Frog Apps takes online leap
Education technology company Frog has developed a new tool to help schools customise their learning platforms. Frog Apps gives users access to more than 200,000 applications available over the internet, including games and wikis. Schools will be able to download the apps and use them immediately or store them for later use, in a similar way to apps for the Apple iPhone. Frog has also created a learning platform for primary schools that will be officially launched in the autumn.
Films put ICT on a roll for girls
A series of short films aims to encourage girls to study ICT by highlighting the roles of a Hollywood star and a poet’s daughter in the development of modern technology. Hedy Lamarr, the actress who devised a communications system now used in Wi-Fi and mobile phones, and Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron and widely recognised as being a pioneer of computer programs, are among the subjects of the new films that promote ICT as a career path, with a particular emphasis on girls. Other films feature Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the worldwide web, and Alan Turing, who cracked the Enigma code during the Second World War. The films are available free on http:pioneers.bcs.org.
All-round internet safety
A comprehensive tool to help schools strengthen internet safety has been developed by the South West Grid for Learning, a network of 15 local authorities. Concerns that schools might mistakenly believe they have sufficient protection in place or routinely block access to parts of the internet over fears for children’s safety have prompted the creation of 360 Degree Safe. The tool can be used to identify where protection is in place and where work still needs to be done. Schools in the South West of England can access the tool at www.360safe.org.uk.
