Education on the Internet
Number 5: 31st October, 2001
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 14,715 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
Multicultural Schools and the 11th September: In a recent article, Tim Brighouse, chief education officer for Birmingham, wrote: "We owe so much to staff in our schools. Daily they are providing examples of courageous leadership for our bewildered youngsters in the present terrifying crisis." He supports this opinion by giving examples of how teachers in multicultural schools in Birmingham are dealing with the impact of the events of 11th September.
Girls and ICT: A recent survey discovered that only 22% of the IT workforce is made up of women. This means that over the last seven years the proportion of women in IT has dropped by about 10%. Anne Cantello points out that there is evidence to suggest that it is the teaching of ICT in schools that is the main reason why girls are losing interest in the subject. She argues: "We need to make our children's experience of IT exciting, inspiring and challenging. We need to focus on the things that really interest them to both deliver the IT skills they need and increase interest in IT careers."
Rural Schools: Rachel Tompkins is president of the Rural School and Community Trust, a nonprofit educational organization "dedicated to improving student learning and community life by strengthening relationships between rural schools and communities and engaging students in community-based public work." An interview with Rachel Tompkins can be found in the Virtual Teachers' Lounge at the Education World website.
Charles Booth Online: This website is a searchable resource giving access to archive material on Charles Booth that is held by the British Library of Political and Economic Science. This includes the original records from Booth's survey into life and labour in London, dating from 1886-1903. There is also a guide written to encourage the use of the website in the teaching of history in schools.
Multicultural History: The impressive website provides links to a series of resources on multicultural history produced by the BBC to support television programmes such as Windrush, The Story of Africa and Trace Your Roots. There are biographies of William Cuffy, William Davidson, Olaudah Equiano, Marcus Garvey, Claudia Jones, Mary Seacole and Phillis Wheatley. There is also a selection of the best websites on Black History.
Black and Asian History: This Channel 4 website is a gateway to websites about black and Asian history across the British Isles. You can search for sites by location (via a map), time-line (via timeline) or subject (via the search facility). The website also includes support material that accompanied recent television programmes on black history.
English
Zuzu: On this website Beck Underwood's artwork provides a stimulus for creative writing. Children can submit their work for possible online publication. Subject categories includes science-fiction, holidays and animals. The website also contains sections on Mysterious Stories, Poetry, Courageous Kids, Neighborhood Reports, Virtual Vacations, Interviews and Broadway Reviews.
Kids' Space: Launched in May 1995, Kids' Space was established to break down cultural, religious, ethnic and racial barriers between children of the world by promoting cross-cultural collaboration in creative projects. The site now features creative writing from more than 150 countries. The website also includes Kids' Space Communication for communication activities, such as penpals.
Discovering Dickens: An interesting approach to the work of Charles Dickens that has been created by Lucy Davis of 'Schools of California Online'. The material has been produced to help students learn "more about the time and circumstances which influenced Dickens". Students have a choice of five different cases. Each case requires the student to visit several Internet sites that specialize in specific knowledge about Charles Dickens. Case One involves a look at the everyday life of Charles Dickens. Students visit two Internet sites 'Dickens' Home' and 'Dickens' House Museum' and are given assignments that involve them comparing their life with those of people living in 19th England. Case Three explores the links between Dicken's novels and his experiences of childhood poverty.
Mathematics
Convert It: A very useful website that enables visitors to convert from one unit of measurement to another. Options include Area, Capacity, Distance, Energy & Power, Temperature, Velocity/Speed, Volume and Weight/Mass.
Math League: The Math League website is dedicated to bringing challenging mathematics materials to students. The website specializes in competitions. The author claims that the website builds "student interest and confidence in mathematics through solving worthwhile problems." Over a million students participate in Math League contests each year and they are designed to cover a range of mathematical knowledge.
Maths Teaching Ideas: Mark Warner's excellent website has been created for the teachers and parents of primary-age children. The section on Maths includes lessons entitled Estimation, Puzzle Display, Beat the Teacher, Maths Dictionary, Detective Trail, High Noon, Maths Table Challenge, Division Problems, Times Tables Investigations, Rounding Numbers, Guess My Number, Number Patterns, Coordinates, Weighing Objects and Countdown.
Design & Technology
Design & Technology: Schemes of Work: The Standards Site is managed by the Department for Education and Employment's Standards and Effectiveness Unit (SEU). The main objective of the site is to supply teachers with "guidance and tools to help schools improve effectiveness, raise standards and reduce workload". This includes a large selection of schemes of work for Design & Technology.
Italian Lighting Designers: In this new addition to the Design and Technology Department the work of the classic Italian lighting designers Livio Pier Giacomo, Achille Castiglioni and Gianfraco Frattini is examined. Their work has been described as "Rationalism but at the same time possessing humour and a sculptural form". The three men designed such classic lights such as the 'Boalum lamp', the 'Luminator floor lamp' and the 'Arco floor lamp'. Amongst their product design achievements are the 'Mezzadro' (Sharecroppers stool) and the 'Sgabello per Telephono' (Telephone stool).
Science
EncycloZine: A website that describes itself as "a concise illustrated encyclopedia and a compendium of diversions". The science area includes sections on Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Cosmology, Physics, Nature of Scientific Method and the Philosophy of Science.
Adrian Dingle's Chemistry Pages: A multi award-winning site designed for UK and US high school chemistry students. It has content suitable for A Level & GCSE (UK) and Regular, Honors & Advanced Placement (US) courses. The site has downloadable notes, worksheets and labs. Updated several times a week with clear navigation and good design. The author is currently teaching in the US and has several years experience of teaching in the UK.
Eden Project: The Eden Project in Cornwall houses thousands of the world's plants under special domes, and since opening in March 2001, has attracted more than a million visitors. The official website is disappointing but a team at Learn have produced an impressive educational micro-site for the project aimed at both children and teachers.
Geography
Internet Geography: An excellent website produced by Anthony Bennett for those teaching or studying Geography. Topics covered include Environmental Problems, Coasts, Earthquakes, Ecosystems, Glaciation, Limestone, Plate Tectonics, Rivers, Volcanoes, Weather, National Parks, Land Use, Migration, Urbanization, Employment Structures, Industry and Population.
The Met Office: The Met Office provides the latest information on the world's weather. It now also has a Curriculum Learning Centre that includes worksheets and classroom activities, leaflets to download and a "Did you know?" section. There is also a Teacher Training Centre that claims to help "to teach the curriculum effectively - in areas like the atmosphere, fronts and clouds". It also includes a bibliography and suggested essay questions.
Modern Languages
Harry Potter in German: A German website dedicated to J. K. Rowling's hero, Harry Potter. It provides information on characters (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Hagrid, Albus Dumbledore and Daco Malfoy) and locations (Hogwarts, Privet Drive, Diagon Alley, Gringotts and Hogsmeade) used in the books. The website also has summaries of each book and provides links to press articles on the work of J. K. Rowling.
Erlebniswelt: Students can use this website to test out their knowledge of the German language. The website includes sections on general knowledge, geography, history, science and nature. It also provides reports on the week's news stories in German.
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.
