Spartacus News

Teaching History Group

Pat Owen has just started a Mailbase Teaching History group. The list is for all those people interested in the pedagogy of history. The main objectives of Teaching History is the exchange and dissemination of information and a forum to discuss policy practice and research about the improvement of history teaching. (22nd January 1998)

SchoolNet

SchoolNet have just announced its new Internet connectivity package for schools. The package includes: Network ISDN connection for up to 29 users at one time; ISDN line installation; all call charges; suitable router; registration and hosting of the school domain name; Virtual Web server with unlimited Web space; SMTP mail delivery allowing all students and staff a personal email address. At a cost of just 2,000 for this starter package, SchoolNet is uniquely designed to allow full classroom Internet connectivity that is also self-funding. Pavilion give £20.00 per year for each Pavilion dial-up subcription signed up through the school for each and every year that the subscription is continued. For further details email: schools@pavilion.net

Spartacus Educational and SchoolNet

Spartacus Educational launched its new SchoolNet website at BETT on 14th January 1998. The new website contains: The Emancipation of Women: 1820-1920, The International Internet Encyclopedia of the First World War, Investigating the Vietnam War and the Sackville Sociology Group's GCSE Underachievement Report. Spartacus Educational believes it is the first publisher in Britain to provide free educational materials for schools. We hope that this will encourage the larger educational publishers to follow our example. At the beginning of February all secondary history departments will be receiving a free Spartacus Educational mousemat. (14th January 1998)

History Using IT

NCET and the History Association have just produced two ready-to-use resource packs for history teachers. Improving Students' Writing Using Word Processing gives guidance on how students can select and organise relevant information; access and interrogate text-based source materials; structure historical concepts; and incorporate all of these processes into the creation of extended pieces of analytical writing. Searching for Patterns in the Past Using Databases and Spreadsheets shows how students can access substantial amounts of information; see patterns in past events; compare local, regional, national and international trends; ask historical questions and plan enquiries; devise and test hypotheses; critically use sources and interpretations; and gain overviews of periods of history. For further details email: sales@NCET.org.uk

The Making of the United Kingdom

The British Library has just published its latest CD-ROM The Making of the United Kingdom. The CD-ROM is a unique collection of original source material drawn from unparalleled collections of the British Library and other archives, museums and resources. Topics include Ruling the UK, Religion and the Church, Finance, War, Economy, People & Society, Everyday Life, Culture and Science & Technology. The CD-ROM uses a multimedia overview of the period to introduce key themes and sources. The CD-ROM enables students to carry out interactive investigations into key questions of political and religious change. For further information email: blpublications@bl.uk.

Schoolnet

Pavilion Internet and SchoolNet have generously decided to help sponsor the Spartacus Educational website. The provision of unlimited disk space will enable Spartacus to considerably increase the amount of free educational material for schools. John O'Farrell, SchoolNet manager at Pavilion says, "We are working with teachers to help them build the kind of information resource they really want. I anticipate that the SchoolNet Web site will bring together a wealth of high quality information from far more varied sources than is currently available from one Web site."(16th December, 1997)

History Review

The History Review is an excellent magazine that is published three times a year (September, December and March). Unlike most other educational magazines, The History Review recognises the growing importance of multimedia in schools. Articles in the December edition, include: Ribbentrop, French Absolutism, Survival Skills and A-level History and Student Perspective on Cambridge University (3rd December, 1997)

First World War Encyclopedia

The International Internet Encyclopedia of the First World War is being created by teachers and students from several different countries. Each entry includes several pages of text, illustrations and links to other relevant websites. The plan is to look at the local, the national and the international dimension of the conflict. By the middle of 1998 we hope to have over 2,0000 pages of information in the encyclopedia. The contents page will provide you with details of what the International Internet Encyclopedia of the First World War will eventually contain. However, this is an organic project and only those headings that are underlined have so far been uploaded. All pages are likely to be improved and extended during the project. (6th November,1997)

Investigating the Vietnam War

Investigating the Vietnam War went online on 2nd November. The main objective of this Spartacus Educational website is to help students to carry out research into the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War Projects section includes a series of possible investigations. There is also an extensive Vietnam Websites section where you can find a more detailed account of what the most important sites contain. It is hoped that people will use the email facility to submit project ideas and websites that could be added to this list. (2nd November, 1997).

New Projects

Spartacus Educational is currently working on several new projects. The first part of the Spartacus Internet Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution and the Tudor & Stuarts should be ready early in 1998. The International Internet Encyclopedia of the Second World War will also be online in 1998. Nazi Germany and Medieval Realms should be ready by the summer of 1998. The material in all these projects will be free to all members of the Internet community. (2nd November, 1997)

The Historical Association and NCET

The NCET has created a "directory of sites hosting useful resources and services, innovative features and interesting practice to support ICT in education". The Historical Association and the NCET have joined forces to produce History on the Internet. The main element is a database of websites which "will have been evaluated using a common approach and criteria". History teachers are encouraged print off evaluation forms and fill them in when they visit a good site. (17th October, 1997)

Sackville Sociology Research Group

The Sackville Sociology Research Group's report into Underachievement at GCSE will be published on the site in November. (17th October, 1997)

The Emancipation of Women: 1880-1920

You will find The Emancipation of Women: 1880-1920 on our ‘Free Educational Materials’ site. This material is free for everybody on the Internet. We have used the profits from our book sales to pay for the provision of this material. If you keep buying our books, we will continue to provide you with free materials. Spartacus would like our visitors to participate in the growth of this part of our website. One of the exciting aspects of a website is that it allows projects to evolve. By sending us comments you can help influence its development. Let us know the names of any women you believe should be added to Section 1. We would also be grateful if you have any information that could be added to the ‘Further Reading’ and ‘Internet Links’ that appear at the end of each biography. Finally, please e-mail (info@spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk) with details of any mistakes you find. It was produced under extreme pressure - the start of a new school term was fast approaching - and we did not have enough time to employ professional readers. One of the great advantages of the Internet is that mistakes can be quickly corrected. (26th September, 1997)

The Spartacus Guide: Good Educational Websites

The Internet enables people to use information from over 3,000,000 websites. Most of these sites provide material that is of little use to people in schools. However, there are hundreds of sites that contain a wealth of information for teachers and students. The problem is that these sites are not always easy to find. Looking for good educational websites can be a time-consuming and expensive business. To help you and your children use the Internet effectively, we have produced a book The Spartacus Guide: Good Educational Websites that gives you the information you need to find the best educational resources on the Internet (price £3.50). Each book contains a password that will enable you to obtain free and regular updated information from our Gateway to Educational Websites section. For further details see ‘Educational Websites’ on the main menu. (26th September, 1997)