Worth a look?
A look at some of the latest free services on the web

BBC open up their Video Archive

A, potentially very useful resource is being provided free by the BBC. Go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/calc/radio1/

And you will find a growing selection of video clips that are free to use in an educational setting. They are categorised by subject and include extracts from BBC programmes. You will need to register with them, but that is also free.

They have been provided, in the first instance, to be useful for 'VJing' . That is the same as DJing except you are mixing video clips instead of sound. So you will find some clips short and 'arty'! However, many of them will be useful for background (check out the film of a Devon Village in the 1950s) or especially for visual literacy 'trigger' work.

Well worth checking out.

Google Earth

This is a very exciting service from Google and is free to use the basic version (the full version is free to Educational users).

Go to:

http://earth.google.com/

You will need to register and then download an installer file. This will create an icon on your desktop that will load Google Earth. It will, in effect, give you an interactive globe on your computer. Click on a point on this globe and you will 'fly' around to that point and then zoom in to see aerial photo coverage.

It is also possible to 'flatten' out the view to look around as if standing on the ground. In some places you can also see 3D models of buildings superimposed on the view, as here in the view of Manhattan.

You can add your own points of interest and we can expect to see many more features added. It is already possible to load up images of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and superimpose them to see the extent of the flooding.

You will need to have Windows XP to use this service and also a reasonable graphics card - plus, of course, a broadband connection.

http://www.ictopus.org.uk/

A useful website of resources by teachers. Includes lesson plans and other classroom material.