Web site is top Boro scorer

A pair of University of Teesside students has created a new interactive education web site, which will be used by scores of children throughout Teesside. Zaki Mallasi, 28, and Shahardet Ali, 26, have produced the web site for Middlesbrough Football Club’s Study Support Centre. Both were recruited for the task through the University’s job-shop UNITEC, based in the Students’ Union.

The Department for Education and Employment-funded Centre was launched two years ago, at Middlesbrough FC’s BT Cellnet Riverside stadium. It is part of a National Government drive to motivate children aged 8-14 into learning and raise levels of achievement, particularly in the key areas of numeracy and literacy, and available to children in the East Middlesbrough Education Action Zone.

Rob Gill, Centre Manager, said: “I’m very pleased with Zaki and Shahardet’s work, they’ve gelled really well together. Their design reflects a forward looking, twenty-first century vision of education; it’s interactive with animation and sound.

“Children can navigate themselves through the site by steering virtual handlebars, and it’s accessible to parents and teachers as well. We’ve also had enquiries from government advisers; they want to use this resource as an example of good practice. It’s the way on-line learning should be.”

Zaki is originally from The Sudan and is in the first year of a PhD, which uses the University’s Virtual Reality Centre to explore aspects of construction management. He is an Architect by profession and said: “I’ve never worked with children before, it’s always been academics. Helping to devise new ways of learning has been enjoyable and exciting. I’ve also become a Boro fan.”

Shahardet, from Darlington, will complete his Master of Arts degree in Creative Multimedia in September. He is also Co-Director of Arc Communications, who were initially based in the Business Incubator Units in the University’s Innovation and Virtual Reality Centre. He said: “We’ve enjoyed incorporating football themes into the site, for example we’ve created a football paradise where a football flies about with wings. Hopefully this interactive resource can increase children’s skills in a fun way.”

The new web site can be found at www.mfcstudysupport.co.uk

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