UTS Digital Generation – Danny Mavromatis

I have just discovered an even better resource here:

Wikipedia selection for schools

“SOS Children UK, in coordination with the Wikimedia Foundation, has released a complete 2008/9 revision of the Wikipedia Selection for Schools, which is perhaps the most successful ‘checked content’ project derived from the English Wikipedia. Previous revisions have been distributed off-line widely across the globe including by the Shuttleworth Foundation to South Africa Schools, by the Hole in the Wall project to rural Indian children and through SOS offices worldwide. The updated selection has the content of a 20 volume encyclopaedia – with 34,500 pictures, 20 million words and articles on more than 5500 topics. This revision, which can be freely downloaded or collected free from SOS Children is selected and organised around the UK National Curriculum and aimed at 8-17 year olds who broadly follow the UK National Curriculum and similar curricula elsewhere in the world.”

This looks like an absolutely fabulous resource to draw upon, especially given that adult topics have been removed making it safe for students. The best place to start is the pictorial subject index. I have had a look at the Maths section and it looks quite good. There are several hundred entries ranging from elementary to advanced. Something for everyone.

These are not really specialised e-learning resources as such. However, used wisely, these two relatively recent innovations to the Internet can be invaluable learning aids. As an example, if you went to wikipedia and entered the topic name “Mathematics” the following page would be displayed.

Mathematics

Not only is an interesting history of mathematics provided, but the various fields are presented as separate sub-topics:

• Quantity

• Structure

• Space

• Change

• Foundation and philosophy

• Discrete mathematics

• Applied mathematics

Under the sub-topic of “Space” are links to:

Geometry

Trigonometry

Differential Geometry

Topology

Fractals

It is clear that this can be a wonderful resource to students in doing mathematics assignments or gaining a more complete understanding of mathematical concepts. For teachers, the “External Links” section of each topic usually contains an excellent set of resource links. Sometimes even links to lesson plans for the topic are provided.

In terms of multi-media content, most topics have a number of images on them. Some can also have embedded animations such as:

Sine drawing process

Whilst it is recognised that the level of the material can vary (too advanced or too basic) depending on search being performed, nevertheless this can be an excellent starting point for self-directed research by students.