Education on the Internet
Number 68: 30th April, 2003
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 34,610 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
eSchola: The European Schoolnet eLearning Awards are aimed at teachers and schools to reward projects, activities, online resources and school websites for innovation and excellent use of ICT in learning and teaching. There is a main eLearning Award category and a number of Special Awards. Last year around 760 projects from schools in 30 different countries were submitted. Representatives from the 20 winning projects attended a ceremony in Stockholm, where a total of €38,000 was awarded in the presence of education experts from around the world.
Proxy-Guzu: The success of the increasingly effective anti-spam efforts, senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail are now using Trojan horses to turn the computers of innocent people into secret spam senders. Margie Arbon, director of operations of anti-spam group MAPS argues that "This is the newest delivery mechanism... They're carrying their own SMTP engines. Failing that, they install open proxy software." One of these programs is called Proxy-Guzu. When executed by an unwitting user the Trojan listens on a randomly-chosen port and uses its own built-in mail client to send off a message to a Hotmail account, putting the port number and victim's IP address in the subject line. The spammer can then send as much e-mail as he or she likes through the captured computer, knowing that any efforts to trace the source of the spam will end at the victim's Internet address.
Multimedia Olympic Games: In Melfi, Italy, 120 pupils from 80 high schools competed in the Multimedia Olympic Games. The theme of the competition was "Global outlook: how do you feel about the future?". Pupils had to produce a website following these instructions: "Starting from a specific economic, scientific or political point of view, leave behind the present day with its troubles and opportunities and imagine a (positive or negative) scenario for the near future." The first and second prizewinning projects examined the theory of the butterfly effect. When a butterfly flaps its wings, it makes a small air current that could be amplified into a large current that could eventually cause a hurricane. The theory illustrates that a small change can be affected by chaotic factors (for example, wind or temperature) to make it a force for large changes.
EuroDesk is a Europe wide network providing information on EU funding and mobility opportunities for young people and those who work with them. You can search the EuroDesk online database using keywords to find appropriate European programmes, contacts and documentation. the EuroDesk website provides information on over 150 funding programmes.
History
Home Front: During the Second World War a school teacher in England was imprisoned for "advancing defeatist theories" to his pupils. This is one of the interesting facts included in this online simulation on the Home Front. In the lesson the students have to imagine they are living in Britain in December 1941. The students are the asked to write a report on one aspect of government policy (evacuation, rationing, refugees, etc.). Every student has to report back to the class about the topic he or she has investigated. They then provide a report on what has been happening in their assigned area since the outbreak of the war. The student then has to make proposals about the changes they would like to see in government policy. These proposals are then discussed and voted on by the rest of the class.
Sisters of Resistance: This PBS film chronicles the heroism and lifelong friendships of four young non-Jewish women who were imprisoned in concentration camps during the Second World War for their resistance to the Nazi occupation of France. On the accompanying website you can follow the lives of the four brave women highlighted in the film from just before the war until liberation. You can also go deeper into the fascinating stories of French Resistance heroes Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz, Jacqueline Pery d'Alincourt, Anise Postel-Vinay and Germaine Tillion, in this untold story of the Holocaust.
English
Twelfth Night Revision: This website provides basic overviews of each act of Twelfth Night. There are also quizzes on each act, the plot and individual characters. The website also features a collection of interactive games and exercises on Twelfth Night including Shakespeare's Accident (Act III, Scene 1), Shakespeare Shootout, Shakespeare Hoop Shoot, Walk the Plank and Fling the Teacher.
Nada's ESL Island: Free resources for English/ESL teachers and students. A handful of organized links, online materials, worksheets, rubrics, lesson and unit plans. Tests & quizzes, online exercises, in addition to a plethora of tips and techniques for teaching. Nada Abi Samra, teacher at the American Community School, Beirut and Saint Joseph University, Lebanon, created the content and maintains the website.
Art
Leonardo da Vinci: Even though he did not finish many of his paintings, you could not call Leonardo DA Vinci lazy. In his lifetime, he worked as an artist, scientist, architect and inventor. He painted the world’s most famous painting and designed flying machines hundreds of years before anyone got round to building them. This BBC website on Leonardo DA Vinci provides a detailed biography with examples of his paintings.
Teacher Resource Exchange: This website is designed to help teachers develop and share ideas for activities and resources. Contributions take the form of simple ideas and questions, to complete lesson plans or schemes of work, which will enable other teachers to use these resources within their own lessons. This section covers Art. You can browse and download resources without registering. You will, however, need to register if you would like to submit new resources and add comments or materials to existing resources.
Modern Languages
Philippe Tassel: "A snake from under the skin" is the English version of a scary story in French (for children of 8 and over) called "Un serpent dans la peau", written by Philippe Tassel, a Parisian Primary teacher. "Life is so unfair! Peter takes action to live in his own world thanks to a mysterious book. But nothing goes according to plan..." This story is made up of five short chapters.
Crickhowell High MFL: This website, created and maintained by Marie-France Stevens, provides Hot Potatoes interactive exercises for all Secondary Key Stages, links, information about the Crickhowell High Modern Foreign Language Department and a news page. Marie-France Stevens plans to add forms, functions and database access to the site in order to make it more user friendly.
Mass Media
History On The Radio: Beginning in the 1930's and into the early 1960's, radio was the dominant means of communication, featuring entertainment such as comedy, detective shows and tales of the Old West. It also provided a popular means of education. Shows such as "You are There," recreated historical events including the assassination of Julius Caesar, the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the Battle of Plassey and the Battle of Gettysburg. These shows were particularly exciting as they developed a unique and dynamic method of presentation: they were structured as if they were being covered by embedded journalists at live events. Other shows such as "Frontier Fighters" recreated dramatic events in the history of the American West. Episodes featuring outstanding personalities such as Zebulon Pike, Kit Carson and Wild Bill Hickock, both entertained and informed students during this period. Other shows such as "Cavalcade of America" presented the life stories of Mark Twain, John Sutter and Tom Edison. Best of Western Radio is now broadcasting these shows over the internet to educate and to entertain a new generation.
Indymedia UK: The media organization provides an interactive platform for reports from the struggles for a world based on freedom, cooperation, justice and solidarity, and against environmental degradation, neoliberal exploitation, racism and patriarchy. The reports cover a wide range of issues and social movements - from neighbourhood campaigns to grassroots mobilisations, from critical analysis to direct action. The content of the Indymedia website is created through a system of open publishing: anyone can upload a written, audio and video report or a picture directly to the site through an openly accessible web interface. Through this system of 'Direct Media', Indymedia erodes the dividing line between reporters and reported, between active producers and passive audience: people are enabled to speak for themselves.
Internet Services
Searchuno is based on the Open Directory which has been modified and enhanced by Park Royal Media. Searchuno has come about as a result of the lack of a UK-focused web directory. Over the years, the number of web directories has shrunk from over a dozen to just a handful and of those left, search results given are populated with all manner of advertising before users can get the results they need. Another issue that Searchuno seeks to address is smaller sites that are unable to afford to pay to get their site into other web directories. With Searchuno there is no cost to add your website and in most cases the websites submitted are added within 48 hours if they meet the criteria for inclusion.
Colleges Directory: This website provides links to colleges in the USA and Canada. Several of these colleges are online colleges, which means that regardless of where you live, you can study at one of these colleges through the Internet. The colleges listed at CollegesDirectory.com are categorized by subject and location. You can easily find which colleges in your state or country offer degrees in the subjects you're looking for.
Book Section
Telegram from Guernica: On 26th April 1937, in the rubble of the bombed city of Guernica, the world's press scrambled to submit their stories. But one journalist held back, and spent an extra day exploring the scene. His report pointed the finger at secret Nazi involvement in the devastating aerial attack. It was the lead story in both the Times and the New York Times, and became the most controversial dispatch of the Spanish Civil War. Without George Speer, the true facts about Guernica's destruction might never have been known. In this biography, Nicholas Rankin brilliantly evokes all the passion, excitement and danger of an extraordinary life, right up to Steer's premature death in the jungle on Christmas Day 1944. (Nicholas Rankin, Faber & Faber, 0 571 20563 1, £14.99)
