Education
on the Internet
Number
60: 5th March, 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 32,800
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
OFSTED:
Inspection data published by OFSTED recently shows that the percentage
of poor lessons seen in secondary schools has fallen over the past
four years. The data, based on inspections carried out since 1998,
shows that Information Technology is the least well-taught subject.
History teachers performed the best with only 2.1 percent of lessons
considered to be poor or unsatisfactory. This was followed by English
(2.3), Geography (3.0), Design & Technology (3.6), Art (4.1),
Mathematics (5.5), Music (6.7), Religious Education (7.3) and IT (8.5).
Google:
Last month Google acquired Blogger (see review below). In this article
Simon Waldman argues that Google is becoming to the Internet what
Microsoft is to the PC. As he points out, if you run a website and
you don't feature on Google you might as well not exist. "Countless
sites depend on it for referrals, countless users treat its search
results as gospel. That gives it incredible power: over businesses,
over the Internet as a whole and over the way millions of people see
the world. As it continues to improve and expand, and as no one has
yet offered anything that looks like a real rival, that power becomes
even greater."
Cybercafe
Search Engine: This website provides listings for more than 6,300
verified cybercafes, public Internet access points and kiosks in 169
countries. Results list the address of each cybercafe, and web site
URL and email address, if available. Also offers specialized search
function that let you limit results to public Internet kiosks, and
terminals cybercafes on cruise ships. Just select the search field
and then enter the name of the city or the state or country in which
you wish to locate.
Spring
Europe
Greece
and Spring Europe: So far 277 schools in Greece have signed up
for Spring Day in Europe. At the 8th Lyceum of Loannina they have
composed two songs about European Union with relative lyrics and in
association with some other European schools doing the same, they
intend to create a music album. In the Lyceum of Avlonari (a small
village near Athens) they have written a theatrical play about the
E.U. Its title “A neighborhood called Euronion” (European
Union). The pupils are going to play roles of the European countries,
problems, values etc. (just like Aristofanes wrote his comedies giving
human characteristics to cities, problems, values and the like).
Tolerance
and Prejudice: This WebQuest has been created by Janos Blasszauer,
a teacher in Hungary. The WebQuest allows the students to research
the topic and read stories. After that the students do one of the
suggested activities. Students also share their views on the discussion
board (blog), write their own story, fable etc., draw a piece of art
and save it (groupboard) or they might use an idea of their own. Students’
work will also be posted on the website.
Abraham
Darby School: Kim Neale of Abraham Darby School in Shrophire,
has arranged several events for Spring Day in Europe. The school has
invited an MP, an MEP, a member of the Board of Governors, and a vicar
to visit the school on 21st March. The vicar will bring his 11 sheepdogs.
Each of his dogs responds to a different language. For example he
speaks to one dog in German and the dog understands his instructions.
All of the dogs are able to count to 15 in their specific language.
Abraham Darby School will also be having a European food day and our
catering staff have agreed to help us with this. Finally, Kim Neale
is arranging a Videoconferencing day with schools from across the
world to debate the future of Europe.
History
Joseph
Stalin: Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Joseph Stalin.
It has been claimed that Saddam Hussein has a large library of books
on Stalin. Before he gained power in Iraq he told a friend: "When
we take over the government I'll turn this country into a Stalinist
state." However, as Jonathan Freedland points out in today's
Guardian, Stalin's greatest impact has been on the left. "Stalinism
and its excesses have seared into the human mind a scepticism about
all projects aimed at fundamental change. The fear is that any revolutionary
ambition for society will always end in disaster, that any goal larger
than gradual reform will lead to a bloodbath - and it is Stalin who
stands in the cold, unbudging precedent." This website provides
a detailed biography and a collection of primary sources on the life
and times of Joseph Stalin.
Quiz
on Spanish Civil War: Although some questions deal with internal
affairs, the quiz is mainly focused on the international dimension
of the Spanish Civil War: the different attitude of the great powers
at that time and the public opinion reaction to the Spanish conflict.
The Spanish Civil War is a good and early example of British appeasement
policy regarding Hitler’s aggressiveness, American isolationism
and France weakness and lack of resolution. Mussolini found a good
opportunity to follow his attempt of imposing an Italian hegemony
in the Mediterranean sea and Hitler had at his disposal a war to test
the German rearmament. Finally, the USSR played its role as world
workers’ motherland by giving military aid to the Republican
side and making the Comintern organise the International Brigades.
At the same, as George Orwell got to know, the NKVD brought to Spain
the secret and repressive tactics that Stalin was using in Russia
against all sort of opposition.
Design
and Technology
Design
and Tech: This
website provides links to over 400 sources of information on Design
and Technology. The material is organized under the headings: Resistant
Materials, Electronic Products, Textiles, Graphic Products, Systems
& Control and Food Technology. There is also a list of links to
schools with good Design and Technology websites. Students also have
the facility to send photographs of work produced in Design and Technology
lessons.
GCSE
Technology: Student visitors to this website are told: "The
biggest single reason for students choosing this option is that they
think it is easy. Think again! It is time consuming and demanding!"
However, the author has done what he can to make the subject more
accessible. There are excellent sections on Drawing Techniques, Anthropometry,
Materials, Fixtures & Fittings and Mechanisms.
Politics
Win
Without War: The Iraq War is already being fought out on the Internet.
Win Without War is a coalition of 32 national organizations that have
joined together to advocate alternatives to war in Iraq. This coalition
offers a mainstream, patriotic voice for engaging opinion makers,
activating concerned citizens, and communicating to policymakers and
the media. On 26th February it held a Virtual March on Washington
and as a result politicians in the United States received over a million
emails, phone calls and faxes about the proposed war.
Citizens
Against Celebrity Pundits: A large number of people involved in
the entertainment industry have over the last few weeks been arguing
against a pre-emptive strike on Iraq. This website has been launched
for for those American citizens who support President Bush and disapprove
of celebrities speaking out against the proposed war. It includes
links to pro-war articles and an online petition against celebrities
who they believe are "abusing their status" in opposing
the war.
Internet
Services
Singingfish:
Looking for audio or video files from across the web? Singingfish
is a multimedia search engine that helps you find audio or video files
from across the web. The company recently signed a deal to power audio-visual
searching in Microsoft's Windows Media Player client. The deal means
that Singingfish now provides the multimedia searching capabilities
for two of the web's largest digital media players and give the company
a dominance as a multimedia search provider.
Blogger:
Blogger is a web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly
- whenever the urge strikes. Blogger is the leading tool in the rapidly
growing area of web publishing known as weblogs, or "blogs."
A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated
posts that are arranged chronologically - like a what's new page or
a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly - from
links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea,
to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.
Blogger gives you a way to automate (and greatly accelerate) the blog
publishing process without writing any code or worrying about installing
any sort of server software or scripts.
Dave's
Quick Search Deskbar is a tiny textbox that Dave Bau designed
for search hounds with weary mouse-fingers. Unlike the Google Toolbar,
this little deskbar lets you launch searches without starting a web
browser first, directly from your Windows Explorer Taskbar. You type
your search and hit Enter for a regular Google search. Now you can
do searches no matter what you are doing (email, word processing,
programming, etc.). With this quick search bar you're not a captive
to Google. Do Yahoo searches, get Merriam-Webster definitions, get
Bloomberg stock quotes and find Switchboard phone numbers. There is
also a built in calculator. Click the button on the search bar or
press F1 and a menu shows you all your choices.
Googlebar:
The Google Toolbar was produced for Internet Explorer? The Googlebar
project was initially created to address the widespread desire in
the Mozilla community for the Google toolbar to support Netscape 7,
since many users of mozilla enjoy having all of Google's specialty
searches in one convenient location. The current release of Googlebar,
produced by Jonathan Mendelson, emulates all of the basic search functionality
of the toolbar, allowing users to easily access a number of specialty
searches from their browser, including: basic web search, site search,
the "I'm Feeling Lucky" search, groups, directory, image
search, and restricted searches in BSD, Linux, Mac, Microsoft, catalog,
news, and US government sites. Future plans call for the addition
of support for highlighting all keywords, uninstall, and preference
panel configurability for keyboard modifiers on a search.
Book
Section
American
Civil War Commanders: When the War Between the States broke out
in 1861, the US Army had only four line generals - and three of those
were over 70 years of age and veterans of the Napoleonic period. About
one in three of America's professional officers chose to serve the
Confederacy, and the government's urgent need to find commanders for
its vastly expanded army put stars on the shoulders of men of very
varied backgrounds and talents. The trials of war would soon separate
the born leaders from the over-promoted and the political opportunists.
This second volume devoted to Union generals examines the careers
and personalities of 25 commanders who fought in the war. (Philip
Katcher, Osprey Publishing, 1 84176 321 7, £10.99)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
