Welcome to the fourth Shambles newsletter ... it is hard to believe that we are now into our second year.

As a reminder ... 'The Education Project Asia" is a consultancy designed to offer support to International Schools in S.E.Asia ... especially in the area of integration of ICT across the curriculum.
 

Since the last newsletter there are been a large revision of the Shambles website ... the feedback last year indicated that subject teachers were finding it difficult to navigate around the website to find there own subject-related links and resources .... hence the concept of "Departments" was born on the site which may well become more convenient and easier to use than the original navigation.

Try your own subject by clicking here :
| Mathematics | English | Science | Information Technology | Geography | History | Religious Education |
| Art and Design | Design and Technology | Music | Modern Foreign Languages | Physical Education |
| SEN | ESL | The School Library | The ICT Technician Room |
 

The Author Plus Online website is now up at www.AuthorPlus.com. It gives comprehensive information on just about everything you need to know about APO and includes both Teacher and Student demos ... APO allows you to put interactive activities (any subject) on a website to work on in class or at home.

The termly Clarity newsletter "Loud and Clear" was distributed in the middle of October .... if you are a teacher with an English or ESL interest or responsibility then this should be of interest to you ... to get your free paper copy by 'snail mail' then just email info@clarity.com.hk

I shall be running a workshop at TechEX http://www.rism.ac.th/techex in Bangkok on 7th November which will use some of these ELT software solutions.
 

If you have a Special Needs interest then you can save yourself time by having the latest UK news and updates sent to you automatically without you having to go searching ... go to the website above and click on "subscribe'.

Other country updating options can be found at www.shambles.net/sen/

If you are interested in some online SEN training ... to be done in your own time and at your own pace then have a look at the options at "Fieldwork Online Training" ... part of a 'whole-school' opportunity.
 

Have you aspirations to be a senior manager, or even a Principal or Headteacher (assuming you are not already one) .... and you'd like to practice first to decide if it really is what you want.? Well there are not many schools that are willing to take the risk and letting you experiment on then .... EXCEPT .. there is one ... a Virtual School online. Developed by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL).

Virtual School is a high-tech multiple choice game which can be used by subject heads taking part in NCSL’s 'Leading from the Middle' programme which got underway in November 2002. The unique learning tool has been developed by NCSL to provide participants on the programme with a safe environment in which to practice their leadership skills.

It is not available online so you will need to contact NCSL directly for more details.
 

The 2004 Olympics are just around the corner .... there are links to many related website on 'Shambles' .. be sure to visit the USA site which has a section particularly suitable for younger students.
 

In each newsletter I like to highlight a few of the webpages from International Schools in S.E.Asia:

emascots - Beijing Int. Sch. http://www.biss.com.cn/
The goal of this site is to encourage journal writing, email writing and cross cultural correspondence with an invitation to other International Schools to participate.

The British School Manila ... http://www.britishschoolmanila.org/
OK not a website but I didn't know where else to ask ... I'm told that their school tuckshop produces the best Aussie Pies and Mushy Peas outside of Australia ... can this be true?
 

Not many schools have taken up the advertising options on 'Shambles' which is a surprise as our pages do come up high in search engines.

'Shambles' is a free service because of sponsorship and advertising ... your support would be appreciated .. email me for more details if interested csmith@csmith.info
 

Education Indicators: An International Perspective is a compilation of indicators from a multitude of data sources which provides a rich array of information on the current state of education internationally. They are intended to provide snapshots of the U.S. education system in comparison to systems in countries around the world.
 

Whatever your topic or subject there is a relevant web camera online somewhere ..
...... use this page to find it.

This page is also designed to list any webcams that have been set up in International Schools ... so if you have one in school then please email me the details.
 

The elearning page on Shambles has changed ... as well as the philosophy, theory and 'whole-school' perspective there is now a section specifically for classroom teachers called "Get Your Class Online" .. this lists resources that can be used, many free, to support teaching and learning.

These are areas which give you an easy and quick website but also others that give you solutions and options to make quizzes online, publish student's work, publish your own worksheets, share files online, share bookmarks and favourites online. run a survey, build an online photo album plus lots more.

NOTE: The UK is in the middle of a consultation exercise looking at elearning called "Towards a Unified e-Learning Strategy" with comments invited before the January 30th deadline. The 50 page review document is recommended to anyone interested in this subject .... www.dfes.gov.uk/elearningstrategy/

A recent USA publication "Learning for the 21st Century" compliments this UK initiative www.21stcenturyskills.org and would be a worthwhile addition to your Prof.Dev. library.