Education
on the Internet
Number
59: 26th February, 2003
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 33,526
subscribers to the newsletter.
All
reviews are added to our web
directory. There are sections on Internet
Services,
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
Lovegate:
Another mass mailing email worm began spreading across the Internet
yesterday. Lovegate normally arrives as an email with an infectious
.exe attachment. Apart form the mass mailing functionality this worm
can spread through windows shares and steal users' passwords. It also
has backdoor capabilities listening in the port 10168, allowing the
attacker to perform different actions on the infected machine. The
worm has its own SMTP engine and connects to the host smtp.163.com
to deliver its messages. Users,
whether in business or at home, may want to update their AV signature
files to detect the virus, which is spreading fast.
Spring
Europe: Around 100 national and European public figures will visit
schools on 21 March 2003 for Spring Day in Europe, an event for pupils
to have their say on the future of Europe. They will take part in
debates and other activities with pupils. Every school in Europe is
invited to take part in Spring Day in Europe and over 2,900 schools
have already registered. Spring Day in Europe is an initiative of
Convention colleagues Commissioner Michel Barnier, Giorgios Katiforis
MEP, Olivier Duhamel MEP and Ana Palacio, the Spanish Foreign Minister.
A number of their colleagues from the Convention, Commission and national
and European parliaments have committed to go back to school on 21
March. These include Jorge Sampaio, the President of Portugal, who
will be visiting Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho secondary school
in Lisbon. Four of Michel Barnier's fellow Commissioners, Viviane
Reding, António Vitorino, Pascal Lamy and Ana Diamantopoulou,
will also be meeting pupils in schools on the 21 March. Viviane Reding,
Commissioner for Education and Culture, said "nothing can replace
a direct exchange of views between politicians and students."
Broadband:
Another 20 exchanges are to be converted to ADSL during May as part
of BT's ongoing scheme to respond to hotspots of demand for broadband.
So far, 23 exchanges have been converted to ADSL as part of BT's pre-registration
scheme. A further 135 are currently being upgraded. The following
are all due to be converted to ADSL during May: Brixworth, Goole,
Sleaford, Newtown, New Mills, Halstead, Thirsk, Alresford, Liphook,
Horseley Fields, Galashiels, North Shore, Totnes, Wargrave, Oakham,
Headley Down, Southwell, Tavistock, Irvine and Loose.
History
Medieval
Pilgrimage Project: Undertaking a pilgrimage was one of the rare
occasions that allowed the peoples of medieval Europe to experience
communities different to their own. Pilgrimage was perhaps the first
truly European experience. In this European Virtual School project
students across Europe will be invited explore the pilgrimage traditions
of their own communities and to share their research with a wider
European learning community.
Jean
Monnet and European History: European integration process is usually
taught at schools as an isolated process, what turns this subject
into a quite juridical and unattractive lesson in History curricula.
Students should learn EU history as a process immersed into general
World and Europe history. Jean Monnet was undoubtedly one of the main
founders of the European Union. By tracing Monnet's life, students
investigate the main events of European history, from the First World
War to the birth and first enlargement of the EU.
Mathematics
Mathematical
Puzzles: The puzzles presented here are selected for the deceptive
simplicity of their statement, or the elegance of their solution.
They range over geometry, probability, number theory, algebra, calculus,
and logic. All require a certain ingenuity, but only pre-college math.
Some puzzles are original. Explaining how an answer is arrived at
is more important than the answer itself. To this end, hints, answers,
and fully worked solutions are provided, as well as links to relevant
mathematical topics. The puzzles are intended to be fun, with an educational
element.
ThinkQuest:
The ThinkQuest library contains unique educational web sites that
have been created through ThinkQuest competitions and programs. The
library currently contains more than 5,000 web sites to search and
surf. The Mathematics section include sections on: Geometry, Chaos
Theory, Fractals, Calculus, Algebra, Trigonometry, Arithmetic, Puzzles,
Cryptography, Statistics, History, Probability, Real Life Uses, Olympiads
and Pre-Calculus.
Science
Science
Active: This award winning site for Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 students
is easy to navigate and has appropriate, accurate content. The emphasis
is chemistry within the curriculum. Key stage 3 builds on the investigation
work students see at KS 2 and explores solids, liquids and gases and
changing states. Key Stage 4 has as its focus atomic structure and
bonding. On line style lesson and downloadable multimedia features
make this a complete package. Support materials for AS and A2 Chemistry
are identified. Most usefully these are related to specific topic
areas. In addition to this resources and download pages provide access
to games, quizzes and other interactive learning experiences.
Shedd
Educational Adventures (SEA) contains a treasure trove of aquatic
science resources for teachers and students. SEA brings the Philippines
to life for your students with fact sheets and multimedia interactives
based on the Wild Reef exhibit at Shedd Aquarium. Help Squish the
Fish find lunch. Build a fish and try to survive on the reef. Solve
a mystery in the Philippines. Research seahorse conservation. Plus
lesson plans, fact sheets about plants, animals and culture.
Politics
Amnesty
International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to
promote internationally recognized human rights. Amnesty International's
vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human
rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other international human rights standards. Its mission is to undertake
research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses
of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience
and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context
of our work to promote all human rights. The Amnesty International
website includes recent information on human rights in Iraq, Russia,
Turkey, Spain, Honduras, Sudan and Venezuela.
George
Bush and Winston Churchill: People often look back in history
for help when they are trying to make sense of current problems. In
recent weeks politicians have been comparing the situation in Iraq
with other events in history. Important figures in the unfolding drama
have been compared to past political leaders. Saddam Hussein has been
described as a new Adolf Hitler and George Bush has been portrayed
as acting like Winston Churchill. In this activity students given
the chance to compare George Bush with political leaders from the
past.
Modern
Foreign Languages
Quiz
Machine: Who Wants To Learn French Vocabulary? is a free piece
of software that you can download and play at home as often as you
like. It's essentially a Quiz Machine program based upon the familiar
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" format but instead of general
knowledge questions, all of the questions are designed to help you
learn French via words and pictures. It comes with a complete quiz
for you to start with and you can download additional quizzes from
the website when they appear.
Primary
Education
BrainPOP
is the leading producer of educational animated movies for students.
The company creates original animated movies to explain concepts in
a voice and visual style that is accessible, educational and entertaining
for both children and adults. BrainPOP movies attempt to demystify
Math, Science, Health, Technology and English topics.
FunBrain:
A collection of online educational games. Most popular games at the
moment include Math Baseball, Stay Afloat, Tic Tac Toe Squares, Grammar
Gorillas, Fun March, Dare to be a Square, MathCar Racing, Where is
That?, Connect the Dots and One False Move.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
