This is a workshop run by RSC Wales at Pembrokeshire College on 5th July 2006. The aim is to explore some quality electronic resources and how they can be incorporated into teaching.
First of all, take a look at the sites listed below. You can just pick one or work through as many as you like. Browse and search to see what they have to offer for your subject. Click on the title of the resource to access it. Use the worksheet provided to record what you find and what you think of them so you can give some feedback to the group at coffee time!
If you want some ideas on how to use e-resources in your teaching, check out the list below.
E-Resources Workshop
Finding quality e-resources for FE
This list has some key websites that have quality educational resources for use in FE. Take some time to search and browse to see what there is for your subject area.
- FERL Teaching & Learning Resources Bank
- What it is
The FERL website has a database of teaching resources that have been created and submitted by teachers. You can browse by subject or search using keywords. This is a free resource.
What you can find there
A wide range of resources: audio, video, powerpoint, quizzes etc. - Intute (Formerly: Resource Discovery Network)
- What it is
This is a free resource. Intute is the UK's free national gateway to Internet resources for the HE & FE community. They say: In contrast to search engines, Intute gathers resources which are carefully selected by subject specialists in our partner institutions.
What it's good for
Finding quality websites in your subject area. There is also a whole set of online tutorials to develop internet skills (for you or your students): see http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk. .
What to try: browse to your subject area; enter some search terms (e.g. "Sylvia Plath", "bricks" (Chicks with Bricks!), "lego"
PLEASE NOTE: this resource used to be called "Resource Discovery Network" (RDN). It was re-named "Intute" on 13 July 2006. - Infotrac
- What it is
"InfoTrac OneFile and InfoTrac Custom Newspapers are a unique collection of journals and English language newspapers, providing one of the largest aggregations of full-text periodical content available to Further Education institutions."
This resource is not free but Pembrokeshire College has a subscription. For access from home, contact LRC staff to get an "Athens password".
What it's good for
It's a big database of journals, magazines and national newspapers available for easy cross-searching for you and your students. After you've done a search, use the tabs to switch between types of publication ("Academic Journals", "News" etc.)
Using E-Resources
Some ways in which you can use e-resources in your teaching!
- Use to create lessons plans or worksheets.
- Use to liven up presentations.
- Stimulate thinking and discussion in class.
- Liven up a dry topic with an animation or video clip.
- Create or find some online exercises for students to work through.
- Simulate an activity that is hard to do in real life.
- Recommend sites for revision.
- Encourage collaborative group work.
- Ease the pressure on print resources: no more photocopying!
- Develop research skills
- Find some images.
- Find a quiz or a game
- For examples of how to incorporate some e-resources into teaching materials and classroom activities, have a look at the JISC Exemplars CD-Rom, also available online from within the college.
More Resource Sites
If you have exhausted the sites above or want to explore further, you may want to try these sites:
- National Grid for Learning Cymru
- The site has a Virtual Teachers' Centre where you can browse resources for Key Stage 4 or Post 16. There are not quite as many resources as Ferl but some may be useful: see what they have for your subject.
- Learning & Skills Web
- This site was launched recently: it allows you to cross-search some of the sites we have already looked at (Ferl, RDN) and some others. However, it does not have browsing by subject.
- Know UK
- This is a subscription site but the Welsh FE community currently has free access courtesy of funding from Cymal. It is a complete online library of reference information for the UK.
- Teachers Resource Exchange
- The Teacher Resource Exchange (TRE) is a moderated database of resources and activities created by teachers. All resources on the TRE are checked by subject specialists to ensure they are of the highest possible quality. You can also submit resources: these can be works in progress or ideas, they do not have to be the finished product.
