FEBRUARY 2011
Childnet International celebrates “Safer Internet Day 2011″
The safe and responsible use of the Internet and interactive technologies is a central concern for both parents and schools alike. The rise in popularity of social networking sites has created new and more pressing challenges in protecting our children when they make use of the Internet for both study and leisure.
UK HE Humanities OER launched by HEA
The Higher Education Academy, in collaboration with 12 UK partner universities, has launched HumBox, an Open Educational Resource for the Humanities. The repository of humanities-focussed didactic materials and activities for the teaching of humanities subjects in UK HE, is the fruit of a project funded jointly by the Joint Information Systems Council (JISC) and the HEA.
The HumBox OER aims to provide a trusted and sustainable community repository for the sharing and reviewing of a wide range of specialist materials, with a global reach, from different humanities disciplines that may be deployed directly into teaching practices.
Ofsted supports development of assessment for learning strategies
Following initiatives on the assessment for learning National Strategy, Ofsted’s report on findings at a sample of 27 primary and 16 secondary schools reinforces the benefits of fully formative assessment practices but reveals general adoption and implementation issues from its sample. While the report affirms that the “impact of assessment for learning was good or outstanding in 16 of the 43 schools visited”, it also remarks that it was “inadequate in seven, including four of the 16 secondary schools” and that it “was better developed and more effective in the primary than the secondary schools”.