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.
Size
of World Wide Web:
There are now some 8.4 million web sites according to researchers
at the Online Computer Library Center. Of these, only 3.1 are classified
as public sites (i.e. a site that offers content that is freely accessible
to the general public). The the web's growth has slowed markedly when
compared to previous years. The growth from 2000 to 2001 was only
18 per cent whereas from 1999 to 2000 it was 53 per cent. The vast
majority of web sites are written in English (73 per cent). Next comes
German (7 per cent), Japanese (5 per cent) French (3 per cent) and
Spanish (3 per cent).
Students
and the Internet:
Students returning to university after the summer vacation dramatically
increased web traffic according to research carried out by Networks
and Diameter, a division of DoubleClick. A surge of 45% in the college-based
Web audience drove a 2.3% increase in total U.S. Web users to 129
million from July to August, virtually restoring the domestic audience
to its pre-summer level.
Teacher
Shortage in Britain: A report published by Alan Smithers and Pamela
Robinson of Liverpool University for the National Union of Teachers
last week suggests that the government is failing to halt the haemorrhage
of staff from schools. The report points out that last year 26,000
teachers quit without pensions. Even more concerning is that recently
published figures suggest that the government is spending £100
million a year on training teachers who leave the profession within
three years. The Smithers-Robinson report points out that of every
100 trainee teachers, 12 did not complete their course, 29 did not
go into teaching after completing their training, and 11 left within
three years. The most common reasons given for leaving the profession
were workload, pupil behaviour, and government initiatives.
History
Public
Record Office: A2A: A2A is the English strand in the UK archives
network and will make 8 million catalogue entries for archives dating
from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries and held in national,
local and specialist archives available on the Internet by March 2002.
The website now contains almost 1.3 million records (catalogue entries)
describing archives held in 100 record offices and other institutions
across England - catalogue entries which may now be searched and browsed
together via A2A's single database. Information added on 26 October
includes catalogues to the papers of the British Prime Ministers Andrew
Bonar Law and David Lloyd George, and to those of other political
figures, provided by the 'Political Archives Consortium'; the extensive
archive of original Acts of Parliament dating from 1497 to the 1990s,
held at the House of Lords Record Office; and further catalogues from
the 'London Archives on the Wider World' project: including sources
for the history of medicine held at the Wellcome Library for the History
and Understanding of Medicine, papers of military figures at the Imperial
War Museum, and archives of exploration held by the Royal Geographical
Society. Further finding aids relating to family and estate archives
held in the South East of England have also been added by the 'From
Landlord to Labourer' project, as have catalogues relating to the
archives of Quarter Sessions and Petty Sessions courts and a range
of other records.
Fall
of Saigon Stories: A website created by Marianne Brems, a teacher
of Vietnamese students at Mission College, Santa Clara, California.
In the spring of 1995 Brems began collecting first-hand accounts of
people who experienced the fall of Saigon to the Vietcong in April,
1975. As Marianne Brems points out in her introduction: "Many
of my Vietnamese students at Mission College experienced first hand
the deprivation, humiliation, and fear associated with losing their
government, their way of life, and their freedom." The website
includes eighteen narratives and a list of other websites that deal
with the fall of Saigon.
The
Probert Encyclopaedia:
This website is the work of Matt Probert. The Probert Encyclopedia
is a reference with over 90,000 linked entries and over 3,600 illustrations,
addressing every aspect of life, from the ordinary to the obscure.
The encyclopedia covers the entire spectrum of human knowledge and
is aimed primarily at students, journalists and researchers. For history
students there are sections on Weapons and Warfare, Ships, Aircraft,
Architecture, People, and Heraldry.
English
Free
Resources for English Teaching (FRET): This website provides free,
printable resources, lesson plans and schemes of work for teachers
of English language and literature at secondary level. Taking the
strain out of your job so that you don't need to ... um ... fret!
The site is organised according to the National Curriculum Orders
for English covering reading, (poetry, prose, drama, media, non-fiction)
writing and speaking / listening in the relevant key stages so just
think of FRET as your online, Departmental filing cabinet. Contributions
also welcome.
Native
American Stories: A website that features stories from native
American tribes, which include contemporary, humorous, tragic, and
older 19th century narratives about traditional tribal lifeways. There
are also traditional stories, myths, legends, tall tales and teaching
stories. The website, produced by Paula Giese, also includes a collection
of biographies of late 19th and early 20th century authors.
19th
Century British and Irish Authors:
This is a gateway
site that lists all the known websites on 19th century British and
Irish authors. The full list is over twenty pages long (it is constantly
being updated). For regular visitors there is a 'What's New?' section.
The authors are listed in chronological order. This is a good starting
point for anyone carrying out research into 19th century writers.
Mathematics
GCSE
Maths: GCSE Guide is a site developed specifically for students
and for those wanting help with GCSE level exams. It has been created
in a simple way, with a very wide range of content that enables quick
and valuable usage. The site is wholly free to use and is frequently
used by teachers, pupils, college students and professors from all
around the world. The site includes a Maths section with every topic
necessary for GCSE level exams, coursework advice and practise papers
with answers. Finally there is also a Bookshop where carefully selected
texts have been added to give that extra bit of help.
Mathematics
Problem Solving Task Centre: The
PSTC website, based in Victoria, Australia, provides a database of
problem solving activities. The tasks are listed under Lower/Middle
Primary, Upper Primary/Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary. Teachers
and students submit the problems and their email address enables participants
to discuss their solutions, answers, queries, etc. Other features
of the site include: Problem of the Month, Past Problems of the Month,
Problem Solving Strategies and Links to Other Problem Solving Sites.
Modern
Languages
Your
Dictionary is the most comprehensive and authoritative portal
for language and language-related products and services on the web
with more than 1800 dictionaries and grammars representing some 300
different languages. 1,500,000 people a month visit Your Dictionary.
The website offers access to free, on-line language resources and
tapes, CDs, videos and books for off-line use. It also offers a "Linguistic
Fun" page where you may write your name in a host of languages
or Postmodernist scholarly articles with the click of a mouse. The
game room contains 60 different kinds of word games, including special
games that help the 60,000 subscribers to its amusing and insightful
"Word of the Day" feature maintain that vocabulary. The
library shows that the website rests on solid knowledge of languages
with its entertaining articles written by the 24 member Advisory Council
of Experts, professors at the leading universities around the world.
There is also a section on the preservation of endangered languages
and special features, such as the set of glossaries on current events
featured this month.
Español
LearnPlus: The
Español LearnPlus is an online Spanish language course for
those with little or no background in the language. The 15 lesson
course teaches conversational skills, pronunciation, grammatical concepts,
through drills, practice, exercises and role-plays. Español
Learnplus claims that after the completion of the course the student
should be able to "manipulate basic conversational skills: for
example, you will be able to ask for directions, place an order in
a restaurant, buy a ticket at a train station and communicate with
a Spanish speaker on an elementary level".
Science
The
Great Plant Escape: Schools Online is a web site packed full of
imaginative curricula and teaching ideas from the professionals at
University of Illinois Extension. It's sites include The Great Plant
Escape that teaches students the great mysteries of plant life. Case
by case the students will check the clues, try experiments and solve
problems as Bud and Sprout journey into the world of plants. Students
learn the basics of composting, germination, seeds and soils.
Exploring
the Environment: This website places cooperatively grouped students
into problem-solving roles requiring them to conduct research and
generate a proposed solution. The problem sets, which deal with environmental
issues, engage students in such matters as population growth, biodiversity,
land use patterns, water pollution, and global warming. Online information
provides students with problem-solving guides, problem-specific background
material, links to other resources via the World Wide Web (WWW), and
access to NASA's database of Earth Science satellite images. Teacher
materials provide information concerning specific content, cooperative
learning, problem-based learning, and assessment.
Evolution:
This website has
been written and designed by the staff of Berkeley University in California.
There is information on twenty-five scientists involved in the development
of the evolution theory. These scientists are listed under four different
categories: 'Founders of Natural Science', 'Great Naturalists of the
18th Century', Preludes to Evolution' and 'Natural Selection and Beyond'.
The subject is also looked at through three topics: 'Systematics:
The Study of Phylogeny and Classification', 'Dinosaur Discoveries:
Findings and Early Interpretations' and 'Vertebrate Flight: A Case
Study in Convergent Evolution'.
Geography
Earthquake
Kid Zone: The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) operates
a web site that includes a quiz, crossword puzzle, word search games
(for preparedness kits for cars, earthquake terms, and tsunamis),
and answers to common earthquake questions for kids. The earthquake
site as a whole focuses on mitigation of earthquake hazards through
preparedness planning, particularly for traffic disruptions, and mitigation,
particularly for housing. It offers maps identifying shaking, liquefaction,
and dam failure hazards focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area. ABAG
is the regional planning agency for the San Francisco Bay Area and
is owned and operated by the cities and counties in that area. ABAG's
Earthquake Program has received funding from the National Science
Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Federal Aviation Administration, California Department of Transportation,
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and others.
Interactive
Atlas: Multi Media Mapping have created an interactive atlas of
Great Britain. Students find the town or village they are interested
in by clicking on a map or by typing in the name or postcode. Each
map has a scale indicator and you can zoom in and out as you please.
Once you have arrived at your destination you can get details of the
local weather and find out what the forecast is for the following
day. Other features include a list of local information sites and
interesting places to visit in the area.
Infoplease:
World Statistics: Information
Please has been producing almanac publications and reference databases
in the United States for over fifty years. This information has now
been placed on the Internet. Infoplease World Statistics enables students
to compare data from different countries. The website provide information
on population, unemployment, marriage, divorce, abortion, infant mortality,
life expectancy, birth-rate, ownership of household appliances, GDP,
exchange-rates and contraceptive use. Also sections on Worldwide Armed
Conflicts and Counties with Nuclear Weapons Capability.
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.
