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Ninestiles School in Birmingham has one of the largest wireless school networks in the United Kingdom with most pupils possessing laptops. Eddie Halliday offers affordable ICT teaching ideas for English teachers.

An evaluation of a number online and DVD encyclopedias. Those evaluated include the Encyclopedia Britannica DVD, the Heinemann World Book, the Encarta Premium Suite DVD, the Espresso service, the New International World Guide and the RM Living Library.

An overview of the Notschool.net online scheme for students who are unable to fit in to the normal education system. Notschool is designed for 14 to 16-year-olds who, for reasons varying from exclusion and disaffection to phobia and illness, have been out of school for at least a year. The scheme provides the students with equipment with which to continue their education and the online assistance of mentors and subject experts.

An overview of the success of the pilot online learning service launched by the English Schools Federation in Hong Kong. Teachers who used the system reported an upsurge in motivation and interest from their pupils, as well as increase in collaborations with parents.

Private training organisations have been hit with bills and threats of legal action from Mid-Cheshire college, which managed the Cheshire and Warrington learndirect 'hub' until August 2004, as a result of claims that they failed to recruit and retain the forecast number of students. The organisations deny the claims, with some noting that they are 'laughable' and stating that they will never get involved with learndirect schemes again.

Ivan Lewis, adult skills minister, and Professor Brenda Gourley, vice-chancellor of the Open University, examine the use of e-learning technology in post-16 education. Lewis claims that it is the Government's intention to cut the levels of bureaucracy involved in e-learning and extend ICT to the community learning and adult education sectors while Gourley expresses concerns about the volume of services on the Internet that claim to offer educational services but which in fact do not.

The Tic-Talk language project run from Cambridge University is helping teenagers from England, France, Canada and Senegal to communicate online with each other in English and French. The project makes use of the WebBoard, an Internet-based bulletin board, to enable teenagers to discuss things which they would not cover in their classrooms. The project is led by Dr Michael Evans, senior education lecturer at the university, who places topics for discussion onto the bulletin board around once per week.

An evaluation of the online Living Library educational service from RM. The service has been improved recently, with new content added from a number of educational publishers.

An overview of the concept and technology of virtual learning environments, or learning platforms, and their usage in the UK. It is argued that such technology is the way forward for collaborative education, that it will unite the education system and improve progression for all students to achieve their potential.

An overview of the success of the Global Gateway website, which is run by the British Council on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills and which was established with the aim of helping schools and teachers to establish links with foreign schools, local authorities and governments. Since its launch, the globalgateway.co.uk has seen 41 countries sign up as strategic international partners and has received over 21 million hits.

An overview of the services provided by the online community for the gifted and talented established by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth three years ago. The target of the site, which aims to help widen opportunities for those aged between 11 and 19, was to attract 20,000 members by 20,000, but membership has already reached 75,000.

An evaluation of the Maths-Whizz personal online maths-tutor programme. The service is made available by Whizz Education and costs UKPd299/yr per student.

An overview of the IN ON IT online system, which helps students in London, England, keep up with their education if they are forced to be absent from school for long periods of time. The system, which is run by the London SEN Regional Partnership, operates on the London Grid for Learning, a broadband learning network that allows pupils and tutors to connect from anywhere so long as they have an appropriate connection.

An overview of the online resources provided by the BBC to support its TV show 'Battlefield Britain', which examined eight key battles in British history. It is suggested that the resources offer history teachers a valuable insight into opportunities for following up the TV shows with their students either in class or through visits to local museums and historical sights.

An analysis of the e-learning strategy of the Welsh Government. Jane Davidson, Wales' minister for education and lifelong learning, notes in a report on the country's e-learning strategy that Wales is still only in the early stages of identifying the benefits of technology to the learning process.

An analysis of the viability of using online courses to provide continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers. It is suggested that while online courses may have their place, they will not be able to solve CPD requirements on their own.

GridClub, a secure online community for primary-aged children created by Intuitive Media and Channel 4 and funded by the Government, is to become a direct subscription-based service for schools in England and Wales. The Department for Education and Skills has made the decision that the award-winning service is now properly established and should become independent.

An evaluation of the Mission: Sport website, a subscription website from Loughborough College and LLR Active Sports. The site provides key stage 3 students with a study resource that introduces them to theoretical components of their GCSE while also providing them with practical information about how to develop their sporting interests.

The government's Internet-based computer training course for primary school teachers fails to meet the requirements of the teachers. The training is basic and boring, while feedback is formulaic.

The success of the Thomas Telford school's online learning course has met with a mixed response. Some teachers claim that the course is uninspiring and does little to motive children who are less academic. Other teachers believe that the course provides a less traditional route for children who are disenchanted with academic courses to gain credit for their work.

An overview of a number of websites offering background and biographical information on authors and their works. Websites reviewed include achuka.co.uk, an independent children's book site; randomhouse.com/delray/, which is a science fiction imprint of Random House; fireandwater.com, part of HarperCollins; and payne-gallway.co.uk, which specialises in ICT books and software.