Education on the Internet
Number 36: 18th September 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 26,600 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
Think Report: In his Think Report, Professor David Wood points out that although ICT will enable us to learn and to teach in radically different ways, innovation with ICT is inhibited and stifled by a failure to rethink the curriculum. Wood argues that we have to redefine what is worth knowing and re-examine what skills and tools are necessary in order to be knowledgeable as technology makes an impact on all aspects of professional, vocational and private life. Copies of the report can be obtained from David Wood at: djw@psychology.nottingham.ac.uk
Schooling For Tomorrow: How can you improve your school for tomorrow's generation of pupils? Working with innovative schools educationalists have discovered that although teachers and headteachers cannot change the national curricula, they can change their schools. Find out more about this subject in an article from the expert Research Analyst, Annamaria Fichera.
To Punish or Not To Punish?: Children are always trying to find out how far they can go without being punished. To avoid this kind of behaviour, a teacher makes clear agreements and sets out the limits of what is tolerated and what is not. In this article Thomas Lindemans, Dutch Language Editor for European Schoolnet, examines the Flemish psychiatrist Peter Adriaenssens' views on this issue.
Internet Services
Question Tools: Marking questions by hand is a time-consuming, expensive and sometimes inaccurate process. Question Tools allows anyone to easily create and deliver assessments, tests, quizzes, exams and surveys using PCs, local area networks, the Internet as well as intranets. Questions and tests can be easily reused, amended and adapted. A formal exam can be easily changed into an informal knowledge check with feedback. The questions, and feedbacks can include text, drawings, photographs, sound, speech and video.
Comenius Expert Networks: Ever needed to find experts in Europe for a particular education-related topic? The European Commission's Comenius program gives funds to groups of teachers forming expert networks around different themes. Find out about the networks for cultural diversity, technology, museums and more at the Comenius website.
European Treasury Browser: Finding educational resources on the Internet is still a difficult process. The European Treasury Browser (ETB) is trying to address this problem by creating a search tool that looks for resources in databases all over Europe. On this website you can test out the first version of the European Treasury Browser and give feedback to make it even better.
Geography
Ordnance Survey: Get-a-map, a free service from Ordnance Survey, allows you to print out maps. You can search for maps of all parts of the UK at various scales simply by entering your place name, postcode or National Grid reference. Get-a-map also includes links to a free historical map service, allowing you to see what your neighbourhood looked like in the 19th century.
Welcome to Geography: The Hampstead School Geography Department fully deserved its BECTa website award last year. This attractively designed website contains the work of students, advice of field trips and several geography lessons. Subjects covered include Rainforest Destruction, Population, Weather & Climate, Tourism in Kenya, Land Reclamation, Bhopal, Banana Trade, Plate Tectonics and Biomes.
Maths
MathWorld: Eric Weisstein claims that MathWorld is the web's most complete mathematical resource. Assembled over more than a decade by Internet encyclopedist Eric W. Weisstein, MathWorld is a comprehensive and interactive mathematics encyclopedia intended for students, educators, math enthusiasts, and researchers. The site is continuously updated to include new material and incorporate new discoveries. MathWorld is hosted and sponsored by Wolfram Research, Inc., makers of Mathematica, the world's most powerful and flexible software package for doing mathematics.
Mathematics Community Website: Maggie Verster runs a community mathematics website for high school students, their parents and teachers in South Africa. The material is produced by volunteer teachers and provides lessons, tests, exams, worksheets with answers, study skills and much more.
Science
Atlas of the Universe: This website is designed to give everyone an idea of what our universe actually looks like. There are nine main maps, each one approximately ten times the scale of the previous one. The first map shows the nearest stars and then the other maps slowly expand out until we have reached the scale of the entire visible universe.
Evolutionary Journey: Produced by the Institute of Human Origins and Terra Incognita Interactive Media, this website won a Webby Award this year. Although it takes a long time to load it is worth persevering. Evolutionary Journey also has a Learning Center with a collection of suggested activities and lesson plans.
Book Section
ISBN 0 521 00252 4 | Against the backdrop of an unprecedented concern for health today, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine not only surveys the rise of medicine in the West from earliest times to the present day, but also glimpses into the future. It is written by a team of experts co-ordinated by one of the most distinguished and prolific writers and researchers into the history of medicine. Editor: Roy Porter Publisher: Cambridge University Press Price: £19.95 |
ISBN 0 521 79430 7 | Written with style, imagination and insight, and packed with interesting illustrations, this authoritative book traces the development through the ages of plays and playwriting, forms of staging, the acting profession and the role of the actor. From satire and burlesque to melodrama and pantomime, this is a major history of British theatre from the earliest times to the present day. Author: Simon Trussler Publisher: Cambridge University Press Price: £19.95 |
ISBN 0 521 79432 3 | The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany presents a richly illustrated, integrated, chronological account of German history from Charlemagne to the modern era. Martin Kitchen focuses particularly on the German people. In this way he illuminates and puts into perspective the country's political history, from its origins as a collection of small, German-speaking states to its present-day status as a major European and world power. Author: Martin Kitchen Publisher: Cambridge University Press Price: £19.95 |
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