Kids on the Net ( http://kidsonthenet.com)
is one of the oldest and foremost sites on the Net for children's
writing. It features writing by children at home and at school
all over the world. It was founded in 1997 as part of the trAce
Online Writing Centre and is now independent.
We encourage children to submit writing of all kinds,
including stories, poems and creative nonfiction, writing about
themselves and their interests, and reviews of books, websites
and events. We especially encourage types of writing which use
new technology such as animation, audio, graphics, hypertext or
Flash. We aim to maintain a safe and secure website and promote
Net Safety for young people.
We offer educational and enjoyable collaborative writing
projects, including Kids' Castle, Monster Motel, The Net Rules!
and others. We are also available to produce and/or host websites
for local and national children's literacy projects or education.
Contact us for details.
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Aims
- To give children an international voice on the internet in
a safe and supportive environment
- To encourage the use of the internet to develop young people's
writing and reading
- To encourage young people to read and be aware of new media
writing and art
- To help young people to create writing specifically for new
media including the web
- To provide resources to the education community to support
the use of the internet in teaching literacy, reading and writing
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Background
Kids on the Net is supported by Reach Further Ltd.
Experian sponsored the site from 1998-2004 as part of their support
of
local community
and
education
initiatives.
Kids on
the Net has grown year on year and now contains contributions
by hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world.
Kids on the Net has over a million visitors a year and a national
and international reputation. It has a lot to offer sponsors
-
please contact us for more information.
Our potential for excellence in supporting the teaching of literacy,
reading and writing in schools was recognised in 2003 when,
in association with the trAce Online Writing
Centre, we were awarded a
major education grant by NESTA
(the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts)
for the project Writers for the Future, part of which was used
to fund a teacher in residence creating resources for UK teachers
based on the Kids on the Net site - check out Dragonsville and
Adventure Island.
We were able to offer more opportunities for children to be inspired
to read and write, as well as resources for teachers that focus
on the National Literacy Strategy and the curriculum for reading
and writing.
Kids on the Net encourages submissions from children
at home or at school all over the world. Respond to something
you've read on the site, or send us work you've written especially
or work that you've done at school and are proud of.
Thanks are due to Rolls-Royce plc for training, arranged
through Arts & Business.
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Kids on the Net Editor: Helen
Whitehead
Helen
Whitehead is a writer and editor of educational books and websites
and an elearning and educational ICT consultant.
She has been Editor of Kids on the Net since 1997. She has led
collaborative webwriting projects and has taught webwriting
and
the Internet to all age groups, from Key Stage 1 to silver surfers.
She has run education workshops with children and teachers in
schools, libraries, community centres and arts venues, and has
been a digital writer in residence in several schools and a
library
authority. She has taught Writing and the Internet at the Arvon
Foundation residential writing courses in Yorkshire, UK. In
2000/2001 she
was the recipient of a UK Year of the Artist Award to create
a website Web Warp & Weft, based on stories from textile
workers and the many correlations between textiles and computers
from
the Jacquard loom up to date. Helen lives with her husband and
teenage son in Nottingham. She
is an Elearning Consultant with Reach Further Ltd. and specialises
in Web 2.0 and online learning communities.
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