STUDENT SUPPORT INFORMATION/ TEACHING RESOURCES

FOR STUDENTS

Newsdesk: Business Africa provides a wealth of resources that allow you to investigate key issues around Africa and its economic development. We have provided in the attached student support information pack some background information so that you can most effectively use Newsdesk: Business Africa. It is a PDF document so you may need to download the Acrobat Reader from this link.

The document includes: 

• Background information (Africa and the media; Africa and business; outline of the game)
• Details on getting started with the game
• Suggested topics for students to explore
• Details on where to find extra information
• Tips on structuring and writing news feature
• Technical support in running the game
• Details on what to do when a feature is complete

Sample features

VIEW - Low bandwidth version,
for users with dial-up or other slow internet access

VIEW - High bandwidth version, 
for users with broadband internet access

Extra Resources

Newsdesk: Business Africa provides many resources available for you to use in your news feature. It also suggests websites to use to enrich your project with extra factual information.

You may further find the following articles very useful when conducting research for your project.

Investment - Investment Climate Update July 2006
“The bad news has to stop. Africa’s economy is growing, and never before have the private and public sector joined to improve the continent’s investment prospects and its regulatory environment.”  Recent articles on the investment climate in Africa and reasons for optimism.

Tourism – Ai Tourism Investor
Including articles on the economic benefits that the tourism industry can bring to Africa and the growth of the tourism industry in Africa.

Investment in Mineral Resources – Passage to Africa
A report on how India’s corporate giants are investing in Africa.

Finance – Investing and Finance
Reports on the financial climate on the continent including special articles on Nigeria’s banks and the energy boom.

For further similar articles, please see www.africa-investor.com

FOR TEACHERS

General Teaching Guide - View PDF

This guide has been created to support teachers using the Newsdesk software. It aims to offer guidance on how the programme can most effectively be used in the classroom and which teaching subjects would particularly benefit from its application.

The following questions are explored: -

• What is Newsdesk: Business Africa?
• Why was the tool developed?
• Who would benefit from using Newsdesk?
• What topics can a student investigate?
• How does Newsdesk: Business Africa support the UK National Curriculum?
• How long will the programme take?
• What should I do before using the game?
• Should I install the programme?
• How should I structure my lessons?
• Is there any additional support for students?
• What do I do if I have problems running the game?
• Can students exit the programme during a game?
• What do students do once they have completed the game?
• Can students enter more than one feature?
• What do I do if I can't find an answer to my question here?

How Newsdesk fits into the UK curriculum
Mapping - View PDF

Sample lesson plans for teachers
Sample Lesson Plan - View PDF

Technical support guidance
Technical support - View PDF