Websites of Interest

This page is intended to showcase websites of interest to museum educators.

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Websites about using new technology

ICT Hub

ICT Hub contains a range of free advice and support for charities and community organisations, to help you make the most out of technology. If you need to develop a database, or build a website the ICT Hub has a range of services and support available.

Digital Services in the Cultural Sector

The pioneering website, launched nationally by MLA North East and One NorthEast in 2007, provides a database of information technology (IT) and digital services suppliers ready to work with the sector. Registration is free. Digital Services in the Cultural Sector website.

New Technologies

The University of Dublin, Centre for Teaching and Learning has produced a glossary of new technologies used in Higher Education but also relevant to working with other age groups. University College Dublin website.

Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web

This book sets out to answer where can you find the news you need, how to gauge its veracity, and keeping up to date with new sources. You’ll discover dozens of reliable sites that meet your needs, learn what to expect before you log on and gain a reporter’s hardnosed perspective on the motives and bias behind each resource. The supporting website is a virtual portal to the world of online news. info today website.

Websites about working with young people

On Common Ground

An exciting and innovative scheme, aimed at young people facing disadvantage, who are happy to admit that they wouldn’t normally have very much contact with museums. All the participants had the opportunity to develop original project ideas and worked with experienced artists to explore aspects of their own heritage and culture. Many of the participants also gained an Open College Network accreditation. On Common Ground demonstrates that museums have something to offer the whole community, regardless of age, ability or cultural background. On Common Ground website.

OOKL

OOKL is a mobile learning platform for cultural venues. OOKL was conceived and built by the SEA, commissioned by Culture Online (part of the DCMS) and co-designed by education managers at three cultural venues along with several education experts. OOKL has been running in the UK since the beginning of 2006 and more than 3000 students have used the service. http://www.ookl.org.uk.

Their Reading Futures

Their Reading Futures provides training, advice and practical materials for building library staff skills for work with young readers. Food for thought if museums wish to connect to the National Year of Reading 2008.

Websites which link museums to learners

WebQuests

Opening the collections of nine national museums and galleries.

http://nmolp.britishmuseum.org/webquests/

An improvement framework for museums, libraries and archives

The MLA has relaunched a new improved Inspiring Learning For All Toolkit website to coincide with the launch of the Informal Adult Learning White Paper. The new website aligns Inspiring learning to other key policy frameworks such as Every Child Matters, but also to the five underpinning principles of Informal Adult Learning that the government has announced in the White Paper.

Inspiring Learning continues to combine a planning and assessment tool with the world renowned generic learning outcomes that have successfully provided real evidence of the outcomes of museums, libraries and archives activity on both people and communities. The refreshed site is cleaner, sharper and more intuitive than the original site, launched in 2003.

It introduces the generic social outcomes that MLA has been developing over the last 3 years. These generic social outcomes demonstrate the wider community contribution of museums, libraries and archives, identifying impact on social cohesion, health and well-being.

Re-purposed as a self-help tool we hope that Inspiring Learning will inspire you to develop, improve and provide evidence of the impact of what you do.

More: inspiring_learning_for_all

Who do we think we are?

The new, Who do we think we are? education project website (re. Exploring Identity, Diversity & Citizenship) is now 'live' at http://www.WDWTWA.org.uk (and also http://www.whodowethinkweare.org.uk).

I Like Museums

More than 80 museums in the North East are listed on this website based on what people can expect to experience at those attractions. Each themed ‘trail’ will list venues offering similar experiences and includes themes such as ‘having fun’ and ‘doing things as a family’. The I Like Museums project is the first of its kind in the UK museum sector and it is co-ordinated and funded by the North East Regional Museums Hub and MLA North East through Renaissance. I Like Museums website

Breakout

A free website aimed at parents or carers of 5 -14 year olds. It is packed full of information, ideas and links about a whole range of activities, from after-school and weekend events, to things to do during school holidays. The events and activities listed tend to be free or subsidised and appeal to a wide range of children, young people or families.
The website’s topics cover a range of material, from sporting, cultural, outdoor and creative activities, to advice on safety. It is regularly updated to highlight current events and encourages young people to submit reviews of things they have enjoyed doing. Breakout is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Breakout website.

what was Here.com

what was Here.com wants to revolutionise how history is written. Its pilot website in Liverpool tells history like it’s never been told before: by everyone. It doesn’t only tell the capital H history of Liverpool, but the everything-interesting-that-ever-happened-to-the-people-who-actually-live-there history of Liverpool. It’s oral history for the My Space era. Based around Google maps, the site lets people instantly publish the stories that matter to them on the spot where they happened, discuss other people’s stories, use the Timeline to go back in time, make connections between big events and small across the map. whatwasHere.com

Object Detectives

An exciting new website to support the teaching of the National Curriculum in secondary schools using the unique artefacts held in museums across the South West. The website is the result of a collaboration between schools, pupils, digital experts and museums, heritage sites and galleries from across the region. Object Detectives website.

My Learning

A website for teachers and learners inspired by museum, library and archive collections in Yorkshire. Content is created in consultation with teachers and is presented as Learning Journeys designed to support different curriculum subjects and ages, including Skills for Life. The site contains lots of free resources from the region's museums - images, worksheets, quizzes, interactive games, videos and audio files - for use either before or after a visit to the museum, or independently in the classroom. Subjects range from William Wilberforce and the Abolition of the Slave Trade to Pneumatics and Hydraulics for KS3 Science. my learning website.

Project Timescape

South Oxfordshire's new Education and Visitor Centre looks at how the Landscape changes over time over time and how we can affect that change. This website is packed full of good ideas and useful links. Project Timescape website.

Scream Out Loud

Focuses on producing content exclusively for children aged 0-16, their parents, carers, and teachers. They create: Websites, Games, E-learning content, Animations,
Mobile applications. Scream Out Loud website.

Your Icons

The twelve museums, libraries and archives in the West Midlands with collections designated of national importance have launched Your Icons. This consists of a website together with two travelling graphic exhibitions and a series of events designed to promote iconic items within the collections. Website visitors can explore items from the collection at random, or search by category, by organisation, or by simple word search. The exhibitions are designed in part to promote awareness of the collections, but also to encourage visitors to the website to participate in online voting and debate. Your Icons website.

Community Engagement Section on MLA South East Website

By actively engaging with their local community, museums, libraries and archives have already demonstrated that services can be shaped according to need and use can increase. MLA South East have created a new section on their website which brings together presentations and notes from seminars that they have run and links to useful resources, tools and services that will help you develop activity. MLA South East website re Community Engagement.

Websites linked to museum education

Visitor Studies Group

The UK Visitor Studies Group site gives access to the latest VSG news, events, and resources including articles, reports, case studies, practical tools, a consultants database, links and recommended reading, and a new members forum among other features. Some of the content links to resources available freely elsewhere on the web, while others are exclusive downloads contributed by other VSG members and partners to share. As well as publicly available content and features, the site also includes exclusive content for subscribed VSG members, such as an extended selection of articles and tools, and downloads of presentations from VSG events. Visitor Studies Group website.

Teachers TV

Teachers TV is a channel and broadband website catering for everyone who works in education, from heads to NQTs, governors to support staff. Their programmes take you inside classrooms and schools across the country to see how good teachers are bringing the curriculum to life and improving schools. Teachers TV website.

Collections Link

MDA's Renaissance-funded website Collections Link provides easy access to guidance and best practice in the management of collections, featuring a wealth of information on issues from conservation, copyright and environmental monitoring to insurance, security and emergency planning. Collections Link website.

Culture Info

Your first step to cultural information. Culture info website.

UK Museum Loans Network

The UK Museum Loans Network is a new forum for all museum loan services in the UK. Museum Loans Network website.