Education
on the Internet
Number
45: 20th November 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 29,180
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
Spring
Day in Europe: The European Convention, with representatives from
28 countries, is discussing the future of Europe. Spring Day in Europe
is an event organised to bring this debate right into schools - your
class can take part. Every secondary school in Europe is invited to
join in. At a time when important decisions need to be made about
the future of Europe, it is an opportunity for pupils to learn, discuss,
and have their say on the European issues they care about. Schools
can decide exactly how and to what extent they participate; organise
a debate in the school, invite an expert on European issues to speak,
or join with other schools to exchange views on the future of Europe.
The Spring Day in Europe website will help with activities, ideas
and tools for teachers.
Comenius
Space: Comenius is is a European action programme to encourage
schools to collaborate across borders. Comenius projects can improve
professional skills, knowledge of culture and languages, and innovation
in teaching. Comenius Space is a site for teachers and trainers active
in Comenius projects and for those that would like to join. On the
website you can find services, people, experts, and advisors that
can help set up an international project. Comenius Space is available
in English, French and German.
World
Wide Wales: Officially launched this summer and created and produced
by New Media Magic Ltd, a media company based in Ebbw Vale, is a very
large, unique and innovative project which creates and presents short
programmes about the history, culture, geography and people of Wales.
It is created using Macromedia’s Flash technology for narrowband
distribution, and is presented on the Internet via an easily accessible
website. With over 100 individual programmes already on the site this
will be one of the largest audio-visual sites on the web. The programmes
are divided into a number of different categories, which include towns,
biographies and heritage sites. As well as the programmes themselves,
there are quizzes, collages and jigsaws to involve the viewer during
the initial pre-load of the programme content. Each programme can
be viewed with or without subtitles for the benefit of those who are
hard of hearing or whose computers do not have speakers installed.
Internet
Services
WebQuest:
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of
the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests
are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information
rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the
levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The model was developed
in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom
March. The website provides training materials and a large collection
of WebQuests.
Filamentality:
This website, created by SBC Pacific Bell, helps teachers create and
post a web-based learning page. You don't need to know any HTML and
you can go back and edit it at any time. Filamentality helps you pick
a topic, provides web searching tips, lets you use "fill-in-the-blanks"
to gather good Internet sites, guides you with interactive pages that
help you shape your ideas around whatever specific goal you have,
and then, gives you your very own web page on the Internet.
edu@guardian:
Richard Doughty's edu@guardian is always full of useful information
for teachers. In the edition published yesterday, John Davitt provides
some advice on how to stop students from copying work from the Internet
and handling it in as their own. As well as making use of the autocommand
in Word (tools menu) Davitt suggests asking the students to turn the
text into a one-minute talk. The Guardian supplement also includes
articles on digital video, ICT and exam results, virtual learning
in Scotland and tablet computers.
Modern
Languages
Vacation
to France: This WebQuest for students of French was created by
Lee Kirby of the University of Richmond. The student is told that
the family has decided to take a trip to France. The problem is that
each one of you has different interests and likes so you must make
an itinerary that fits all of your interests and needs. Once you are
in France you have to visit all of these fun and exciting places and
bring back information and pictures for a scrapbook.
Graham
Davies's Favourite Websites: An annotated list of hundreds of
websites for Modern Foreign Languages, compiled by Graham Davies,
including links to authentic materials, school and university site,
sites offering interactive exercises, and sites from which classroom
materials can be downloaded - plus a few entertaining links with a
linguistic focus. This page also includes links to a number of articles
on MFL/ICT written by Graham Davies.
Art
PapaInk
Children's Art Archive is a non-profit organization dedicated
to the art of youth. PapaInk's activities encompass the exhibition
of works by young artists, the archiving of historically significant
children's art collections and the building of communities that support
children's creative endeavors. Through open archival access, PapaInk
seeks to "grow the audience for children's art and reinject the
creative spirit of young people into human experience."
Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec: Despite his notoriously dissipated lifestyle,
Toulouse-Lautrec was a dedicated craftsman. His work, with its bold
and arresting forms, was one of the most important influences in gaining
acceptance for both lithography and the poster as major art forms.
This website, run by the San Diego Museum of Art, enables you to look
at this large collection of Toulouse-Lautrec's posters.
Design
& Technology
Design
And Technology On The Web
is a growing resource of material for students at KS3, KS4 and KS5
in a variety of the strands of study. Resistant Materials, Graphic
Products, Systems & Control ( Electronics), Industrial products
(Engineering), Drawing Conventions, Textiles and Food - and A-Level
topics are all included. The KS3 material covers a variety of topics
and projects that are common to many schools. A site Search facility
and an A-Z section allows most topics to be found quickly - or the
structure allows and entertaining degree of exploration.
Primary
Design & Technology:
This website is produced by the Nuffield Foundation Design & Technology
Project. On the website you'll find information about the Project,
examples of pupils' work, classroom materials to download and other
resources for teachers. Free computer control materials will soon
to be available from this site.
Media
Studies
Pathe
News: Seven years ago the publishers of the Daily Mail spent more
than £10 million for the film library of British Pathe. The
3,500 hours of material covers news, sport, social history and entertainment
from 1896 to 1970. The entire archive, including its pictures of the
Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II, the explosion of the Hindenberg airship
and the declaration of war in 1939, has been digitised, with the help
of £1 million from the National Lottery's New Opportunities
Fund. This material can now be searched online and downloaded from
the Pathe News website.
Newsroom:
The Newsroom, Archive and Visitor Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London
preserves and promotes the histories and values of the Guardian and
the Observer through archive, education and exhibitions. School parties
are invited to spend a day at the Newsroom to find out what it is
like to be a reporter and editor. Students get the opportunity to
get involved in everything from researching, writing, editing to creating
headlines and selecting and captioning photographs.
Advertising
The
Insurance Centre is a central location for online quotes offering
a unique service and genuine impartial advice. Home Insurance: Why
submit your details to one company when we can submit them to ten
of the leading providers. Whether you just want buildings or contents,
or a combined policy to cover both, we can quickly search and find
the right policy for you. Motor Insurance: Are you paying too much?
The Insurance Centre's unique quotation system can access over 450
policies from the UK's most respected and competitive insurance providers,
saving you time and money.
Book
Section
Politics
on Trial: Five Famous Trials of the 20th Century: William Kunstler,
champion of civil liberties and human rights, reflects on five famous
examples in which ordinary citizens were targeted for the colour of
their skin or the views they held. The political trials presented
include those of Nicola Sacco and Bartomoleo Vanzetti (Italian immigrant
anarchists accused of murder): Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (communists
executed for espionage); John Thomas Scopes (convicted of teaching
evolution); and the Scottsboro boys (nine young African Americans
falsely accused of rape). In the current atmosphere of fear being
whipped up as part of the "war on terrorism" and the framing
of political debate in terms of, "good versus evil", these
cases seem more resonant than ever. (William Kunster,
Ocean Books, £7.95)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
