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• provide educators with a forum for effective curriculum discussions and development through such features<br />

as WebChats and discuss groups.<br />

• ultimately provide learners and educators with fully <strong>in</strong>teractive environments that support creativity.<br />

3W Learner Activity<br />

In PTK, learners are encouraged to pose three questions to themselves when us<strong>in</strong>g the web. These questions<br />

are based on the NASA 3Ws that were put forward dur<strong>in</strong>g the LHST programme.<br />

• What do I want to know?<br />

• Where is this <strong>in</strong><strong>format</strong>ion to be found? Is there a resource I could easily check eg classmates, reference<br />

books etc<br />

• Why do I want to know it and how will I use it?<br />

In the LHST project it was stressed that the third question is probably the most important s<strong>in</strong>ce learner<br />

reflection on the reasons for know<strong>in</strong>g is <strong>in</strong> itself a valuable and enrich<strong>in</strong>g experience.<br />

Local Government Involvement<br />

The Manchester Education Committee (Schools Board) has sponsored the cascad<strong>in</strong>g of web capabilities to<br />

schools by sponsor<strong>in</strong>g a Young Persons Council (YPC). Although these activities are <strong>in</strong> the doma<strong>in</strong> of<br />

"Democracy and Citizenship", their mediation over the web has been a major contribution <strong>in</strong> encourag<strong>in</strong>g<br />

teachers to welcome the web <strong>in</strong>to their work<strong>in</strong>g environments. This has been particularly so s<strong>in</strong>ce the teachers<br />

have been able to pro-actively apply the web <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g new activities that are with<strong>in</strong> the National<br />

Curriculum. The YPC is located at http://quest.doc.mmu.ac.uk/ypc/<strong>in</strong>dex.html<br />

The YPC has enabled the PTK to: i) reach a much wider audience <strong>in</strong> the schools sector; ii) to experiment with<br />

the use of discuss groups with<strong>in</strong> the UK school environment; and iii) to use CUSeeMe as a support feature for<br />

web activities.<br />

Manchester Museum of Science and Industry<br />

The PTK project has entered <strong>in</strong>to a partnership with the local museum of Science and Industry. The ma<strong>in</strong><br />

objective of the partnership is to present science as a fun subject, and the museum a fun place to be. University<br />

students on placement at the Museum produced some pilot activity packs for use by schools for visits to the<br />

Museum. These packs are available on the web and a school may download them and prepare a class for the<br />

visit. Availability of such material has been particularly useful <strong>in</strong> the primary school sector.<br />

The PTK project and the Museum have now agreed to hold a schools slumber party on 15th-16th March 1997<br />

as part of National Science Week 97. Activities be<strong>in</strong>g planned for the event <strong>in</strong>clude <strong>in</strong>teractive use of the web<br />

with emphasis on WebChats and CuSeeMe. It is envisaged that pupils who are unable to attend will be able to<br />

participate via the Internet. It is envisaged that these activities will also <strong>in</strong>volve the Houston Museum of<br />

Natural Science, whose expertise <strong>in</strong> CUSeeMe proved <strong>in</strong>valuable <strong>in</strong> our LHST activities.<br />

PTK Sponsorship<br />

Silicon Graphics Inc and Open Computers & F<strong>in</strong>ance are now sponsor<strong>in</strong>g our PTK activities with the<br />

provision of a server. This sponsorship marks a critical phase <strong>in</strong> the project as we are now <strong>in</strong> a position to<br />

develop an <strong>in</strong>teractive education site (edusite). Such developments <strong>in</strong>clude the <strong>in</strong>volvement of f<strong>in</strong>al university<br />

learners <strong>in</strong> virtual worlds projects with a view to develop<strong>in</strong>g appropriate 3D environments that are suitable for<br />

the dissem<strong>in</strong>ation of science - <strong>in</strong> particular it is envisaged that the work will also <strong>in</strong>crease our activities <strong>in</strong><br />

collaborative eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g projects with the private sector<br />

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