Submissions from the public have helped Oxford University academics put together a hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasures. Yet, there is no need to get your metal detectors out. The hoard in question is the worlds largest online archive of material concerning the Anglo-Saxons.
The virtual treasure consists of digital objects related to the teaching, study, or research of Old English and the Anglo-Saxon period of history, which will be made available online for free.
Project Woruldhord (Old English for world hoard), which called on the public to submit Anglo-Saxon teaching material after being inspired by the level of interest surrounding the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard, has received between three and four thousand objects since opening in July.
The success of Project Woruldhord shows that the level of interest in the discovery of the Staffordshire hoard was not a one-off, said Dr Anna Caughey of the Faculty of English Language and Literature.
We have been amazed by the enthusiasm among the general public for the Anglo-Saxon period people of all ages have gone out and found Anglo-Saxon remnants in their area, recorded and photographed them and submitted them to the archive.
The materials submitted will be made freely available worldwide for educational purposes on the Project Woruldhord website. The Oxford team hopes the Woruldhord will prove to be a valuable teaching resource, allowing teachers and children and the wider public to access videos, recordings and images relating to the Anglo-Saxons and even teach themselves Old English.
Another interesting submission to the archive is Old English in Middle-Earth, which describes the influence of the Anglo-Saxons on Tolkiens characters, stories and language in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Project Woruldhord Archive Highlights
Highlights of the archive include some of the finds from CSI Sittingbourne,previously unreleased pictures and X-rays of artefacts in the Staffordshire hoard and fromSutton Hoo, Anglo-Saxon land charters including a forged land document, Oxford University exam papers in Old English from the 19th Century and a 1966 TV film on the Anglo-Saxons, ‘1065 and all that’ -which hasn’t been seen for 44 years.
One contributor even designed, built and played an Anglo-Saxon lute for a video objects like this will be a great resource for teachers to get pupils to engage with this period, which is currently under-represented on schools curriculums, said Caughey.
Another interesting submission – and so far, my favourite -is Old English in Middle-Earth, a study guide to the Anglo-Saxon language which describes the influence of the Anglo-Saxons on Tolkiens characters, stories andspeech in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
If you want to speak like the Anglo-Saxons it will take a much more detailed course than this short introduction to learn all the grammar, but you can learn some sounds and some words and phrases that are of particular interest as you read The Lord of the Rings, reads the guide.
If you want to contribute to the digital hoard, you’ll need to hurry. Although the project won’t go live until later this year, the archive stops taking submissions today. Fittingly, as October 14this the date on which in 1066 the Battle of Hastings signalled the end of the Anglo-Saxon period (if you want to learn more about the shifts caused bythe Norman conquest, the PASEDomesday digital archive might be a good place to start).
My meagre contributions to Project Woruddhord? A picture of the York Helmet’s (beautifully crafted!) crest detail and the suggestion they ask Professor Drout if they can add his ‘Anglo-Saxon Aloud’ readings to the Woruldhord archive.
Almost 2,000 years after its last native speakers disappeared, the sound of Ancient Babylonian makes a comeback in an online audio archive. The recordings include excerpts from some of the earliest known works of world literature, dating back to the first years of the second millennium BC.
Prompted by the enquiries of curious colleagues and friends, Dr. Martin Worthington, an expert in Babylonian and Assyrian grammar from the University of Cambridge, has begun to record readings of Babylonian poems, myths and other texts in the original tongue. In an effort to present users with a variety of voices, the readings available online for freeat www.speechisfire.com are given by Dr. Worthington’s fellow Assyriologists.
Babylonian is one of two variants (or dialects) of Akkadian, the other being Assyrian. Akkadian became the ‘lingua franca’ of the Near East around, until its usebegan to decline around the 8th century BC. The last Akkadian cuneiform document dates to the 1st century AD.
Dr Worthington’s hope is that having heard the sound of the extinct language the earliest attested Semitic language, some listeners will be sufficiently intrigued to investigate further, and perhaps end up studying the history, language or culture of the period.
“Whenever I tell people what I do, the first question they ask is what did Babylonian sound like, and how do you know?” Dr. Worthington said. “In the end I decided that the best thing to do would be to create a resource where they can listen to it for themselves.”
It’s essentially detective work,” Dr. Worthington said. “We will never know for sure that a Babylonian would have approved of our attempts at pronunciation, but by looking at the original sources closely, we can make a pretty good guess.
“I also wanted to dispel some long-standing myths. Many people think that the further you go back in history, the less you know about it. In fact, we have masses of information about the Babylonians. The site aims to give users a taste of the richness and complexity of Ancient Mesopotamian culture, which is not something you normally learn much about at school.”
The existing collection focuses on poetry in particular. Most of this is known from cuneiform inscriptions found on clay tablets in the area that was once Mesopotamia, and now comprises Iraq, as well as parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran.
“In many cases they are the equivalent of Old English tales like Beowulf,” Dr. Worthington added. “Through them, we meet gods, giants, monsters and all sorts of other weird and wonderful creatures. As stories they are amazing fun.”
Many also bear parallels with Biblical tales. TabletXI of The Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, contains a deluge story; Utanapishtim tells the hero-king Gilgamesh how he was instructed by the gods to prepare a boat ahead of a great flood,andto put on board “the seed of all living creatures”.
Beyond literature and poetry, the site has also contains other important documents from the period. Part of the Codex Hammurabi, for example, the ancient law code from 1790 BC, can be both read and heard – although you are (not yet) treated to all 281 of the laws and parallel punishments Hammurabi had listed.
Working out how Babylonian, or any dead language, sounded relies on a variety of strategies and techniques. In some cases, researchers can use Babylonian and Assyrian words transcribed into alphabets other than cuneiform, but often the sound is forensically deduced through the careful study of letter combinations and spelling patterns, using the original Cuneiform texts.
“It’s essentially detective work,” Dr. Worthington said. “We will never know for sure that a Babylonian would have approved of our attempts at pronunciation, but by looking at the original sources closely, we can make a pretty good guess.”
Thirty recordings have been released so far and more are currently being prepared. While you’re waiting for those to be released orif you’d decide Ancient Babylonian is not your thing, whynot try some Anglo-Saxon aloud?
We are testing out a new way to let visitors see and explore great discoveries and artefacts online virtually. The new viewer runs right inside your browser, so there is no need for downloading a new application. You will need to add the Unity3D plug-in (sort of like Flash) to your browser unless you already have it.
We are releasing this first areas “the Gallery Preview” as Alpha now and appreciate . You will need to Register/Login now to have a look, but once we get some feedback we will make the public. There is only one type of avatar, so it might be a little confusing when you run into other visitors. Have fun, click and try to break it! More technical information about this prototype can be found on our company blog http://rezzable.net .
You need to be a registereduser to use the demo. So, please,REGISTER(don’t worry, it’s free) or LOGIN
As a wise man once said, “Education costs money, but then so does ignorance.” The first part of the maxim isn’t so true any more as online resources and information proliferate, making it free and easy for everyone to learn online if they want to. There are now a number of courses online on Roman history and architecture too and they’re from respected universities, given by well known experts in their field.
Yale professor and expert on the art and architecture of the ancient Romans Diana Kleiner, lectures on architecture and urban spaces in the Roman world, with the political history of the empire inevitably covered as well. Her lectures are clear and engaging with a series of visual aids from Google Earth and reconstructions, as well as Kleiner’s own photos. She discusses Roman town planning, Greek architectural influences, Roman architectural art and some of the finest Roman structures surviving today, such as the aqueduct at Segovia in Spain and the Pont du Gard at Nimes and the amphitheatre at Pompeii (the model for the Yale Bowl).
Other universities are also offering free learning online. Berkeley’s series of about 40 lectures are audio only but cover a wide range of topics between Augustus and Constantine, including slavery, the status of women and inflation during the Roman empire.
There is also education material available for younger learners as well as those who want a more general introduction to Roman history. The Open University’s online educational material The Roman Empire: introducing some key terms gives an introduction to the subject and includes a short video, discussion points and an essay on Roman identity and culture. Perhaps for a younger range of learners, the BBC also has material on the Roman Empire including Roman online battle games, 3D reconstructions and reading material and collections of images such as Roman mosaics produced by Roman military historian Dr Mike Ibeji.
Exciting new web event and content series the Ancient World in London comes to an end very soon. Started at February 2010, the project is sponsored exclusively by Addison Lee, London’s largest minicab service. During the three months we hope we have inspired people to set out for adventures and make their own great historical discoveries either live in London or online.
Ancient World in London featured a variety of events, and a fabulous series of videos. It all started when we searched for the face of Heritage Key and were overwhelmed by the responses we received from keen explorers.
Since then, our Heritage Key presenters and video crew have trawled all over London and further to give site users a different perspective of the ancient roots of our modern city. In addition, the site has been bulging with blogposts, competitions, and live events, with the added thrill of the promise of the grand prize.
Here are some of our best bits…
Virtual Experience
What we were looking for were images that captured the way in which the ancient world is revealed in the modern day
Heritage Key’s Virtual Experience brought an extra dimension to our package of web content. Heritage Key Grid – running on OpenSim with some extra magic added to it – shows ancient Egypt, the Valley of the Kings, the treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb and, most recently added, Stonehenge. It is easy to REGISTERand have a look at what we have created.
Users are able to interact in an immersive space and share their experiences with your friends and other like-minded people. Throughout the series we had daily live tours and quests in Virtual Stonehenge, plus our own book discussions.
We also brought to you some live musicians who performed live from different parts of the world to the Heritage Key Audience. One of these live music events was particularly special as it was for a good cause – to raise funds to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Singer and songwriter Kirsty Hawkshaw performed a live concert to raise money in aid of the crisis in Haiti on Saturday 27th March. Heritage Key streamed the concert at Stonehenge Virtual where the online audience could listen and donate to the cause online (Watch the Promo video). It was a fantastic night which raised over 700 for the Foundry/Haiti fund. Donations were made both at the venue and online from people who listened to the concert from around the world in Heritage Key Virtual.
Our photography competition for photos taken in Heritage Key Virtual was a very popular challenge. With stunning landscapes, awesome costumes and plenty of wildlife, HKVirtual is an area well worth ‘snapshotting’. We had some amazing shots taken by some incredibly talented photographers. Check out our Heritage Key Virtual Flickr group to have sense of what you can achieve also in the virtual environment.
Online
Creative and Fun
We had some really fun contests along the way. Our Valentine’s Day special was my favourite one: we asked our audience to be original as well as historical and create an ancient-style personal ad. Some very clever ads were submitted, but the winner was Loki Popinjay with his ever-so-funny entry ‘Young man, well connected, in possession of fig leave and spare rib is looking for young lady with an apple and a hunger for knowledge to get humanity started. Pets no objection’. Loki won a romantic meal for two in Stonehenge Virtual, with live music thrown in.
Quizzes
We also had some brain teasers. Users could test their knowledge, and win points, with our popular online London quizzes.Ancient World in London quizzes help you test all that you’ve learned throughout the series, and turbo boost you right up the points leaderboard. We had Prehistoric London Quiz, Roman London Quiz and many more. They’re still available, so why not take the test and find out how much you really know about ancient London?
Photography Challenges:
One popular competition which rolled out online and on the ground was the photography contest series. The competition series started with Ancient World in London Spotted. We asked our readers to simply snap photos of the ancient sights that they had spotted in and around London. We weren’t looking for high-res professionalism – iPhone quality was fine – which made it so easy to participate. What we were looking for were images that captured the way in which the ancient world is revealed in the modern day. Our first winner was Daveograve with his fantastic take on the Egyptian Sphinx at Embankment (see the image above). We had many more photography competitions with fun themes around London such as Boudicca Spotted in London, and Spot the City of London Griffins. Visit our Ancient World inLondon Flickr photo pool to see more excellent entries, or check some of the images below.
We had some very interesting responses to the bloggers challenges, which opened us up to many expert bloggers’ ideas and insights. We believe that these community challenges bring the best out of the web community in many ways, and will definitely keep the series running.
In London
Lectures
Heritage Key hosted an amazing lecture by Professor Paul Murdin live in London. Professor Murdin is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, former President of the European Astronomical Society and Visiting Professor at John Moores University, Liverpool, and he currently works at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. The talk, entitled ‘Unlocking the Wonders of Astronomy’, showed how man’s obsession with the heavens has endured for thousands of years, from the first cities of Sumer to the technological breakthroughs of today’s most powerful nations. The presentation was held at Cicada, a hip restaurant in the heart of the City of London. Watch the video that covers the interview with Paul Murdin here, or click the image on the right.
First ever interview with the London Stone:
Ever felt like you’ve been speaking to a brick wall? Well, we really have been! We hooked up with the London Stone on Twitter and asked it all we wanted to know so that our followers on twitter could experience it live. And though you can get a huge dose of the stone’s history in our inaugural Ancient World in London video, this was a web event not to be missed.
We have been to the London Stone many times as we were filming some of the videos there, so we have been introduced before. Learn more about the interview that took place live on twitter here.
Pub Quiz
We organised a pub Quiz on April Fool’s day with the Heritage Key Crew at the Red Lion – one of the oldest pubs in the city. It was a fun gathering where people could learn some interesting and important facts about London, win some great prizes, or just simply learn a bit more and have a couple pints with the Heritage Key Crew.
So, I think the above covers only some of the events that we have run during the exciting three months of the Ancient World in London series. As we come to an end we are getting very close to revealing the winner of the Grand prize, sponsored by Turkey holiday specialist HolidayMate – a week’s holiday for two in Turkey.
How do we create virtual entertainment that’s meaningful, yet still fun enough without guns or sex? Is it possible? This is the question we asked three weeks ago, when we invited many game designers, education specialists and anyone interested in the future of our young generations to share their thoughts.
We received a very balanced variety of thoughts on the subject. Here, I will outline some of the thoughts that were presented, and, of course, announce the winner of this particular Bloggers Challenge, before letting you know about the next theme.
I follow Rik’s blog Betterverse: Nonprofits in the Virtual World, where Rik covers issues relating to virtual worlds and education. His post Are Kids Abandoning Toys for Online Worlds a Good Thing? really grabbed my attention right at the time when I was asking exactly the same question myself. As a mother of two young boys I experience the same thing. Kids would rather play on the computer, Wii or their Nintendo than with their Playmobil or Lego. I try to limit the amount of time they spend each week and all this time still question if the electronic games are in any way harming or actually simulating my kids. Rik’s entry to the Blogger Challenge was on What Online Education Projects Can Learn from Popular Games.
I’m not advocating the end of reading Shakespeare; I am advocating “living” Shakespeare while reading the plays.
Rik states that: ‘In fact, a lot of learning happens even in the most violent games like Grand Theft Auto and God of War.’ He claims thatthinking, strategic focus, resource allocation, and other skills beyond simply reaction time and hand-eye-coordination are all being developed through the gameplay. But at what expense? In my opinion, games that make crime look cool to young people should not be allowed. I do agree with Rik that there are lot of things that educators can learn from video games, and I am a great fan of his wonderful series I Dig Science (check out the short video about their first camp, I Dig Tanzania). I believe we need more educators like Rik to get our kids involved in science in different ways.
The second entry was from Iggy O who is a faculty member in Rhetoric & Communication Studies at the University of Richmond who has been active in virtual worlds since January, 2007.I also follow his thoughts in his blog In A Strange Land regularly. His entry to the challenge, More Than a Game, suggested getting students involved in roleplay, and creating areas in the virtual world for literature. I can not agree more with Iggy O on his thoughts about incorporating both virtual and real life experiences in education. “What if, instead, we took what is best about that sort of learning–critical thinking and research–and employed them in genres students would forget were “for a class”? I’m not advocating the end of reading Shakespeare; I am advocating “living” Shakespeare while reading the plays.” His project to honour Edgar Allen Poe is simply amazing, and from the look of it it’s been appreciated and well explored by the students too.
The third entry was from Rebecca‘s Hot Tap Media blog withAre Educational Games without Guns any Fun? Rebecca comes in with her personal experience as a non-violent-gamer and explains very clearly why the mainstream games bore her to death and why she is still searching for a game that will make her cry. I think we all would agree with Rebecca on this “By separating entertainment and education we suggest that the two are mutual exclusive, which is just not the case. At pre-school, there is as much emphasis on playing catch or finding out what a policeman does as there is on learning maths and the alphabet everythings educational. Its the same for us grown-ups.” All I can add is that finding the balance right is the hardest challenge.
The next entry is from the wonderful people in eModeration and the blog entry wasSex, Guns and Education? I am more than delighted to find out that we managed to get most people in eModeration to question the subject and managed to hear several opinions on the subject, if not a single clear answer. I had to sympathise with Tia, who wrote: “Oh, Ok, perhaps I’m being a bit overly sensitive! But the violence is SO ubiquitous and just really, really, really tedious to see it played out between my two small humans when screen time has finished …It’s a lively debate that doesn’t look likely to be settled in a hurry” I would highly recommend that you also read the other views on the blogpost, which make an interesting read.
A surprise entry was from a long time gamer Prad Prathivi on Metaversally Speaking and the blog was Learning Through Pixels:Can Education Mix with Games. I found it very interesting that Prad puts great emphasis on the need for games to be addictive. He writes: “So how much education can you fit in a game before it loses that addictive ‘must..complete..now’ feeling? Can you be learning and still stay up 48 hours straight to make it to the final boss?”. I really enjoyed reading about the different examples that he brought into the discussion, and I liked the way he ends his post: “Technology is the future, and education is the key. Can the two be combined? Of course. Interactive games will redefine the way children are taught and as it stands, its a market for the taking“.
Time to Announce the Winner…
The above entries all offered different, interesting thoughts and opinions, and it was difficult to select a winner. However, we thought that the very last entry, by Livius from The History Blog, expressed a particularly strong and balanced response in: How to make history appeal to the gaming generation. I really enjoyed Livius’ in-depth study of the history-based virtual games that are available from different sources. There is one point he makes that I thought was particularly valuable to this discussion: “The question then becomes how do would-be educators tap into this parallel world of learning. Virtual online environments are a great way to explore cultural and historical landmarks that you cant see in person, or which you couldnt possibly explore in the kind of detail the virtual replica provides.”
Livius wins five books of his choice from Thames & Hudson’s current catalogue. He also scoops the usual 100 points for entering, plus a whooping extra 500 points, putting him well on his way towards winning a fabulous holiday in Turkey for two. So congratulations Livius – I will add your points right away.
Still Chance to Win!
Of course, just participating in this event is a great challenge in itself and no winner per se is needed, but it’s always fun to give out prizes, and we have a holiday here to give away! Don’t worry if you didn’t manage to enter this competition in time, Bloggers Challenge 5 is already launched, with the subject of the future of tourism.
We’re looking forward to reading a good range of responses on the issue, so start writing yours now! This week is bonus points week, so there’s never been a better time to start participating in Ancient World in London.
The grand finale of the Ancient World in London series is approaching and one lucky explorer will be walking away with the grand prize – a holiday in Fethiye, Ovacik, Turkey, courtesy of HolidayMate. To be in with a chance, you will need 1066 points. To thank all you AWiL participants for your tireless explorations, we’re offering special bonus points this week to increase your chance of scooping this amazing holiday.
The prize is a breathtaking holiday for 2 people for 7 nights on the sunny shores of Ovacik, Turkey. The lucky winners will be treated to 4 star bed and breakfast accommodation at Green Anatolia Hotel, Fethiye – Ovacik. All flights from the UK to Dalaman are included, along with airport transfers. Your stay will also cover a two day tour of ancient Lycian sites around Dalyan. The flights are out of the UK airports only but if you are living outside of the UK don’t worry – you can either travel to London or give the holiday prize to a friend to enjoy who is actually living in the UK.
Take a photo of Heritage Key Virtual or Ancient World in London group.Upload it to our Flickr Groupor to Ancient World In London Flickr group and you can earn 100 points for each photo uploaded (click here for more details of this competition)
Tell us in 140 characters why you would like to win our holiday in Turkey and tweet your reason using the hashtag #awil – we will grant you 250 points just for tweeting, and the most creative tweet of the lot will earn a whopping 500 points!
There are the other ways to earn extra points this week. In fact, all the usual ways in which you can earn points have been given a boost, making this the best time ever to participate in Heritage Key.
How to Earn Bonus Points This Week:
Registering on Heritage Key. Do you know what year London was founded? That is the number of points you’ll get just for registering. Start here.
Asking your friends to join us. Share your favourite locations with them and see who can make it to 1066 first. You get10 points for each friend you invite, and a dashing 100 points when they sign up. There is a limit to the number of friends you can invite to the site, so we suggest you choose the 20 most fun ones.
Sharing your opinion.Some people are shy about commenting on history. To help you overcome your fear of commenting, we’ll grant you 10 points for each comment. Have you seen a good film (Avatar comes to mind) or read a good book?Your opinion and rating on a publication gets you 20 points.
Correcting us. We admit we sometimes make mistakes. Point out an obvious flaw – one that cannot be debated – in an article or blogpost, and be rewarded with our eternal gratitude and 50 points.
Not abandoning us!Once a week, for logging in to Heritage Key, we will reward you with 10 users points.
You have until midnight on 30th April to take advantage of this points giveaway.
Check out our things to do page regularly to follow what we are doing and what’s planned.
Last weekend I went to Hadrian’s Wall to document what turned out to be a remarkable event. The plan was to shoot as many great photos as I could. But when your subject stretches across 84 miles, and includes 20,000 people, not to mention millennia of history… where does a photographer start? Here are the results of my attempts to capture Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall on camera. (Heritage Key also took the video camera along, watch the report here.)
As I entered Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend, Newcastle, I was met by half a dozen armour-clad Roman soldiers wielding spears, swords and shields. This was no time for sightseeing though, as the area surrounding the fort was being primed with hundreds of huge fireworks. This ambitious event involved the lighting of some 500 volunteer-manned gas beacons across the entire length of the wall, spanning the width of the country, from Tyneside to Cumbria.
The whole thing was to begin in Wallsend, where the first beacon would be lit. The spectating public began to arrive in droves, and within an hour the 2000 capacity of the fort was met. Armed with my Canon 450D I got some shots of people arriving that I think really capture the building sense of unknown excitement. A spectacular turnout meant that another 2000 crowded alongside the adjacent road to view the show. From the glass observation tower above the fort, local musicians played and narrated whilst from the rooftop, costumed actors responded in turn.
One of my favourite shots is of a couple watching the act from a window in the fort’s museum. I was perched up on the balcony of the tower taking photos for much of the celebration. As a photographer covering the event I’d managed to gain access to the tower and had an excellent vantage point. Some of the images demonstrate this sense of height, whilst exhibiting the crowds engagement with the musicians playing high above them.
Something to contend with facing the crowds was the glaring sun. However, the occasional cloud and different angles allowed for some shots with deeper colour and texture. At 5.45pm, the finale began with the emergence of costumed angels from the very top of the 100ft glass tower. As they towered above the cheering crowd the procession of soldiers escorted a blazing torch to light the first of 500 beacons. I managed to capture the soldiers in procession with torches in hand.
From this first beacon the fireworks lit the sky and a crescendo of light and sound ran along the wall while a hovering helicopter began its coast to coast journey documenting the chain reaction. For the next hour the beacons, at 250m intervals, would be lit one after the other, culminating at the other side of the country. The illumination of Hadrians Wall had begun.
Driving away from Segedunum my route was ablaze as I followed the route of the former wall. Even where the wall doesnt physically exist today, it was reconstructed for that night. The lighting-up of the wall gave a tangible reminder of how close the history of Roman Britain is to us. Being half-Scottish I wasnt chased away by the Roman soldiers that had greeted me, as I might have been 1600 years ago, nor was I dismayed at the celebration of Europes largest ancient monument, that kept my countrymen out. On the contrary, I must admit a certain amount of pride exists; after all it was here that the mighty Roman Empire was held-back! Either way, this history is something to be celebrated, and the illumination of Hadrians Wall did just that.
If you love photography and want to see your images on screen, you can always add them to our Flickr pool. You can win points and prizes by taking part in our Ancient World in London series of quests. Find out what’s happening now, and start earning your way towards the grand prize.
Long gone are the days of school children creating minor masterpieces in art class only to take them home for mum to pin on the fridge. Pioneered as part of a wider initiative to discover innovative ways of bringing new technologies and computer games-based learning into the classroom in Scotland, CANVAS (Childrens Art at the National Virtual Arena of Scotland) will allow Scottish school kids the chance to display their work to thousands of other pupils in a specially-designed, safe and secure online domain. Better still, theyll then be able to create their own avatars and discuss their creations in-world.
Long gone are the days of school children creating minor masterpieces in art class only to take them home for mum to pin on the fridge.
Each of Scotlands 32 local authorities will have a separate room within the gallery, and each authority will be left to decide individually how best to make use of the space. CANVAS will additionally feature areas fulfilling other functions, such as transmitting curriculum information to pupils and teaching good practice in online domains. There will eventually be a seminar space too, capable of seating up to 150 avatars. Not all kids will be able to remain in-world at all times, so a function is being setup whereby pupils can record and upload a short video introducing their work. The creation of these videos in itself is expected to prove a rich learning experience. Each artist will also have their own forum, where they can pick up and respond to comments on their work.
We believe, writes LTSs New Technologies Development Officer Derek Robertson on the Consolarium blog, that the participative nature of the (CANVAS) design will offer a context in which young learners experiences, thoughts and understanding of their own work and development can be enriched and enhanced by the proposed opportunity for dialogue and discussion that the world offers.
Submissions from the public have helped Oxford University academics put together a hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasures. Yet, there is no need to get your metal detectors out. The hoard in question is the worlds largest online archive of material concerning the Anglo-Saxons. 
We are testing out a new way to let visitors see and explore great discoveries and artefacts online virtually. The new viewer runs right inside your browser, so there is no need for downloading a new application. You will need to add the Unity3D plug-in (sort of like Flash) to your browser unless you already have it.
