Section 3 Session 5: Resources for teaching and learning
Useful websites to support teaching and learning
Online courses and tutorials
Money Matters To Me
[http://www.moneymatterstome.co.uk]
An exciting way to understand the different aspects of personal and practical ‘day-to-day’ finance. Try one of the ‘Workshops’, the ATM Cash machine or read an electricity meter.
RDN Virtual Training Suite
[http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/]
The Virtual Training Suite is designed to help students and lecturers across the UK develop their internet skills. It offers a range of free online teach-yourself tutorials covering a broad range of subjects.
Animated Internet
[http://www.learnthenet.com/english/animate/animate.htm]
This site uses some excellent interactive animations for learning about how the Web works. How does the presentation of the learning resources on this site compare with that of a text-based site?
EnglishSpace
[http://www.englishspace.ort.org]
Take a guided tour or register to join EnglishSpace which is a free English language course on the internet for students and teachers of English as a foreign, second or additional language. There are puzzles, games, exercises and projects to help you practice your English skills.
actden (Digital Education Network)
[http://www.actden.com]
Actden provide free online learning resources. These include free software tutorials and courses. In particular, look at the PowerPointâ, Microsoftâ Office 2000 and Internet Explorer tutorials. Registration required.
Debatabase
[http://www.debatabase.org]
Debatabase is a searchable online database of arguments for and against a variety of controversial topics. Is it dangerous to teach History to school pupils? or ‘Should museum entry be free? are just two of the topics available.
Funergy!
[http://www.cwndesign.co.uk/funergy/]
A fun site to help young people learn about using energy wisely and protecting the environment.
GridClub
[http://www.gridclub.com]
GridClub is a safe, focused environment offering a fun learning experience for children aged 7–11. Children learn through communicating and participating in joint activities within online clubs relating to different interests. Try a free trial or register for access to all the online activities.
I am Dyslexic
[http://www.iamdyslexic.com]
A self-help site with loads of ideas for assisting readers with dyslexia. The Products list shows examples of software and hardware to improve the experience of using a computer screen.
learndirect
[http://www.learndirect.co.uk/personal/freestuff/tasters/]
Free ICT Taster courses and samples of online courses at Learndirect which provides learning advice for individuals and businesses. There is an enrolment fee for most of the online courses.
NLN Materials
[http://www.nln.ac.uk/materials/]
The National Learning Network (NLN) provides a large repository of online courses that you can download and work through. Courses are also available on CD-ROM. Register with the NLN to receive access to these materials. Details of the NLN materials are available at the AClearn website.
Teaching and learning resources in single subject areas
AccessArt
[http://www.accessart.org.uk]
This site consists of online workshops based on educational practice in art in museums and galleries. It is both a meeting place where teachers, gallery educators and artists can exchange ideas as well as a fun, creative and dynamic learning tool for pupils across all key stages and for home users. Browse the Online Workshops to find innovative ways to teach art.
BBC Education
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/]
The BBC Education site has a huge collection of teaching and learning resources for children and adults alike. There are links to many BBC educational mini-sites.
BBC Learning for Adults
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/subjects/adult_learning.shtml]
The BBC’s adult education site includes a web guide with subject listings, and WebWise, a beginners’ guide to internet and computing skills.
Learning for Adults
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/raw/]
RaW is an entertainment-led crusade to engage the passions and interests of the nation towards reading and writing. A dedicated section of the BBC website which offers a magazine, information sheets, games and quizzes for literacy.
Britkid
[http://www.britkid.org]
Britkid is an educational anti-racism website, aimed at giving young people and educators the knowledge and confidence to challenge racism.
Deafsign
[http://www.deafsign.com/ds/index.cfm]
Deafness and sign language (for British Sign Language) resources for students, tutors and families are provided on this website. There is a section for schools, information on deafness and a finger-spelling keyboard, plus there are illustrations of signs. A discussion forum and list of useful links are also included.
Other useful BSL websites include Science Signs [http://www.sciencesigns.ac.uk/home_glossary.asp] and Engineering Signs [http://www.engineeringsigns.ac.uk/home_glossary.asp] which offer a database of words and the corresponding sign shown on video.
Hampshire’s Living History Museum with accompanying signs [http://www.milestones-museum.com/]
Historical Manuscripts Commission
[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/]
The Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC) has created Archives in Focus which provides advice and information about archival resources and getting started with using archives. The site contains a teaching resources section and there are online guides to researching family, local and house history.
ICT for Communities
[http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/communities/]
This channel of the National Grid for Learning Scotland web service provides support to those promoting the use of ICT in the community.
National Schools’ Observatory
[http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk]
An internet observatory to access world-class astronomical telescopes sited around the world.
UK Adult Basic Skills Resource Centre
[http://www.skillsworkshop.org/]
More than 300 free Skills for Life resources available on the privately owned site, used as a resource in Essential Skills classes at Abingdon and Witney College.
Categorised lists of teaching and learning resources
Enrich UK
[http://www.enrichuk.net]
The gateway to a lottery-funded collection of 150 sites supported by the New Opportunities Fund. The collection ranges across culture, history, social and economic development, science and art as well as offering regional and national ‘sense of place’ websites from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Whiteboard Maths
[http://estore.whiteboardmaths.com/]
This site offers a range of free whiteboard materials
TALENT
[http://www.talent.ac.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=731]
TALENT is a moderated database of resources and activities designed to help teachers of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL to develop and share ideas for good practice.
The Community Learning Resource
[http://www.aclearn.net/content/]
Part of the AClearn website providing a range of learning content resources for adult and community learning. This area will continue to grow as people submit their resources to the site.
Ferl: Teaching and Learning Resource Bank
[http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=628&catID=594]
A huge list of resources for teaching and learning, with a search facility.
JISC Resource Guides
[http://www.jisc.ac.uk/collections]
The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) collection portfolio of resources to support staff and students in higher education.
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators
[http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/]
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators is a categorised list of sites useful for enhancing the curriculum and for professional growth.
Keyskills4u
[http://www.keyskills4u.net/launch.html]
The Key Skills Trainer section offers Communication and ICT interactive courses.
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching)
[http://www.merlot.org/mrlot/index.htm]
MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculties and for students of higher education. Links to online learning materials are collected here along with annotations such as peer reviews and assignments.
Archives, databases, dictionaries, library catalogues and enquiry sites
People’s Network
[http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/campaigns.html]
Campaigns and features, from libraries and their partners
This is an online enquiry site through which UK public libraries provide an information service free of charge. Libraries linked to the site respond to questions from the public. There is an index of sample questions and answers.
Poetry Archive
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
Online collection of recordings of poets reading their own work. The Children’s Poetry Archive is full of poems chosen specially for children.
AskOxford
[http://www.askoxford.com]
AskOxford.com from Oxford University Press provides free, searchable online dictionaries (of English, quotations and first names) and a thesaurus. It also has crosswords and word games, and provides help with writing and advice on language from the Oxford experts.
The British Museum
[http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/]
The British Museum’s Compass site is a database of over 4,000 objects. You can search for images of artifacts from across the world.
COPAC
[http://www.copac.ac.uk]
COPAC® provides free access to the merged online catalogues of 21 of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland.
SCRAN
[http://www.scran.ac.uk]
Scran is a learning resource base and toolset with 336,500 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media. Access to thumbnail images is free, registration is required to gain copyright for use of other images.
The Showcase: Community Media Archive
[http://showcase.commedia.org.uk]
This site provides access to media for people in the community. There is a streaming media archive of radio, TV, film and video programmes, sound recordings, internet projects and training materials from the community media sector.
Mailing lists
Apollo (Adult Practitioners On Line Learning Opportunities)
[http://lists.becta.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/apollo/]
The Apollo mailing list is for practitioners to discuss ideas for teaching adults, including everything from opinions on the Community Learning Resource website to debates on building communities of practice and on developing e-learning content.
Resources within existing ILT training programmes
Connecting Communities
[http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/connectingcommunities/]
This is the website of the Connecting Communities training programme, designed to enhance the use of ICT and communication in community learning agencies across Scotland.
E-Guides training programme 2006 - 2007