleton at Oceanside, California. Over the next three years over 400 Navajos agents were trained to use the code and around 300 saw action in the field. Speaking Navajo and using an additional code within that, they were able to convey information and orders among Marine units and Navy warships and aircraft. This website provides an overview of the subject plus links to other related resources including a Navajo Code Talker Lesson, a Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary, a Navajo Code Cipher Simulation and the Windtalkers film.
Wall Street Crash Simulation: The Wall Street Crash led to a World Depression which was partly responsible for the rise of aggressive dictatorships in Europe. In this interactive simulation, lasting about 30 minutes, students are invited to "play the stock market" and in this way learn about how a crash can occur. Students are presented with a variety of situations and have to decide whether each one will lead to share prices rising or to share prices falling.
War, Media and Propaganda: In 1939 Joseph Goebbels remarked: "We cannot be satisfied with just telling the people what we want. We have to keep hammering on at them until they become addicted to us." This statement is included in the Flanders Field Museum's online exhibition on war, the media and propaganda in the 20th century. The exhibition starts with stories from Belgium in 1914 about nuns were being raped by German soldiers to the claims that Kuwaiti babies were being snatched from hospital incubators by occupying Iraqi troops in 1991.
Art
Feast of the Gods: Around 1512, the Duke of Ferrara commissioned Giovanni Bellini to paint the Feast of the Gods. Dosso Dossi subsequently decorated a gallery for the Duke, and, in 1522, painted over half of Bellini's canvas. Seven years later, Titian repainted the Feast of the Gods again. What did the earlier versions look like? How much of each artist's work do we see today? What motivated these unprecedented changes? For centuries these questions remained unanswered. In the last fifty years, technical innovations in conservation science have enabled specialists at the National Gallery to obtain X-ray, infrared and cross-section data. This information has proved crucial in dispelling the mystery surrounding this painting. This website provides a highly interactive examination of this painting.
Rodin-Web is the world´s largest Website on Rodin, with an overview of 220 Museum collections containing Rodin´s work; an Image Database with over 100 historical photos; biographical links, extensive book list, email network, etc. Rodin-Web is run by Hans de Roos from Germany and is a not-for-profit, academic initiative.
Book Section
ISBN 0 00 274095 8 | One of the most prolific and thought-provoking writers of the 20th century, Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) still has a lasting effect on Britain. Well known for his literary collaboration and friendship with C K Chesterton, Belloc continues to fascinate, both as a social commentator and a master of finely crafted prose and verse. Joseph Pearce's biography provides a fresh look at this key Christian writer. The book contains previously unpublished material, including letters and photographs, and is based on current interviews with Belloc's family. Author: Joseph Pearce Publisher: Harper Collins Price: £20.00 |
ISBN 0 00 713744 3 | Five of C. S. Lewis's best known spiritual and inspirational works are gathered together in a new, single, paperback. No longer available separately, these five books are presented in a highly readable and accessible way. The five books are: The Pilgrim's Regress (1933), The Abolition of Man (1944), Till We Have Faces (1956), Reflections of the Psalms (1958) and Letters to Malcolm (1964). This volume contains some of the most outstanding literary achievements of our time - this is a unique celebration of a truly brilliant man and an exceptional author. Author: C. S. Lewis Publisher: Harper Collins Price: £9.99 |
ISBN 1 86207 534 4 | The year 2000 was the wettest since accurate records began in the middle of the eighteenth century. Britain is a country devoted to the study of rain. No other nation in the world has kept such extensive accounts of its patterns for so long. What has it done for the British character? Why has there been so much more of it? And how will it change us? In this book Brian Cathcart explores the extraordinary human consequences of the abstraction called climate change. Author: Brian Cathcart Publisher: Granta Price: £5.99 |
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