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A family holiday is a good resource for the creation of a multimedia record of activities. Photographs form the basis on the record. Scanning these into the computer provides opportunities for creative additions, including a spoken commentary, background sounds and animation techniques, or the production of a montage of images. The holiday-maker can also collect artefacts which they can later scan into the computer. They should ensure they always carry a notebook to record stories or information they are likely to forget.

A new Palestinian curriculum introduced in 2000 that included Information and Communications Technology (ICT) brought an immediate need for schools to introduce computer rooms. A report on how a lack of computers is forcing teachers in the West Bank to look at more creative ways of teaching the technology curriculum is presented.

Year 10 classes in three Hackney schools in east London, UK participated in a pilot project called Genetics and Citizens run by Highwire City Learning Center and funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of its Society Awards to develop a unit work for the science and citizenship curricula. The project aims to engage students with ethical issues about different aspects of genetics and help them develop skills to analyze complex positions.

Groups of young film-makers in the UK, Cyprus, Palestine and Israel have been making films to exchange with eachother. The aim of the Give Peace a Chance project was to try to mediate between nations using digital video.

The Highwire City Learning Centre has developed a project which uses digital technologies as part of the school citizenship curriculum. The project has been piloted by Kingland School and Clapton Girls' Technology College in the London borough of Hackney. The project ensures that ICT is an integral part of the subject matter.

Learning how to shoot, edit and present video clips is an important skill for technology students, enabling different areas of the national curriculum to be discussed, such as political history, art design and marketing.

Hackney City Learning Centres is currently involved in the Talking About barriers project. The project's aim is to help children from different ethnic backgrounds to discuss differences and share their hopes and fears.

An overview of the Talking About Barriers project, a documentary film-making project involving teams of 16-year-old novice film-makers and developed by Highwire, Hackney's City Learning Centre. As part of the project, teams from ethnic groups in the UK, Cyprus, Israel and Palestine will make wordless documentaries that illustrate the mental, physical and cultural barriers between them.

An overview of the 'Talking About Barriers' project and how it is uses digital film making to get students to develop an understanding of other groups with which they are in conflict. As part of the project, young people in conflict situations in areas such as Cyprus, Israel/Palestine and London will make short films about the barriers they perceive between themselves and those are in conflict with.

An analysis of how teachers can evaluate digital video work done by students. It is suggested that, as making digital movies is a collaborative task, the evaluation must be twofold: firstly, group evaluation in which all group members are evaluated as equal; and secondly, individual evaluation in which each persons understanding of the project is considered.

Successful classroom multimedia projects require 10 basic elements, such as sound planning, early brainstorming for ideas and research. If video is meant to go on a Web page, background images and textual information must also be identified. Students must develop a storyboard or order of events. Rehearsing role play and filming is essential. Editing can be the most time-consuming aspect. Videos should be shown to a member of the target audience to receive feedback. The outcome must be evaluated against initial criteria.

Digital video technology is becoming increasingly popular as a learning tool in the classroom. The article sets forth a ten-point guide to digital video shooting technique for teachers.

Price and availability are making digital video a good option as a teaching tool. The article describes multiple ways in which the technology can be used to engage student's imagination in a positive manner when applied to subjects as diverse as history, literature, creative writing and science.

There are a number of ways in which items brought back from a summer holiday can be used to create a multimedia 'virtual' holiday or converted into multimedia 'virtual' curriculum work. A project of this kind must be carefully planned, and the work will probably be undertaken on a group basis. Much of the multimedia work does not have to take place on computer, and different groups can input their work into the computer at different times.

Multimedia production is exciting and motivational for school children but, to enhance its educational value, teachers should ensure that the children are learning more than the IT techniques involved. The children should be absorbing the subject information and, at more advanced stages, they should be giving careful consideration to aiming their material at a target audience.

Multimedia authoring is beginning to play a significant role in the work of many UK schools. Pupils have become very talented at putting together interactive presentations, and have learned to target their work at particular audiences. Multimedia projects generally make pupils extremely motivated, and they benefit greatly from the discipline of thinking interactively. It is clear that multimedia authoring can have a significant impact on both learning and teaching.

Multimedia can play a valuable role in classroom projects, being used either to organize facts, or to bring together pupils' creative ideas, or a mixture of both. The project may be planned by the class working as a single unit, or different groups within the class may be made responsible for different parts of the project. Multimedia is particularly attractive because it does not need to be sequential, and can be in a number of different formats.

The Techtots pre-school and early years programme on Vancouver Island, BC, makes extensive use of multimedia computers and the Internet. The establishment, which takes children aged between two-and-a-half and seven, gives each pupil at least one half-hour computer session each morning and afternoon. The overall aim is for children to use computers in just the same way as they would use any toy or piece of educational equipment.

Students at 10 schools in Hackney, northeast London, have contributed group projects to a CD-ROM titled 'Reaching for the Stars.' Year 2 pupils at Queensbridge Infants School created 'Going Wild with Animals,' building an entertaining multimedia program for infants. Year 6 girls at De Beauvoir School created 'Wartime Women,' about how women affected and were affected by World War Two. Pupils at St Monica's primary put together 'Is There Life in Space?', which examines that question through a trip around the Solar System.

The article examines the history of Jewish prostitution in Great Britain as depicted in several Yiddish folk songs. In the song "Di Dray Shvester," by Morris Winchevsky, the society was blamed for forcing one of the three sisters into prostitution. The opinion of Bill Fishman on the political activist and atheist Winchevsky is also cited. The opinions of such personalities as Bertha Pappenheim and historian Marion Kaplan on the state of Jewish prostitution in the 1900s are also presented.

Reports on the project of high school students in Hackney, London, England to make two-minute videos about different aspects of genetics. Accounts of the project of the Year 10 science class of Homerton; Enhancement of research skills, idea formulation and coherence with the project.

Discusses the use of information technology (IT) in Union City, New Jersey schools. Executive director for academic programs Fred Carrigg's gamble to turn the town around; Change in teaching style; Wide array of changes in the elementary and secondary levels.

Focuses on the introduction of video recordings for school children in the classroom curriculum in England. Approval by the majority of the teachers and school administrators; Motivation for the students to put interest in video recording; Incorporation of video across the curriculum.

Focuses on the use of iMovie software by students in Hackney, London, England for digital video editing. Ease of use; Benefits to students; Variation in the learning outcomes of students using the software; Motivation provided by the technology.

Evaluates Intelplay's QX3 Computer Microscope. Excitement added to pupils' pursuit of science; Design of the microscope; Curriculum applications of the microscope; Capabilities and functions of the device.

Describes how the Internet is changing education in the United States and Canada. Conversion of classrooms; Integration into regular teaching; Teacher training; Electronic mail; Means of communication; Publication of stories.

Discusses the science and mathematics learning projects in the United States of the Boston, Massachusetts-based education research and development center TERC. Includes the Pringles Challenge in which pupils attempted to send a single crisp in the smallest package across the US; Project to build propeller-driven cars made of paper.

Describes the information technology system at the Washington Irving High School in New York City, New York. Distance-learning system; Projects that use the system; Internet projects at the school; Professional development.

Profiles Linda Roberts, technology adviser to the US Department of Education. Development of a national strategy on technology in schools; Goals; Accessibility of the Internet; Project Alphabet Highway; NetDay.

Profiles the mathematics, science and technology magnet school Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland. Specialized courses; Computer support; Use of computers to design computer games and to develop scientific ideas; Maryland Virtual High School; Teachers' establishment of Web pages.

Focuses on the project Using Animation to Help Develop Scientific Concepts launched at the Hackney Primary School in London, England. Importance of discussion among pupils that occur during the collaborative depiction of science concepts; Fostering of concentration and sharing of ideas.

Reviews the computer software The Adventures of Professor Solvadore: Air and Water.