It’s billed as the best ICT advice for teachers anywhere. If you think that’s quite a claim for a new website, so does its creator, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta). The product of a massive consultation exercise to discover what support teachers require online, including feedback from 16,000 teachers already signed up to Becta’s Teachers Online service, the full service will be ready in September.

www.ictadvice.org.uk

History in focus

Does fashion really go around in circles? Find out at the website run by Chertsey Museum. It contains a collection of fashionable British dress from 1700 to present day. The museum, in Runnymede, Surrey, covers local social history from prehistoric times including ironwork, pottery, clocks and fine art with more than 15,000 exhibits. The site offers virtual tours, information about the collections and quizzes and puzzles.

www.runnymede.gov.ukchertseywelcome.htm

Equal rights for attainment

Ethnic minority achievement is the subject of a new website from the Department of Education and Skills which lists its aims as: “providing documentation for ethnic background data collection; sharing successful experiences of schools and LEAs; signposting useful links and publications which provide information and research on minority ethnic pupils educational achievement.”

www.standards.dfes.gov.ukethnicminorities

ICT good practice awards

This is not a plug. The Becta ICT in Practice Awards (supported by The TES, Pearsons and BT Education) have uncovered excellent practice all over the UK. You can find out about it at the awards section on the Becta website. Or get the free CD-Rom packed with information and examples, including video clips, of effective practice using ICT (it also contains TES Online magazine coverage of the awards) along with details of how to enter the 2003 awards from practiceawards@becta.org.uk. Then you can nominate your schools’ ICT stars for the 2003 awards - they win substantial cash awards for themselves and their schools.

www.becta.org.uk

Mayor with virtual powers

Ever fancied being a virtual mayor? Students aged 11-17 in Middlesbrough have been involving themselves in virtual local politics through a Government initiative to counter voter apathy. They do it through an online game developed by Brighton based interactive consultancy Getfrank and The Campaign Company as part of Middlesbrough Council’s initiative to elect its first “youth mayor”(the game requires Shockwave software).

www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

www.getfrank.com

Merlin John