Education on the Internet
Number 77: 2nd July, 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 36,050 subscribers to the newsletter.
All reviews are added to our web directory. There are sections on Internet Services, Online Seminars, Primary Education, English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Languages, History, Geography, Design & Technology, Business Studies, Special Needs, Media Studies, ICT, Sociology, Music, Politics, Economics, Photography, Art & Design, Theatre Studies, Physical Education and Religious Studies.
John Simkin
Online Seminars
Raising Attainment at Key Stage 4: In this seminar Dan Moorhouse discusses how to improve student performance at GCSE. He argues persuasively that "to raise attainment at any level the teacher and department has to be fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the student and any potential barriers to learning that they may face. At the beginning of KS4 a vast array of information is available to us as teachers and this has to be used effectively to provide us with a firm basis upon which we can build." If you have views on this subject, register with the History Forum and join the debate.
ICT Awards: Becta is inviting entries to the 2004 ICT in Practice Awards. Building on the success of previous years, Becta will be using the Awards scheme to develop evidence about effective practice using ICT, to gauge how this is impacting upon teaching and learning, and to share this information with the wider teaching community. Categories include: Inclusion (foundation/primary, secondary and post-16), Teaching (foundation/primary, secondary and post-16), Innovation and Change, Leadership Teaching (foundation/primary, secondary and post-16), Advice and Support, Learning Assistance (foundation level/primary, secondary and post-16) and New to Teaching. Each winner will receive £2,500, with £2,500 going to their school or organisation. Runners up will receive £500, with £500 going to their school or organisation. The nominations will be open until 25th July 2003.
eLearning Awards: The eLearning Awards Top 100 list is now available on the eSchola site. The Top 100 entries are now being evaluated by national experts. More than 600 project teams submitted entries this year. After the evaluation, a group of internationally recognised ICT experts will select the winners. Winners will be announced in August and the prize ceremony will be held in Geneva on 9 October.
Education with Attitude: From the use of online communities to handheld computers to pen-based drawing tablets, the staff and girls at Loreto Secondary School in Ireland are delivering on demonstrating how ICT can have a powerful affect on second-level education. Over the past year and a half, their “Education with Attitude” project has produced a number of innovative “digitally-enhanced” learning activities. Whoever said, “Girls don’t take to technology like boys” never set foot in Loreto, St. Michael’s. The overall aim of “Education with Attitude” is to leverage the power of ICT to entice and challenge students in ways not possible with traditional school-based media. The spirit of the project is about taking risks, learning from mistakes and benefiting from a more active learner approach to education.
History
Hungarian Uprising: In 1956 Hungary's new leader Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed.
Bristol Slavery Trail: This website provides information about the slave trade in Bristol. Films and sound clips retell the views of characters from the past, and there are activities, documents, pictures and photographs which may be explored or downloaded. The material is organized around key themes such as wealth, power, trade, campaigns and legacy. Each theme has different activities for students.
Maths
10 Ticks: This maths website has been created to provide a source of enrichment activities to support classroom activities. There are mathematical games and puzzles as well as online tutorials to help with homework. There are hundreds of applets linked to English National Curriculum levels in the Interactive maths area as well as oddball mathematical activities!
Maya Puzzles: This is a great collection of mathematics and logic related puzzles classified in six categories. Gives you hours of pleasure and satisfaction in solving these puzzles and by doing or attempting these puzzles, one will really enhance his arithmetic and logical powers. It is like having an exercise to your brain both in mature adults and the children alike to have brain fitness which will enhance and gives you a fresh start in day to day activities.
Geography
Sligo's Coastline: "From Skerrydoo to Carrickfadda, a Study of Sligo's Coastline" is a schools heritage and ICT project, which seeks to promote high levels of awareness and understanding of seashore heritage amongst participants. The project ran in 12 County Sligo primary schools from October 2001 to May 2002 and is an extension of 'Exploring the Field Fences of County Sligo', a Schools Integration Project (SIP). Over 300 students participated in the project which was coordinated and supported by staff from Sligo Education Centre and The Heritage Office, Sligo County Council. Students studied a number of topics relating to their local shoreline including animals, habitats and plants, geology, history and folklore, and man and the sea. The website which summarises the work done by the students will prove a valuable resource for teachers involved in a similar project. Most important of all the project can serve as a model for schools in any coastline community who wish to use ICT creatively in a heritage project.
Global Teenager Project: The International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) assists developing countries to realise locally owned sustainable development by harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The Global Teenager Project was launched in 1999 to bring the full potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the classroom. In short, GTP's aim is to enhance secondary pupils' ICT skills and learning skills while increasing their understanding of other cultures by staging lively, global classroom debates in cyberspace. GTP unites secondary school pupils from all over the world in a safe, structured virtual environment, thereby helping to bridge the cultural and digital divide between the developing and developed world. So far, over 3000 pupils from 95 schools in 20 countries are taking part and the number is rising every month.
Politics
Fun Politics: This site gives Primary School children an opportunity to explore the structures and institutions of the Irish political system. The nature and function of the 3 houses of the Oireachtas are discussed and explained, with particular emphasis on the Dáil and the Presidency. The party system and the main political parties are also covered extensively. The material is presented in an interesting and interactive format to maximise pupil interest and engagement.
Languages
Haifa Virtual Museum: This project was developed in Israel to help students learn French via the study of music. The student investigates the subject – the history of the melody; analyzes of music according to their characteristics and those of the period to which they belong, influence of the music on the culture; he/she assembles the information and evaluates it; organize the information following the structure of the museum and develop way for presenting it: explanation, activation and so on.
Hebrew: The teachers of a junior high school established this portal and now serves thousands of students from all over the country. The site includes an educational index with 6,000 items in Hebrew that serves their learning processes and increases their accessibility for a wide range of information sources. Such index is particularly useful in an marginal areas where the students do not have easy access to large and rich libraries so that the index contributes for bridging the gap of the Digital Divide. The portal includes a magazine where there are sections and features on issues close to the interests of the youngsters but still having an educational value: science news, this week in the History, information sciences, how to build sites, nutrition, heritage, nature and more… some of them are edited by the youngsters themselves.
Art
The Digital Palette is the result of two and half years work and has been produced by art teachers. It aims to represent all phases of education and is intended to be a resource for teachers who want to use ICT in Art Education. The case studies provide exemplars of good practice. They demonstrate different approaches and use a number of techniques and processes, as well as a range of different software. The website is supported by a CDRom which will be updated as new case studies are submitted.
Book Section
US Army of World War I: When the USA entered World War I in April 1917 her Regular Army counted just 128,000 men and lacked all the necessary equipment and training for modern trench warfare. By the Armistice of November 1918, General John J.Pershing's American Expeditionary Force in France had more than 2 million men and was holding 25 per cent of the Western Front. They had helped smash Ludendorff's brilliant Operation "Michael" in the lines before Paris; had turned onto the offensive themselves at St Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne; and if Germany had not negotiated peace with unexpected speed the US Army would have taken over from their tired Allies an even greater share of the planned 1919 campaign. (Mark Henry, Osprey, ISBN 1 84176 486 8, £8.99)
