If they are to make sense of the world around them, children will need to tackle some of this. The project deals with all things media-related: from oral culture to movies and computing, taking in subjects such as radio, printing, journalism and advertising. Its content is at Key Stage 3 and 4 and fairly academic, but teachers can use some of it to prepare material for younger children.

www.mediahistory.commenu.html Hyper history

Hypertext is much loved by historians because it can illustrate how subject links together like nothing else can. This site lets users examine history through personalities, dates, geography and themes and its thousands of files are all linked. This site is at least Key Stage 4 but can be used for research.

www.hyperhistory.comonline_n2History_n2people.html The Bayeux Tapestry

Unless you’re happy to shell out for books or slides or a visit to Bayeux, this is a valuable way of viewing the tapestry. It reproduces the famous tapestry in sections and Nick Auwww.cablenetstin, who created the site, has intensively researched events surrounding the Norman invasion. It is an impressive personal piece of work and a fine example of how the Net makes objects accessible.

www.cablenet.netpagesbookindex.html Your number’s up

This amazing site continues to evolve in impressive directions. Its tools for numeracy created by pupils at Ambleside School and teacher Mark Robinson are really good and are free. There are innovative exercises on tables, circles, triangles and current work on imaging is extremely good. Every time I visit this website I think that this is what the Net should be all about.

www.ambleside.schoolzone.co.ukambleweb Sunny spells

Suitable for Key Stages 3 and 4, this site deals with the sun in ways both academic and stimulating. Some of its statistics are mind-boggling. For example, a 20-minute, multimedia tour, displays flames larger than 10 eaths and winds over 1,000mph. It’s all good stuff that you wouldn’t begrudge paying for if it were on CD-Rom. But you need a fast connection to get the best out of the multimedia.

www.astro.uva.nldemood95 Encylopedia

One of the great bonuses of the Internet is that it holds encyclopedias. This one is very accessible, at the Key Stage 2 and 3 levels, and makes it fairly easy to locate subjects, which it covers in a jargon-free and refreshingly clear way. The site is also aimed at children in the UK so there’s no need to wade through irrelevant material.

http:dknet.lineone.netencyclopediaencyclo_toc.html The Horus gateway to history

Delivered by the University of California, this is something every secondary school should bookmark. It is a compilation of some excellent resources on many topics: art, literature, history science, medicine and technology. Its content is academic and suitable only for Key Stage 4, but teachers can use its many sections to prepare resources. Sections on the history of photography and the history of theatre are especially valuable.

www.ucr.eduh-gigareagate.html The history of money

Another history site, this one for the teacher of economics. Its title is “The History of Money from Ancient Time to the Present Day” by Glyn Davies. Based on a book by Davies, it provides a wide-ranging survey of monetary issues with sections on: inflation, Celtic coinage, origins of money and banking, history of finance, Third World debt, and Britain and the European Union.

www.ex.ac.ukRDaviesarianllyfr.html Propaganda

This displays a collection of American posters intended to whip up patriotism during World War Two. While its text is not always up to scratch, the graphics - whose messages vary from the naive to the sophisticated - are a useful resource for studies of contemporary history and media, and could also be used in art and graphic design.

www.openstore.composters