Illustrated History of the Roman Empire

www.roman-empire.net/

KS3 (Years 7 - 9)

History

This product is published by Illustrated History of the Roman Empire

The site is a very rich source of material and information about aspects of life in the Roman Empire that could be used by pupils at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and beyond. In the main area, the depth and range of information is extensive and could be confusing to pupils. The so-called kids' section is obviously aimed at pupils and there is a lot of material that would be of use. Some specific areas of study - for example, the Roman Army - are only really dealt with in the main section and this could prove problematic to pupils. There is a good range of Primary and Secondary source material. The site is reasonably easy to navigate, although pupils may find themselves using their browser controls rather than the onscreen instructions. The site could easily be used by individual pupils, or pupils working in groups. Teachers would obviously be advised to use the site first and attempt the tasks that they expect pupils to do. The kids' section would have benefited tremendously from its own search engine.

The site is useful, but has very real limitations. Although there is a kids' section, much of the research that pupils will need to carry out at Key Stage 3 will require them to use the main section of the site. The main section is clearly aimed at adult enthusiasts and pupils would find great difficulty in using the information there - the language used is not suitable, the design of the text makes information difficult to access.