www.micro.magnetfsu.edu

This site is a must for schools that have received their Intel microscope. Its stereoscopic microscope can perform a continuous magnification change by means of a zoom lens system between the subject and the eyepieces and you can explore zoom magnification, focus and illumination intensity in stereoscopic microscopes with a Flash tutorial. And that’s just one element of this photo rich site.

BANISH BAD WORDS

www.lssu.edubanished

Anyone who cares about words will approve of this site. Lake Superior State University published its first Banishment List in 1976 and since that day its list of “Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness” has been published each year. Thousands of words and phrases have been nominated and they’re all here.

DIGITAL LEARNING CENTRE

www.www.kodak.comUSendigitaldlc index.jhtml

Although biased towards Kodak products, this site is a rich source of information about digital images and how to make the best use of them. Split into different areas u courses, technology, reference and handson u this site is practical and comprehensive and most people will come away having learned something new.

SODAPLAY

www.sodaplay.com

This is a simple. fantastic site that lets visitors build virtual robots and control their environments. It has nothing to do with key stages, but is as thoughtprovoking as it is creative.

LEARNING STYLES

www.support4learning.org.ukeducationLstytes.htm

www.studyskills.soton.ac.ukhtmlchp3_learnquiz.html

In a world where lifelong learning is a cLiche, little time is devoted to enabling people to discover how they learn best. Another neglected area is finding out how to ensure teaching will appeal to various Learning styles. These two URLs contain materials for teachers that will focus the mind on both areas.

VINCENT VAN GOGH

www.vangoghgallery.com

This amazing site is a one-stop site for Van Gogh. Not only does it contain all the artist’s paintings, drawings and watercolours, but also his sketches, graphics and even letters. There is also a section on fakes. It is well designed and is a wonderfuL place for research into postimpressionism and for appreciating the range of the artist who was a great writer as well as painter.

HYPERTEXT

http:kotn.ntu.ac.ukPorchester index.htm

Hypertext is something we take for granted as we surf through web pages, but few teachers have started to use its potential for writing. Porchester Junior School in Nottingham has created these hypertext poems: try them, enjoy their ingenuity then see if you can incorporate similar things into your work.

BLOGGER

www.blogger.com

Forget its awful name, this is a tool that has real educational potential in the right hands. Blogger is a free, simple, webbased tool that helps anyone publish to the web instantly. You sign up and within minutes can have a web page for all to see. You don’t have to know hypertext mark-up language (HTML): just write, press the publish button and your thoughts are out there. It’s no-frills web publishing.

SOCIAL TRENDS

www.statistics.gov.uk

For 32 years, the government has published these statistics, giving a yearly snapshot of the UK. The site is invaluable for geographers and to teachers who want to demonstrate how information can influence planning. It’s also useful for sourcing realistic data for spreadsheets. For example, did you know that mobile phone ownership has nearly tripled between 1997 and 2001 or that you are three times more likely to be unemployed if you are Pakistani than if you are white?

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

www.sciam.com

Scientific American is a prestigious journal and its site is well worth a visit for its archive. It supplies a lot of material useful to those who want to Look at the ethical issues underlying a great deal of modem scientific developments; exhibits cover subjects as diverse as the latest developments in cable technology to the disappearing forests of Madagascar. There are also good search tools that make interrogating the archive easy.

Jack Kenny