resources update issue 65

• Memory Map - Memory-Map Selections OS 1:25,000 + Aerial Photography
• MindGenius Education - The Learning Game
  (TLG Works)
• Software Production Associates Ltd - Omnigraph
• Nottinghamshire Education Business Alliance (NEBA) - x:plore Engineering GCSE CD-ROM

• Votech Ltd - Interactive Classroom System
• Espresso Education Ltd - Espresso Primary
• TQ Education & Training Ltd/Direct-Ed - Key Skills Bundle
• Longman (Pearson) - Exploring Science Interactive Assessment CD-ROM 9

The British Red Cross has launched a free downloadable education resource as part of its response to the Asian earthquake.

The Assembly Kit helps teachers and young people understand the practicalities of the relief effort, the process of tracing missing family members, explore media reporting following disasters and think about how the rebuilding after a disaster happens mainly out of the public eye. It is adaptable for use in both primary and secondary schools.

The Asian earthquake Assembly Kit can be downloaded from www.redcross.org.uk/education/aeak

Memory-Map Selections™ is a comprehensive mapping and navigation program in which the user gets to choose the exact area that they wish to investigate. It facilitates the understanding of maps for a particular local landscape or route with some breath-taking insights as well as having the potential to save vast amounts of time. Settlement studies, tourism, rivers, farming and rocks and relief are just some of the GCSE topics where the program could pay real dividends. There is the facility to interface with GPS and Pocket PC devices where maps and aerial photographs may be viewed as 2 dimensional objects or in real time as 3D views with ‘fly through’ options.

In addition to the teaching perspective, the program offers students the ability to prepare materials for coursework, plot routes and view virtual fieldtrips.

This software can be used for planning and preparation, for whole class starter activities, brainstorming ideas for essays or projects or to summarise a lesson during the plenary. The program challenges the thinking and learning
process, working on the concept of a mind map. Students found the software interesting and absorbing and their fi nished work was colourful and eye catching. It improved
concentration and increased their confi dence in using ICT. It was both simple to use and yet powerful.

This powerful tool can raise achievement by supporting children with learning diffi culties by expanding their thinking and building self-belief and confi dence. As well as being an invaluable tool in whole class teaching, this program is equally

Espresso Primary is a vast library of video rich resources designed to support a wide range of curriculum areas and more. The material is enhanced with multimedia activities, worksheets, books and photographs, many of which can be printed to support classroom work to engage and challenge pupils and embed ICT into the curriculum. The materials can be easily incorporated into lessons and are particularly good at providing interesting lesson starters and discussion points. Some of the resources are organised into modules of work which the children can use independently.

Espresso is a subscription service that looks like a website and is accessed using an internet browser. It uses a cache server to store the data enabling speedy access to the content and a large number of machines to run the resources simultaneously.

Omnigraph

Key Skills Bundle

Software Production Associates Ltd

Dynamic Omnigraph is a graphing package and more. Aimed at supporting the delivery of a variety of mathematical concepts from Key Stages 3, 4, and beyond, Omnigraph provides an easy-to-use application that will support and enhance the understanding of many visually based topics from linear and quadratic graphing, inequalities, transformations, scatter diagrams and regression, to rational polynomials, transformed curves and polar functions.

One of the many effective features available is the ‘Dynamic’ nature of the program. Points may be moved on a graph, etc in order to provide an interactive learning experience. In addition the software offers the facility by which equations may be typed, and will appear exactly as we would encounter them in text books, etc. This particular feature is invaluable, as many of the alternative programs do not offer this benefit.

Direct-Ed has developed a huge ‘managed’ online learning environment. There is a huge array of courses all of which are interactive. There are opportunities for the tutor to enter multi-media material onto the site in order to enhance the delivery of a topic and the facility to customise the courses to suit individual needs. Teachers will need to invest time initially to get the best from this vast site but I think that once this is done it will prove its worth. Some pupils who are at a higher level than others can be moved from one module to another as these courses are differentiated.

There are also facilities to email other pupils who are accessing the site and to take part in online discussions thus further developing pupil’s knowledge and understanding.

The x:plore CD-ROM is an interactive virtual tour of the Rolls Royce Engineering plant describing the design and manufacture of their high pressure turbine blades for use in gas turbine engines. It is designed to help understand how engineering operates in the workplace. The CD-ROM provides detailed videos of the factories departments, question and answer activities, interactive games, web site links, teaching notes and additional resources designed to support the delivery of the Applied GCSE Award in engineering.

The tour of the factory is broken into 6 sections and each section is clearly described with the use of videos of each workplace and the people who work there. Teaching notes and support material included provide clear examples and templates to demonstrate key areas of the design and manufacture process.

Exploring Science 9 can be used in conjunction with the textbooks and worksheet resource file of the same name. It is a question and answer package comprising of 3 sections aimed at KS3 pupils. The Multiple Choice Test section has a test for each QCA unit. Pupils can take these tests more than once. The Progress Test section has one test for each key area as highlighted in the Science Framework and pupils may only take each test once. Creating tests using the SAT’s Question bank allows you to tailor tests to suit individual pupil’s levels. Questions can be matched against the National Curriculum statements, Framework Yearly Objectives and/or QCA objectives. Teachers can also select questions that are focused on SC1 which has proved to be an excellent tool for extension exercises and revision purposes.

How will you teach with this resource?
• Check whether it’s suitable for whole-class teaching. Is it designed so that pupils can work with it on their own, with features like voice over on the text to help them understand and complete the activities? Will pupils need teacher support to get the best from it?
• Will the resource be compatible with other programs?
• Does the resource provide support materials for teachers? For pupils? Are there worksheets, teachers’ notes, lesson plans, differentiation activities?