3. How Irish Schools can use the Web
There are many ways in which the World Wide Web can be integrated into
every aspect of the primary and secondary curricula. Unfortunately, there
are as yet few resources available specifically designed for the Irish
curriculum. It is important to think of the WWW as another reference tool,
just like an encyclopaedia with thousands of volumes located on the shelf
at the back of the classroom. Remember, the Web will not have all the answers,
as not all the materials are suitable or worth using in your classroom.
Read carefully to avoid wasting time on-line.
So how can you make use of the Web across the broad spectrum of subjects
taught in our classrooms? Firstly, you should be aware that there are resources
such as educational research, curriculum materials, and lesson plans suitable
for all curriculum areas located on the Web. As you become more familiar
with the Internet, you will come up with your own ideas on how best to
use it in your own classroom. In this section, we want to give you a few
ideas to get the ball rolling. We have examples of where the Web could
be used in the teaching of a variety of subjects at primary and secondary
levels. We can only hope to give an indication of what can be achieved.
When you get on-line you should check out some of the sites highlighted
and see how you could integrate them into your curriculum.
Many of our teachers and schools have specialist requirements. There
are many Web sites which cater for Special Education, Disadvantaged schools,
health, even sites dealing with the drugs problem. Whatever your area of
specialisation is, there will be something worth looking at out there for
you, so happy surfing!
Sites such as the Dyslexia Web site provide teachers with useful information
concerning specialised areas.
Geography
Ever wondered how you could motivate your students to learn the counties
and features of Ireland? Well, we have found some new and very exciting
sites on the Web that can assist you in taking your students on a virtual
tour of Ireland. Of course, they may still use their textbook and atlas
as further sources of information when studying a particular county or
province.
Who's Who in Irish
Tourism? (http://www.globalnet.net/elore/el-ir12a.html)
contains a wealth of historical and statistical information about Ireland.
The site contains nearly a hundred beautiful colour photos of Irish landmarks
accompanied by short text descriptions. The site is worth a visit for the
photos and up-to-date statistics alone, but it also contains a Directory
of Cultural Resources. One of the directories contains a concise history
of Ireland from 7,000 BC to the present day. Though the information is
not detailed, it gives a nice overview of Irish history. This site is not
long in existence and the folks who maintain it are constantly adding new
features, so you would never know what you might find.
Who' Who in Irish Tourism?
Northern Ireland Site (http://www.interknowledge.com/northern-ireland).
Yes, this is the official Web site of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board
and it's an excellent resource. Ever wondered how you could share the beauty
of Northern Ireland with your students without physically taking them on
a whirlwind tour of the North? Well, look no further! This page contains
a wealth of information on each of the six counties, covering topics such
as bird watching, fishing, ancestral heritage, transportation, industrial
heritage, and even some sample itineraries. Did you know that the ancestors
of four American presidents hailed from Ulster - Andrew Jackson (7th US
President); Ulysses Simpson Grant (18th US President); Chester Alan Arthur
(21st US President); and Woodrow Wilson (28th US President). This site
is quite extensive and provides many more interesting snippets of information
on Northern Ireland.
Irish Weather Pages (http://www.lochnet.com/client/gs/iw.html)
Weather is a constant theme in every school in Ireland and we now have
a site on the Web which will provide you and your students with the latest
weather forecast for your region. The site contains a number of sources
such as RTE, the Irish Times, CNN, and Intellicast Four Day Forecast. The
CNN page contains a colour weather chart of Europe complete with Highs
and Lows, while the RTE page provides the expected high and low temperatures
from around the world on any given day.
Virtual Tour Guide to Ireland (http://www.bess.tcd.ie/ireland.htm)
If you are looking for a nice map of Ireland with all of the counties marked
in, then you must visit this site. Though the site contains a number of
links, the Provinces of Ireland site is extremely well done. Imagine trying
to teach the counties of Ireland without an atlas, well here is one such
way. Children can visit each province and see a map of the province accompanied
by the names of the counties. From here they can go and further explore
each of the counties and learn about the main towns and landmarks of each.
The maps alone in this site warrant a visit.
In addition to the Irish sites, Geography teachers will find a large
number of sites specifically created to enhance their curriculum. You can
take a virtual trip anywhere in the world and learn all about the local
customs, climate, and people. However, the Internet can even answer specific
questions that may arise in class such as Why is snow rare in London
and not in Boston? (http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Edu/RSE/RSEred/WeatherHome.html).
The illustrated answer includes a drawing by Benjamin Franklin and
a satellite shot of the Gulf Stream. Students, by clicking on the
satellite photo, can study a series of lessons on interpreting satellite
photos, if they so desire. In addition to learning how the Gulf Stream
affects the climate of both cities, students can take virtual tours of
Boston and London and visit the many famous sites.
Created by the CIA as a resource for their agents in the field, The World Factbook (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/index.html) is a comprehensive site providing students and teachers with current data and statistics on countries around the world. In addition, the site contains simple maps that can easily be printed or downloaded
History
The topic of transportation is central to all history curricula and
the story of aviation is one very important piece of that tale. Aer
Lingus (http://www.aerlingus.ie) have told their story in a very clear
and concise way on their Web site. Though this site contains flight information
and a number of customer services, it also contains historical and archival
information about the company and the types of aircraft used by them down
through the years.
The Irish History on the Web (http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/irehist.html)
page contains an extensive list of links to Irish history, covering the
events of today right back to the Famine and beyond. One excellent resource
is The Illustrated London News (http://www.emory.edu/FAMINE/ILN/West/West.html),
dated February 13th, 1847. The beauty of this site is that it comes complete
with illustrations of the terrible scenes witnessed by Mr. James Mahony,
the author, while visiting West Cork in 1847.
Although the National Archives of Ireland (http://www.kst.dit.ie/nat-arch/)
site does not provide access to the archive itself, it is still an excellent
historical site. You will find records dealing with transportation, the
Great Famine, family history and genealogy, women's history, and archival
information from Australia, Canada, and the United States.
The WWW Virtual History (http://history.cc.ukans.edu/history/WWW_history_main.html)
site is an on-line library maintained by the University of Kansas in the
United States and contains an extensive directory of historical sites covering
topics from Ancient Greece to the History of the Internet. Extremely comprehensive
catalogue and worth a visit.
Gaeilge
There are a number of Irish Language sites on the Web, but none are
designed specifically for Irish students. Most of the pages are written
by academics who are teaching Irish to adults abroad. However, this situation
should right itself in the coming months. Gaeilge ar an Ghréasán
(http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/saoghal/gaeilge.html), a very nicely constructed
Web site contains an extensive list of classes and courses in Irish, grammar
resources, Gaeltachtaí na hEireann, Irish newspapers, and music resources.
If you are looking for newspaper articles "as Gaeilge", this
is where you will find them. Younger students will find a Crossword Page,
which also contains a Solution Page. Bord na Gaeilge, Gael Linn, and the
Gaelscoileanna organisations all have a presence on the Web.
Maths
We have been unable to find any Irish maths site that provides problems
and solutions for teachers and students. But we did locate some home-grown
resources that could be incorporated into the curriculum. Primary textbooks
always have a section dealing with money and currency. Once the book is
printed the rates are out of date and years later children are using exchange
rates that are totally out of line with reality. First National Building
Society (http://www.fnbs.ie/) have a very nice feature on their page
called a Currency Converter (http://www.xe.net/currency/). The page
is actually designed for people going on holidays, but it can also be used
by teachers and students. Students can type in their number of punts and
choose the currency they are purchasing and "voilà" the computer
gives them the rate and amount of currency purchased.
The Aer Lingus (http://www.aerlingus.ie) Web site along with
the Iarnród Éireann (http://www.clubi.ie/RailNet/) site can also
assist the maths teacher. The full plane and train schedules are available
on-line complete with arrival and departure times, a nice resource which
teachers can use to create maths problems for their students. Both sites
allow students to use real data to solve problems they will face in the
real world. However, teachers need to create their own worksheets in order
for the students to work independently.
There are numerous excellent Mathematics sites on the Web designed by
teachers and academics from around the world and here you will probably
find specific resources to suit your needs.
If you are looking for a creative way to teach your students the concept
of "mean" and "median" then look no further than Susan
Boone's lesson plan on the Indy 500 (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~sboone/Lessons/Titles/indy500.html).
As you may know, the Indy 500 is an annual car race in the United States.
Students have to go to the ESPNET SportsZone Auto Racing Site (http://ESPNET.SportsZone.com/car/)
and locate the results section of the 1995 race. Once the results section
has been located, students are presented with a series of questions to
calculate the mean and median. If there is one computer hooked up to the
Internet, groups of students could work together to solve the problem on-line.
If you are struggling with the solution to a problem then look no further than Dr. Math at The Math Forum (http://forum.swarthmore.edu/). Your query will be answered by a group of students and world-famous mathematicians. If you want to challenge your students by giving them a Problem of the Week then here is a good place to start.
English
Ever get tired of giving a child the same old reader? Then visit The
Children's Literature Guide (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/). Books
available on this comprehensive site range from "The Wonderful Wizard
of Oz" to stories written by children. In addition, resources are
provided for teachers, parents, storytellers, writers, and illustrators.
Elsewhere older, more serious, students can delve into the complete
works of William Shakespeare (http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.html).
All his poetry and plays are located in one site along with an on-line
glossary and a discussion area for students and teachers. The on-line
glossary is an excellent feature as you can find the meaning of a word
instantly while reading the play. A must for any Junior or Leaving Certificate
student!
A collection of Irish poetry has been compiled by the Linguistic Department
of Cologne University. The Irish Poetry Page (http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/~dm/eire.html)
has links to the works of many of our greatest poets including Yeats, Kinsella,
Kavanagh, and Heaney. In addition, this site has links to Irish Music archives
and other Irish sites.
Foreign language
As the Internet knows no boundaries there are excellent foreign language
resources housed on servers all around the globe and these are now accessible
to Irish teachers and students. For instance, are you looking for lesson
plans designed to teach Spanish to beginner students? Then check out Learn
to Speak Spanish (http://www.willamette.edu/~tjones/Spanish/Spanish-main.html).
However, if you have moved beyond the Beginner Level you can access a number
of Spanish newspapers to keep in touch with happenings in Spain. One such
newspaper TECLA (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/Departments/Spanish/TeclaHome.html),
published by the University of London, comes complete with a customised
dictionary of words and phrases appearing in the articles.
Extensive isn't the word to describe The Human Language Page
(http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~bear/Language-Page.html). Every language
under the sun is listed and each has at least one link. This page is a
must for any linguistic or foreign language student.
Created by the folks from Schools On-Line, The Modern Languages Home page (http://sol.ultralab.anglia.ac.uk/pages/schools_online/languages/mflhome.html) contains a comprehensive list of resources for German, Spanish, and French. The site has a number of interesting features including a teachers' chat area and a Storyboard where students can submit their stories for publication on the Web.
Science
Science teachers will also be spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing
resources as there are literally hundreds of useful sites on the Web. One
such site is the Interactive Frog Dissection (http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/insttech/frog/)
where students can avoid the mess and scalpel by engaging in an electronic
dissection. Students can observe the dissection of the 4 layers of the
frog's body, as it is demonstrated on screen. Having observed the dissection
the student is then invited to practice the procedure and is assessed on-line.
For the more squeamish, you can visit Earth Viewer (http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html)
where you can view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night
regions at this moment, or view the Earth from the Sun, the Moon, the night
side of the Earth, above any location on the planet specified by latitude,
longitude, and altitude, or from a satellite in Earth orbit. You can also
check the latitude and longitude of any location on earth.
At the Periodic Table of the Elements (http://mwanal.lanl.gov/CST/imagemap/periodic/periodic.html)
site you will find a fun and exciting way to look at the Periodic Table.
Not only can you click on the various elements and obtain extra information
but you can also find links to related topics.
Everything you ever wanted to know about space can be found at NASA's
Spacelink (http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/). Here you will find
space-related lesson plans, news releases, historical information, software,
and graphical files.
At The Heart: An On-line Exploration (http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/heart.html)
students can discover the complexities of the heart's development and structure.
Follow the blood through the vessels and wander through the Web-like body
system. If this is not enough, the site contains activity sheets on each
page.
Art
Many famous galleries around the world have placed many of their best-known
works of art on the Web. In most cases they also provide background and
related information on these masterpieces. One such site WebMuseum
(http://sunsite.unc.edu/louvre) contains an extensive gallery of famous
paintings dating from the Renaissance to the present day. This site also
contains detailed biographies of the featured artists and a virtual tour
of Paris.
Business Studies
Many large financial companies are creating Web sites in order to share
financial information with clients and the general public. This information
is constantly being updated and provides accurate and timely information
to students and teachers. One such site is NCB stockbrokers (http://www.ncb.ie).
They have a very large and detailed site that contains information on daily
share prices in addition to having an on-line library of recent financial
publications.
Educational Web sites
We have discussed some ideas of how the World Wide Web can be used in
the classroom. That's great as long as you know where to find the sites
you require. So where do you find these resources? There are sites available
which do this for you.
Many resource sites now exist for schools both in Ireland and abroad. As well as links to schools, they have listings for resources available on the Net. These lists are usually classified into the different subject areas and the comments give you an idea of what they include. You will find that these lists are updated when new resources become available.
Irish resource sites
http://www.iol.ie/~brocktc
This is the first teachers' centre on the Internet. The centre's home
page outlines its services, current projects, and other resources.
Broadcom Classroom of the Future
http://classroom.broadcom.ie
Web Site for Broadcom Éireann's Classroom of the Future Project. Developed
by two second-level students, the site includes a handy map of Ireland
with links to all the schools in the country with Internet access (is your
school included, yet?). There are also educational links, under curriculum
subject headings; a mailing list for Irish teachers to discuss Internet
topics; a facility to let you create worksheets on-line; and an on-line
version of this guide. The on-line version of the guide contains links
to all the sites mentioned in this guide.
http://ireland.iol.ie/ednet
EdNet was the first Web site for Irish schools. This site was set up
by two teachers who felt there was a need to bring all Irish schools using
the Internet together in one location. It includes a comprehensive E-mail
directory for all primary and secondary schools, links to school and college
home pages, notice-board, discussion group, current projects, and links
to resources. On EdNet, free unlimited access for schools is available
from Ireland On-Line.
http://www.cs.tcd.ie/esherry/welcome
This is an on-line project, developed by Irish teachers working from
Trinity College, about everything educational. Some very useful information
and links.
http://www.edunet.ie
This new Internet Ireland site features a list of Irish schools for
which Web pages have been created. There are also links to many international
schools. Edunet is offering free access to schools.
http://kola.dcu.ie/~iednet
NITEC (National Information Technology in Education Centre) was set
up in 1986 and is based at Forbairt, Glasnevin. This is their new education
Web site which includes links to primary, post-primary, and third-level
home pages, projects, career guidance, subject area, and links to other
resources. NITEC, Indigo, and Microsoft are offering free access to schools
until January 1998.
http://www.scoil.ie
This new site from HomeNet promises much but is still under construction.
There are some links to third-level and international sites.
Major education resource sites worldwide
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)
http://ericir.syr.edu
AskEric service for educators. The largest education database in the
world.
National Council for Educational Technology
http://ncet.csv.warwick.ac.uk
This is an excellent educational site located nearer to home. Housed
in the UK, it contains links to resources on the Internet for Education,
Software Reviews, Special Needs, and Classroom Resources.
http://www.classroom.net/
Supplies lists of schools on the Net by continent. Accepting submissions
of poems, short stories, and essays from primary schools around the world.
WEB66: A K12 World Wide Web Project
http://web66.coled.umn.edu/
Most comprehensive list of school sites on the World Wide Web.
SchoolNet: UK Schools on the Net
http://schools.sys.uea.ac.uk/schoolnet
One of the main UK school sites.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/
British Broadcasting Corporation education pages. Provides details of
BBC programmes and resources for all areas of education.
http://ifl.rmplc.co.uk/bin/$webdbc.exe/eduweb/qryeduweb/htx/&/eduweb/ewdir.htx
Contains a comprehensive list of UK school sites. Many links to Educational
Hotspots and Local Education Authorities.
http://schoolnet2.carleton.ca/english
Lots of useful materials aimed at Canadian schools but also of use to
Irish schools.
| Contents Page | Order the Booklet |
 |
To report a problem in the operation of this web
site email webmaster@classroom.broadcom.ie |