ITGS LINKS
Recommended ITGS Links
ITGS news sites
These are the best technology news sites I have found for ITGS related news articles. Teachers and students should read these sites frequently to keep their background knowledge up to date.
The Atlantic
www.theatlantic.com/technology
The Atlantic is one of my favourite sites for ITGS news articles. Its articles are longer than many other sites on this list, but also more detailed and often explain how IT systems work in a way that is perfect for strand 3 of the ITGS triangle.
BBC
The BBC seems to be the go-to example in lists like this. Its articles are always well researched and clearly written, and short enough for reading in ITGS class. However, it is worth bearing in mind that a lot of its articles focus on new product releases or similar events which do not tend to generate the social and ethical issues necessary for ITGS analysis.
New Scientist
New Scientist contains a wide range of articles on the latest IT developments, from computer crime to humanoids. Their topic guides include 60 Seconds - a short round up of stories from the past week. Some articles require a subscription to view in full, but many are free.
Communications of the ACM
The ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) covers a wide range of topics that relate directly to ITGS. Although quite long, the articles are clearly written and give enough technical detail to help students understand how the IT systems involved work - great for understanding strand 3, criterion B on paper 2, and ITGS in general.
Science Daily
www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/
Through its (admittedly somewhat crowded) front page, Science Daily provides access to a wide range of information technology related topics, including hacking, encryption, the Internet, and computer modeling. The articles tends to be at a higher reading level than some of the other sites on this list, but should still be accessible to ITGS students.
MIT Technology Review
The Computing section of Technology Review contains the news articles most likely to be relevant to ITGS students and teachers, but it is also worth periodically checking others sections such as biomedicine too. Because the site focuses on upcoming technology and innovative research (often covering stories long before they appear on other sites), it is great for ethical discussions about the direction of technological development.
EdTech Magazine
EdTech features a great range of articles on the development and use of information technology in education. Their particular focus on social impacts makes them very useful for ITGS. In particular, the K-12 section of the site is useful for classroom discussion material.
PBS Frontline
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline
PBS covers many contemporary news stories, some of which link up with the ITGS syllabus. Recent examples include United States of Secrets, covering US Internet spying, and Generation Like, an investigation into teenagers and social media. The great thing about the PBS stories is their depth: each includes a series of videos and related articles that put the story into context - great for addressing the different strands of the ITGS triangle.
IEEE Spectrum
This is another site I love for articles about leading edge technology articles. IEEE Spectrum has a reputation as a top-quality peer-reviewed publication, yet its articles are generally written in a style that is accessible to most readers. The Robotics and Computing sections are frequently updated and contain a great range of material to stimulate ethical debates in ITGS class.
Wired
Wired covers a lot of product releases and similar stories (which are generally not useful for ITGS), but the articles in their security section have a much greater focus on social impacts, making them very useful.
Newsweek
Newsweek features the some useful articles in its technology and science section. Although the articles do not appear as frequently as other sites, the depth of the investigations means they often cover several strands of the ITGS triangle.
News.com Australia
News Corp's Australia portal features breaking IT news and sometimes has stories not covered by other sites. The articles are long enough to provide sufficient detail, but short enough to be useful for ITGS paper 2 exams with minimal alteration.
The Australian
www.theaustralian.com.au/technology
Another Australian site, which provides an interesting alternative perspective to the predominately US-focused sites. It can be very interesting to look at how major issues (such as government surveillance) are handled compared to the US. The Australian also features regular exclusive stories which investigate issues is more depth.
New York Times Technology Video Library
www.nytimes.com/video/technology/
New York Times Technology Video Library contains short videos that review the latest developments in technology and address common issues.
The New York Times
www.nytimes.com/pages/technology
The New York Times covers the latest developments in information technology, often with a more business-oriented angle. It also features regular in-depth articles. Non-subscribers are limited to viewing a handful of articles for free each month.
The Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/technology
In addition to the latest news articles, the UK's Telegraph also has features about contemporary technology issues, such as dealing with online fraud on eBay or the development of robotics. It is well worth a read as it often covers stories not reported elsewhere.
Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald covers popular IT stories as well as Australian issues. Its IT page is dvidied into several sections - including 'Digital Life' and 'IT Pro' - each of which have a slightly different focus.
The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/technology
The Guardian features the usual range of IT news articles, but it is worth visiting for the occasional feature or video that cover less well-trodden topics.
ITGS specific sites
Online Curriculum Centre (OCC)
Online Curriculum Centre (OCC) is the IB's very active ITGS forum (for ITGS teachers only)
ITGSopedia
ITGSopedia is a collection of links for many ITGS topics
General IT reference sites for students and teachers
CommonCraft
Common Craft Creators of the "In Plain English" videos which clearly explain many technological concepts.
HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks Clear text and diagrams which explain many, many different concepts.
Encyclopaedia Britanica
Encyclopaedia Britanica Still a useful quick reference for many technical topics.
IGCSE ICT
IGCSE ICT Revision material that can help with computer fundamentals topics.
TeachICT
Teach ICT's A-Level Computing and ICT sections contain some information relevant to ITGS.
Sites for students
EasyBib
EasyBib makes it very easy to create and manage bibliographies
Sites for teachers
The following sites contain lesson plans, ideas, and activities for ITGS lessons. While they may not be directly targeted at ITGS, they still contain a large amount of useful and interesting material.
Computer Science Unplugged
Computer Science Unplugged Lesson ideas for teaching technical topics including compression and encryption.
Computer Science 4 Fun (CS4FN)
Computer Science for Fun (CS4FN) Lesson plans for many artificial intelligence related topics.
Computing Science Inside
Computing Science Inside Excellent lesson plans for topics including web page ranking and artificial intelligence.