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The National Grid for Learning is a
gateway to educational resources on the Internet. The NGfL
provides a network of selected links to web sites that offer
high quality content and information. Whether you are
learning, supporting, teaching or managing, there are
resources on the NGfL for you.
There are two main ways to find useful
sites on the NGfL - browsing and searching. To browse, choose
one of the three sections from the top of the menu bar on the
left. Use the What are you looking for? section to find
resources of a particular type, such as lesson plans, museum
or library web sites or government information. Where are
you? enables you to find resources such as community grids
for learning, local projects, museums or libraries that are
relevant to a particular UK region. Use Who are you? to
find resources aimed at particular user groups, such as adult
learners, children, parents or teachers.
The three sections are designed to offer a number of different
ways into useful sites, and many sites will be found in more
than one place. If you're not sure which one to start with,
click on one and see whether any of the menu items offered
sound promising.
As well as links to approved sites, the NGfL also contains
news articles, short pieces on new or updated sites (What's
new?), and features. These can be accessed by clicking on the
relevant button in the menu on the left. News, What's new? and
features will also appear in the right-hand menu within the
main sections, where they are relevant to the content of the
sections. Click on the title or headline to read the full
article.
To search the NGfL, type a word or phrase into the search box
that appears in the top right of most screens. You can choose
to search the whole site or only within the section you are
currently in. There are additional search options available
within the Search section, which is accessed by
clicking on the button in the menu on the left. For help with
searching, see the search
help page within the search section.
Icons like this only appear with a description of an
NGfL-approved site, and indicate the age-ranges for which the
site is suitable. This age appropriate labelling has been
introduced to highlight material for learners of different
ages: under 7, 7-11, 11-14, 14-16 and 16+. Children searching
within these categories will find resources particularly
relevant to them, and they will be restricted from accessing
inappropriate or unsafe material - such as educational
resources aimed at older children, unmoderated chat rooms or
open web searches.
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