EBEA web site - Events

Many of you will know that the EBEA web site was last year completely redesigned and updated to provide a better service fur members. This process is ongoing and we have further plans for development and would welcome the input of members. Over the next few journals we will be focusing on various areas of the site and looking at what they have in them and how we plan to develop them.

Members may be aware that over the last year we have been working more closely with Becta to provide IT support for teachers of economics and business. During 2003 this took two main forms:

1. Ask an expert - for this we gathered a panel of five experienced economics and business educators to answer queries that were posted through the Becta web site. The questions were varied and covered a wide range of areas. Answers to questions as diverse as "How do I make sure that my use of ICT is actually enhancing the learning process?" and "Gun you recommend Business Studies resources for GCSE/AS/A2 which can be bought using Curriculum Online funds?" are available through the archive.

2. Online Inset - this was a series of five afternoon sessions on a range of topics. These included:

* Creating a student experience using a classroom game

* Getting the best from the Internet

* Using a simulation

* Using interactive whiteboards

* Using pictures and images

For each session there were some pre-prepared materials for participants to work through and then an open discussion session that people could drop in and out of during the afternoon.

Both these activities will be taking place again on an ongoing basis during 2004 and we hope that members will be able to support them. However, it is also possible to look back at the Ask an Expert archive and the materials from the Online Inset for 2003 and there are links available to these from the Events section of the EBEA web site. To get to this, you need to:

1. Navigate to the home page - http://www.cbea.org.uk

2. Click on the 'Events' link in the navigation bar at the top of the page

This is shown in the screenshot together with the link to the Online Inset and Ask an Expert materials.

Here you will also find details to other up and coming events and links to more detailed information about them. You can also e-mail the office through these pages for more details about any event.

In the next journal we will look at other areas of the web site and the plans we have for them, but in the meantime, why not have a browse around and see if there is anything useful for you?

USEFUL WEB SITES

In each journal, we will also be looking at some web sites that you may find useful and updating you on web developments. For this journal we will be focusing on the BBC web site. Well, yes we all know the BBC web site. It's an excellent source of case materials and perhaps one of the best searchable archives on the web, but it is very easy to just focus on this aspect of the site and miss a lot of things. In this article we take a closer look at some of the other areas of the site that may be useful for economics and business teaching.

EU ENLARGEMENT

Given the recent enlargement of the EU, teaching of this topic in both economics and business is likely to require more up to date sources than textbooks. The BBC site has some excellent materials on enlargement. The BBC site has a special interactive feature to enable you to have a closer look at each of the new members and issues relating to them. You can find this on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/sp l/hi/europe/04/enlarging_europe/ html/introduction.stm

There is also a picture feature on enlargement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pic tures/3676629.stm) and a number of useful articles including:

* EU expansion 'an economic boost' (http://news.bbc.co. uk/l/hi/ business/3674157.stm)

* Q&A: EU enlargement (http://news.bbc.co. uk/1/hi/ world/europe/2266385.stm)

* In quotes: Leaders hail new EU (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ world/europe/3677257.stm)

A search on the search term 'EU Enlargement' will also find a wealth of resources.

OTHER RESOURCES

The BBC site also has a large number of 'fact files'. This is an area of the site where they bring together articles on a particular area and add other relevant resources. These can be very useful. Current fact files include:

* The debate about globalisation

* Women in business

* The IMF and the World Bank

* Mergers and takeovers

To access the fact files, simply go to the BBC news site (http://news.bbc.co.uk or simply click on News from the front page http://www.bbc.co.uk) and then click on 'Business' in the left-hand navigation bar. A submenu of business will then appear and 'Pact files' is one of these items. "You can also find here the pages focusing on news on the 'Economy' and 'Companies'.

Don't forget also some other areas of the BlSC site that may be worth a look. One of these is the 'Listen Again' section of the Radio 4 site. Not only can you hear favourites like the News Quiz, Just a Minute and I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue (OK, so not much economics and business content, but great fun!), but you can also listen again to excellent programmes like In Business, Analysis and other special reports. The Listen Again pages can be accessed from the main Radio 4 web page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/).

Also, the Working Lunch web site is well worth a look. This has a link to allow you to watch the programme again, hut also has a feature called 'Lunch lessons'. These look at a particular issue that has been raised during the week and relate it directly to the business curriculum, looking at relevant questions arising from the issue. There is a now a very full archive of these and it is a resource well worth looking at.

The BBC site has a wealth of useful, stimulating and entertaining material and it is well worth investing some time to explore around it a bit. A final thought if you are teaching market failure; why not try the Tm alright Jack' climate change game (http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/ad aptation/jack.shtml)? Might be a bit of fun and stimulate a bit of discussion!

Copyright Economics and Business Education Association Summer 2004
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