I've just got an interactive whiteboard. Are there any places on the web where I can find examples of the PowerPoint presentation programme suitable for use in the classroom?
Try www.educationusing powerpoint.org, a site built by Will Richards, a teacher from Worthing high school. There are several clearly designed and well-structured files for science and geography and more seem to arrive each week. Full access to the resources requires each school to pay a £10 subscription. The US site www.theteacherspot.com also has useful resources for educational use of PowerPoint, including a set of selfhelp training materials.
Are there any new sites for French language teaching?
Have a look at www.zut.org.uk, a site from a teacher called Catherine Murphy for fellow French teachers. It has over 400 interactive activities including more than 100 natively-spoken sound files. Several activities have been specifically adapted for use with the electronic whiteboard and there are several topical and seasonal quizzes and lesson starter ideas. Every subject should have a site like this.
I want to find ideas for teaching that have been tried and tested by other teachers. Where are the best places to go on the web? A good place to start is the Teacher Resource Exchange at http://tre.ngfl.gov.uk/ - a storehouse of resources and activities designed and shared by other teachers. Recently redesigned, it makes searching for the resources faster and more productive and provides links to similar sites.
I need to keep a series of pictures done by my year 10 technology group for assessment. What's the easiest way to manage them? Many schools use the Mavica FD200, a still camera that takes pictures onto a standard floppy disc. Every student can be allocated a floppy and this can be stored in a department disc box. As required, these pictures can be transferred to the computer for printing or inclusion in documents or reports. The camera also allows you to display images on a standard TV so you can remind students of their earlier work and review their progress over time. Expect to pay about £285. www.sony.co.uk
What is Linux and how can I use it in school? Linux is an operating system rather like Windows, built by a group of individuals working together and then sharing the code that they built for free. These developers are convinced that "open-source" software is the best way to build computer-operating systems in the future, and it is available either free or for a small contribution. Most computers built in the last four years can run a version of Linux instead of Windows and the software is downloadable from www.linux-mandrake.com or http://www.linux.org
There is an old story about a parents' evening where a worried individual is seen emerging from the consultation muttering: "They said John is at level seven - do I punish him or buy him a bike?" Therein lies the problem - with so many changes and varieties of grade, it's hard for parents and teachers to remember what the various levels of the national curriculum represent in terms of work and achievement.
That's why schools and student teachers have been turning to www.ncaction.org.uk. As one of the most useful resources to emerge from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the site offers real examples of students' work and case studies to show what the national curriculum looks like in practice. It's all here, from art to ICT by way of music, at all key stages and most attainment levels. Written work is scanned in so you can even see the child's real handwriting. Music is recorded and available as a sound file.
At a recent training day at Guilsborough school, Northamptonshire, student teachers mapped their experience against examples taken straight from the site. "I wanted to show my students what a level 3 piece of history work should look like and now I can," said a history trainee.
"It's such a relief to use the site to find out that the work my students did matches what's going on in other classrooms," added a science graduate trainee. "It's lovely to see that our expectations correlate with reality."
With a little guidance and mediation the site will be useful for students as well. They can see how they measure up and what standard they should be aiming for.
Extra resources allow each example to be converted into a lesson plan.
As the site uses Apple's QuickTime format to store video clips and sound files, you can download the resources for use on the network and for staff development activities. All you need is the free player for QuickTime available for the Mac or PC from www.apple.com quicktime You might already have it installed as part of your internet browser.
Parents can use the site to make a comparison with work in their children's books to get an idea of how the pupils are doing - an ideal exercise to carry out before a parents' evening.
· John Davitt is an ICT trainer. Email your questions to: email@example.com