Education
on the Internet
Number
41: 23rd October 2002
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 27,850
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
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
News
and Articles
Eteach
is the largest interactive database of teaching jobs in the UK, with
hundreds of new teaching vacancies posted on the site each week. Join
Eteach for free to search for jobs, hear about the latest jobs by
email, post your CV and apply for jobs online. The site also enables
schools to find you by matching their vacancies to relevant CVs on
the site. In addition, Eteach brings you help and advice on looking
for a job, the latest education news and an online Staffroom where
you can contact other education professionals.
MIT
OpenCourseWare reflects the commitment of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology faculty to advancing education by increasing access
to their academic materials through the Internet and the World Wide
Web. MIT hopes that by promoting the idea of openly sharing course
materials it will inspire other institutions and help create a global
web of knowledge that will enhance the quality of learning worldwide.
The OCW pilot has now been made available to the public
for review and feedback.
McGraw-Hill
Survey: An independent survey sponsored by McGraw-Hill Ryerson
found that web-based technology is considered by higher education
faculty to be the most effective institutional resource in encouraging
student success, outweighing traditional resources such as the library
and tutoring. Following three years of data collection at U.S. and
Canadian Colleges and Universities, the survey confirms that 83% of
higher education faculty members are almost unanimous in their opinion
that web-based technology is a key contributor to student success.
The survey revealed that presently 62% of faculty use web content
for course preparation, 56% use the web to supplement textbooks and
51% use the web to ensure up-to-date course content.
History
Tom
Mooney: In
a survey carried out in Europe in 1935 and it was discovered that
the four best known Americans were Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles
A. Lindbergh, Tom Mooney and Henry Ford.
The reason that Tom Mooney was on this list was because at the time
there was an international campaign to get him freed from San Quentin
Prison. Mooney had been convicted of throwing a bomb into the midst
of a military parade in San Francisco during the First World War.
He was sentenced to death but in 1918 this was commuted to life imprisonment.
By this time the American government knew the truth about the case
as the Secretary of Labor, William Bauchop Wilson, had arranged for
a dictaphone to be installed in the private office of the District
Attorney in San Francisco and had discovered that Mooney had been
framed. Despite this information being reported in the national press,
Mooney was not released from prison until Culbert Olson became Governor
of California in 1939. This website provides biographies of all the
main characters involved in this tragic case.
Megalithic
Map: This website allows you to find megalithic and prehistoric
sites in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The map is divided
into sections that users may click upon to obtain more specific information.
After clicking on a particular section, users will be directed to
another interactive map containing detailed information about each
particular megalith in the region, accompanied by information about
the closest village and other relevant geographical details.
Science
Science
Teaching: How do websites help students to learn and the teacher
to teach? Drawing on the experience of teaching Biology and Science
in a laptop school this account by David Faure outlines ways of successfully
incorporating websites into lessons. The material is organized under
the sections: Magic Moments, Curriculum Enhancement, Reward and Revision,
Display Pages and Hypothesis Research.
El
Niño: This award-winning site contains comprehensive information
on the past and present impact of El Niño on the climate of
Canada and its effects on the global climate. Through animation, this
website shows the changes in the Canadian climate and climatic extremes
that accompany El Niño. A scientific explanation of the El
Niño phenomenon, comparisons between various El Niños
and forecast of El Niño are also provided.
Politics
Noam
Chomsky Archive: This website contains articles, interviews, essays,
and other materials related to American dissident Noam Chomsky. As
a member of various popular movements, and a long-time professor of
linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chomsky
writes and speaks frequently on a variety of social and political
issues.
American
Experience: Jimmy Carter: This website by PBS has been created
to support the recently produced documentary about his life and provides
a good introduction to this global humanitarian and peace maker. There
is a transcript of the documentary, a timeline, photo gallery and
an essay on President Carter's many contributions to humankind in
the twenty years since he left the presidency.
Religious
Studies
World
Minorities Alliance was conceived 25 years back with a view to
bringing all religious minorities of the world at one platform. The
objective was to promote world peace through ending inter-community
hatred, prejudices and bias. The five point agenda of Alliance which
is now being thrown open for discussion at the forthcoming international
conference was aimed at economic, social and political uplift of minorities
which are generally backward and downtrodden in many countries.
American
Jewish Historical Society: The mission of the American Jewish
Historical Society (AJHS) is to foster awareness and appreciation
of the American Jewish past and to serve as a national scholarly resource
for research through the collection, preservation and dissemination
of materials relating to American Jewish history. The Society tells
the story of American Jewry through its distinguished quarterly journal,
American Jewish History, as well as through other publications, exhibitions,
lectures, symposia and public programs.
Media
Studies
Z
MAGAZINE is an
independent monthly of critical thinking on political, cultural, social,
and economic life in the United States. Z Magazine is available in
print and online. The online system, updated monthly, reproduces the
print version of the magazine. The current edition includes articles
on Corporate Globalization (Raymond Ker), The Next Arms Race (James
John Bell) and Palestine: Ethnic Cleansing By Starvation (Rania Awwad).
FAIR
is a United States media watch group and has been offering well-documented
criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. The organization
argues for greater diversity in the press and scrutinizes media practices
that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints.
Fair is an anti-censorship organization that attempts to expose neglected
news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled.
Book
Section
Art
of the Andes: This wide-ranging survey has established itself
as the best single-volume introduction to Andean art and architecture.
Now fully revised, it describes the strikingly varied artistic achievements
of the Chavin, Paracas, Moche, Chimu and Inca cultures, among others.
Their impressive cities, tall pyramids, shining goldwork and intricate
textiles constitute one of the greatest artistic traditions in history.
For this revised edition, Rebecca Stone-Miller has added new material
covering the earliest mummification in the world at Chinchorros, wonderful
new Moche murals and architectural reconstructions, the latest finds
from the Chachapoyas culture, and a greater emphasis on shamanism.
Throughout, Stone-Miller demonstrates how the Andean peoples adapted
and refined their aesthetic response to an extremely inhospitable
environment. (Rebecca
Stone-Miller, Thames & Hudson, £8.95)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
