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3G: third-generation mobile technology, featuring wireless connection to the internet
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line): a technology for transmitting digital information at a high bandwidth on existing phone lines to homes and businesses. Unlike regular dial-up phone service, ADSL provides continuously-available, 'always on' connection. ADSL is asymmetric in that it uses most of the channel to transmit downstream to the user and only a small part to receive information from the user. ADSL simultaneously accommodates analog (voice) information on the same line. ADSL is generally offered at downstream data rates from 512 Kbps to about 6 Mbps. A form of ADSL, known as Universal ADSL or G.lite, has been approved as a standard by the ITU-TS. ADSL was specifically designed to exploit the one-way nature of most multimedia communication in which large amounts of information flow toward the user and only a small amount of interactive control information is returned
Authoring tool: a programme, usually requiring only basic technical knowledge, that allows you to create applications featuring many media, ie text, image, audio
Bandwidth: the width of a band of electromagnetic frequencies is used to mean (1) how fast data flows on a given transmission path, and (2), somewhat more technically, the width of the range of frequencies that an electronic signal occupies on a given transmission medium. Any digital or analog signal has a bandwidth
Broadband: a high-capacity communications pipeline capable of delivering simultaneously a range of voice, video and data services in a truly interactive, reliable manner
Chat room: an internet environment in which participants can write messages to each other. Also see Forum
Citizenship: new to the UK secondary school curriculum, this subject focuses on issues concerning society and culture
Collaborative learning: the act of working together on tasks in groups of two or more to support each other's learning
Cross-platform: applications described as 'cross-platform' are available on different formats, eg a PlayStation and a PC
Differentiation: the process of developing teaching and learning styles and materials related to the different levels of pupil understanding and ability
Download: the process of taking large files, including games and media files, from the internet and saving them on to a computer hard disc for future use
Dynamic content: content on a website that changes as necessary, such as animations, video, and audio
Firewall: application available from the internet which protects a computer from 'hacking' and viruses while it is online
Flash: a popular software developed by Macromedia to create animations for websites in a resizable format, which is small enough to stream across a normal modem connection. The Flash Player is required to view flash content and is available at the Macromedia website. www.macromedia.com
Forum: a formalised internet chat room, usually devoted to one particular subject, allowing participants to share experiences, advice and information with one another
HTML: HyperText Markup Language, the underlying formatting for world wide web documents
HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol, the system for requesting HTML documents from the web
Homepage: the main page of a website. Typically, the home page serves as an index or table of contents to other documents stored at the site
Hypertext: a system of 'live' documents where a text file contains references to other documents that can be followed, thus linking documents to other related materials. The best know example is HTML
ICT - Information & Communication Technology: the use of computers and other peripheral devices, including CD-Roms
IP address: an identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol to route messages based on the IP address of the destination
Inclusion: the practice of creating teaching and learning styles and materials that allow the participation of all learners, including those with educational needs and those with disabilities such as visual or auditory impairments
Interactive whiteboard: a virtual chalkboard that allows the display and operation of computer materials in a classroom
Interactive TV (iTV, IDTV): television offering viewers access to activities, extra features and greater choice, operated through their handset
Interactivity: applications or websites are 'interactive' if they allow users to input data, perform operations and tasks. Truly interactive applications should also be 'intelligent' enough to respond to human input
Java: a programming language which enables developers to write software, create programs to run within a web browser and develop server-side applications (eg process forms on a website)
Javascript: a programming or script language developed by Netscape used in website development to create dynamic web pages. Some examples of javascript are mouse rollovers (an image or text that changes when the mouse is rolled over it) and pop-up windows (when a link to a page causes the page to open in a new, customised window)
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): a picture file that can be viewed over the internet
Key Stages: the four age ranges into which the period of compulsory schooling is divided for National Curriculum purposes, ie KS1: 4-7 yrs; KS2: 7-11 yrs; KS3:11-14 yrs; KS4: 14-16 yrs
Lifelong learning: the engagement with education and training throughout one's professional life
Mobile technology: technology, including mobile phones and PDAs, that is small enough to be easily carried or worn on the person
MP3: a music file in which the content is compressed to allow quick transfer across the internet
MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group): a video file that can viewed over the internet
Multimedia: an application or website featuring a variety of different presentation formats, including text, images, video, audio, animations
National Curriculum (NC): the statutory guidelines for the education of all students aged 5 to 16 in state schools in England and Wales (in Scotland, the 5-14 Guidelines apply)
Navigation: the way that one moves from page to page within and between websites on the internet
PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): a small hand-held computer
PVR (Personal Video Recorder): a device that allows you to store television programming on a hard disk drive so that you can access this programming at anytime. The PVR functions like a VCR, except that there is no videotape and it offers more sophisticated recording options and playback features
Pedagogy: the practices and methods of teaching
Prototype: an early version of a new product used usually as a demonstration tool prior to development of full product
QuickTime: Apple's complete technology for handling video, sound, animation, graphics, text, music, and even 360-degree virtual reality (VR) scenes. A gateway for rich media including images, music, MIDI, MP3 and more, QuickTime lets you experience more than 200 kinds of digital media with your Mac or PC and it offers unparalleled quality, ease of use and functionality. QuickTime files can be recognised by their .qt, .mov or .moov file extensions and can be viewed with QuickTime players which usually come packaged with web browsers, or can be downloaded from the Apple website - www.apple.com
RealPlayer: multimedia application used to store, edit and play graphics, sound, video, text and music. See www.realplayer.com
SEN - Special Educational Needs (or Additional Educational Needs): a child with SEN finds it more difficult to learn than others of the same age and usually needs extra support some or all of the time
Shockwave: a technology developed by Macromedia used to create and play back interactive multimedia (eg games) which supports audio, video, animation and text. The Shockwave Player is required to view all shockwave content and can be downloaded from the Macromedia website - www.shockwave.com
Streaming: streaming video is a sequence of 'moving images' that are sent in compressed form over the internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The user needs a player, which is a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker's website
URL: Uniform Resource Locator, a standardized format for giving a pointer to information available from gopher, WWW, and other servers
Walled garden: an application that prevents users from accessing sites or content that is unsuitable or not needed, eg protects children from pornography
Web browser: a program that provides a way to look at and interact with websites. Popular web browsers include Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer |
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