Education on the Internet
Number 9: 28th November, 2001
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 15,200 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
Website Content: A report published by Pew Charitable Trust and American Life claims that most people are unwilling to pay for content on websites that used to be free of charge. The survey of 1,351 Internet users discovered that 17 per cent have been recently asked to pay for online content that used to be free. Of these, 12 per cent opted to pay for the content, whereas 50 per cent found a free alternative website.
Friends Reunited: The website which allows people to find and then get in touch with long lost school friends had 2,094,000 unique visitors in October 2001. This compares to the 191,000 unique visitors in June 2001. It is now one of the top 20 most visited sites in the UK. Registrants at the site sign up to their schools and colleges with their own profile, and can then search their old schools for other past classmates who have registered. The average time spent on the website has now reached the remarkable figure of 41 minutes.
Top9: This is the Internet's first Search Directory to use consumer intelligence to comprehensively rank the most popular websites by industry category on a monthly basis. The rankings are compiled by PC Data Online and are based on surveys with over 120,000 home users on the Internet. Currently in the Education Resources section the top nine are Spark Notes (2,647 unique users), Thinkquest (1,852), Pink Monkey (706), Blackboard (680), School Notes (457), Grade Saver (402), UMI (328), Educate (317) and Planet Papers (238).
Teachers' Virtual School: History Department: The Teachers' Virtual School History Department provides lessons for those teaching history in the classroom. Lessons are listed under Key Stage and Topic. Teachers are invited to send in details of any online history lessons they have produced for their students. The website also includes sections on History Online Resources, History Quizzes, Timelines, History Forums and History Journals.
Nobel e-Museum Peace Prize: A website that celebrates the people and organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The site includes biographies, nobel peace lectures, articles written by Nobel Laureates and links to other relevant resources. Prize winners featured include Jean Henri Dunant (1901), William Randal Cremer (1903), Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Elihu Root (1912), Woodrow Wilson (1919), Gustav Stresemann (1926), Jane Addams (1931), Arthur Henderson (1934), Cordell Hull (1945), Emily Balch (1946), Albert Schweitzer (1952), Martin Luther King Jr (1964), Mother Teresa (1979) and Nelson Mandella (1993).
Women of the Special Operations Executive: This website, created in 1995, tells the story of the women who joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. As the author points out, the website "does not intend to glamorize or hero worship the women - the work was far from glamorous - but to simply show the intricate work they did, the extraordinary courage they showed and the sacrifices they made."
English
Poetry Class: The Poetry Class website reflects the ethos of taking the fear out of poetry. What this site offers is plain language, printable poetry workshops for immediate use in classrooms, a glossary of terms, interviews with poets, recommended books, and key stage requirements tagged to particular poetry workshops on our site. Poetry Class vet each external poetry site listed in our resources section to ensure that it matches its standards for clear language, contains useful information about (or examples of) poetry and poetic forms, and is easily navigable for all users.
English Biz GCSE: An English and English Literature GCSE revision site that offers students a straightforward way of finding out how to improve their GCSE grades.
Absolute Shakespeare: Created by James Hodge the Absolute Shakespeare contains Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems. Study Shakespeare with plot summaries, essays, character analyses, quotes, biography, pictures, timeline, trivia, the Globe Theatre and links.
Media Studies
Newseum: The Newseum, the interactive museum of news, takes visitors behind the scenes to see and experience how and why news is made. Visitors can be reporters or television newscasters; relive the great news stories of all time through multimedia exhibits, artifacts and news memorabilia; and see today's news as it happens.
Photo-Seminars: A website for image makers and those who teach image making. It offers free seminars on several photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston, Eugene Atget, Matthew Brady, Robert Capa, Imogen Cunningham, W. Eugene Smith, Irving Penn, Lisette Model and Margaret Bourke-White. There are also sixteen workshops on subjects such as Photojournalism and Travel Photography.
Filton College Media: A site developed by Adam Ranson for A/AS/VCE Media/Film/Communications students at Filton College in Bristol. Offers lots of handouts, some on-line quizzes and case studies.
A Level Media Site: Mick Underwood's website provides reading materials, links for research and useful notes. Aimed primarily at students on the AQA syllabus, but also relevant to any student or teacher of Media Studies.
Science
Wavelength Educational: Free science worksheets, spreadsheets and datafiles plus examples of how to use ICT in the classroom. Also includes cross curricular ICT helpsheets for Microsoft Office applications.
Creative Chemistry: Worksheets and practical guides for chemistry clubs, GCSE and A Level Chemistry. Interactive coursework help, molecular models and games. Created by a Head of Chemistry.
A level Biology: AS and A2 level Biology (AQA B) notes and questions which can be answered and self marked on line - written by an experienced teacher and examiner.
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.
