1.0 - About this resource

1.1 - What is the aim of this resource?

The London Grid for Learning has created The Romans in London resource to give London school children an insight into the legacy of the Roman presence in London nearly 2,000 years ago.

1.2 - What does this resource include?

The resource features exclusive access to Roman remains in the City of London, the Museum of London Archaeological Archive and a gladiatorial re-enactment organised by the Museum of London. The resources are all presented in high resolution video and images – allowing teachers and children to explore and immerse themselves in life in Roman London.

The Greater London Map has been created to convey the concept of Roman life being throughout London and still having an impact today. The map interface is designed to inspire learners to explore their own part of London and look for where Roman remains may be located near their home or school.

It helps develop an appreciation of the distribution of Roman sites within the City of London and further out into the suburbs. The main filming locations are all shown on the map key, and because the underlying map interface is built using 'Googlemaps' – 'street view' can be used to explore the modern day locations of some sites with a Roman legacy.

Extensive curriculum material has been produced to support the use of the rich multimedia content; lesson plans and activities have been created by an experienced primary practitioner and offer a wide range of ideas on how to incorporate the online resource into a topic based curriculum.

The resource is split into 6 logical sections that categorise Roman London life. The quantity of video and high resolution photographs will make it impractical for teachers to try and show all the artefacts within a classroom / school context... so an interface has been created that will allow learners to independently explore the full range of material, immersing themselves in the various aspects of the Roman way of life.

1.3 - Who can access this resource?

The resource is available to all LGfL connected schools. No log in is required when accessing from within an LGfL school, and using the LGfL USO log in – access can be provide anytime, anywhere. For schools connected to their learning grid outside of London, access is possible when in school only.

2.0 - System requirements

This website has been designed to work on a wide range of systems but please be aware that it contains a large number of high resolution images and HD videos so loading times may vary depending on the specification of your computer and the speed of your internet connection. Checking the following things can also improve your viewing experience:

2.1 - Screen resolution

The website has been designed to be viewed on a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels but for the best viewing experience you should set your resolution and colours to their highest possible settings. You or your system administrator can do this by going to Control Panel >> Display Settings on your PC.

2.2 - Browser usage

While this website may work on all web browsers, we recommend using one of the following for the best experience:

• • Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 and later - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/downloads/ie.
• • Firefox 3.6 and later - http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx.
• • Safari 3.1 and later - http://www.apple.com/safari.
• • Google Chrome - https://www.google.com/chrome.

If you're having problems, check that you're using the most up-to-date version of your web browser.

This website is not compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 due to the technical limitations and safety concerns of this web browser. For more information about why this web browser isn't supported please take a look at this information released by Microsoft - http://www.ie6countdown.com.

2.3 - JavaScript is enabled

To use some elements of this website you will need to have JavaScript enabled in your web browser. You or your system administrator can do this by doing the following:

2.3.1 - Internet Explorer

Internet Options/Security/Custom Level... and Enable Active Scripting.

2.3.2 - Firefox

Options/Content... and Enable JavaScript.

3.0 - Site Navigation

There are a number of tools available to navigate this website. Every page contains a Contents Menu that slides down from the top of the screen. Access this by clicking the Menu Tab. Click the tab a second time to hide the Menu.

The Contents Menu is a site map and contains a link to every page in the website giving you access to any page you like from any location; it is the fastest way to navigate this site.

The front page also contains a set of quick links to get you to the main sections of the website.

On every page you will also see a set of arrows.

These are forward and back buttons and will move you through an individual section. When you get to the end of a section the arrow will fade out to show you that you can go no further. If you hover the mouse pointer over an arrow for a second you will see a description of the page that the arrow will take you to.

3.1 - Contextual help

The help icon (question mark symbol) on a page indicates that useful information about that page is available. Click the help icon to view this information.

4.0 - Main Content

The main content sections of the website are made up of three elements; a description, a number of activities and some media in the form of video and images and are all relevant to the title at the top of each page.

4.1 - Activities button

To access the activities, hover your mouse pointer over the activities button and they will be revealed. The activities come in a number of different file formats and all have an icon indicating which one they are. The file formats used in this website are as follows:

4.1.1 - Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format .pdf)

To view a PDF file, you will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software installed, you can download Adobe Reader free of charge from the Adobe website. Get Adobe Reader.

4.1.2 - Word (.doc) Documents

To view a Microsoft Word file, you need to have Microsoft Word or Word Viewer installed on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software installed, you can download Microsoft Word Viewer free of charge from the Microsoft Website. Get Microsoft Word Viewer.

4.1.3 - PowerPoint (.ppt)

To view a PowerPoint file you must have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software installed, you can download Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer free of charge from the Microsoft Website. Get Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer.

4.2 - Media

Media is displayed in a slider at the bottom of each page. Use the left and right arrows to scroll through the media available. When no more media is available the arrow will be faded out to show you that you can go no further. There are two types of media available; video or images and both have an icon to indicate which one they are:

4.2.1 - Video

This website uses the latest streaming technology to provide you with a video that is optimised to the specification of your computer and broadband speed. For those with faster computers and higher broadband speeds HD video will be streamed. If the player determines that your computer won't be able to stream in HD quality it will automatically downgrade the video to a more suitable format (note: in some cases you may see a very brief flicker in the picture as the video downgrades). Videos are streamed using the Adobe Flash player and for best results you should make sure you are running the latest version of Flash player on your computer before watching videos on this website. Please note, if you are using the Click To Flash plug-in for Safari then this will need to be disabled in order to watch the videos on this site. Videos can also be played on IOS devices (iPad and iPhone), these do not require Adobe Flash to be able to play. If you are having trouble viewing videos on this website then please check first that both Flash and your web browser are up-to-date and if you are still having trouble please contact the webmaster.

The video player has a number of different elements to it:

The title of the video is displayed in the top left hand corner. The video will start to play automatically but if you wish to pause the video then press the play button in the bottom left hand corner, a pause icon (2 vertical bars) is then displayed instead of the play icon. To resume the video press the play/pause button once more.

The blue bar at the bottom of the player shows you a visual representation of how much of the video has been played already. You can skip to another part of the video by clicking on any a point on this bar. Hover your mouse pointer over the bar for a second so you can see what time that particular point of the video is.

To the right of the blue bar is the video time in minutes and seconds. The first number is the elapsed time and the second is the total time of the video. If you see an HD icon next to the video time it means that the video is currently streaming in HD (high definition) mode.

To adjust the volume, click on the sound button, which is the icon second from the right in the bottom bar.

The button in the bottom right hand corner is the full screen button. Click on this to have the video fill the whole of your screen. Click the button again to return to the original size.

In the top right corner of the player, you will see an Embed Code button. Clicking this will produce some html code (illustrated below) which you can copy and paste into your own website or learning platform so that the video can be viewed directly from your own site.

To return to playing the video after getting the Embed code, click the play button below the code. The arrow buttons below the player window allow you to scroll through any other items within the section you have selected. The X button closes the player window.

4.2.2 - Viewing Images

Images contained in the website can be enlarged for a closer look. When you hover your mouse over an image, a magnifying glass will become visible. This means you can click on that image to see it in detail in the image viewer.

The image viewer looks similar to video player window and will open the image to the maximum size possible on your screen. See the section on screen resolutions for guidance here.

The image viewer has a number of different elements to it:

The title of the image is displayed along the bottom of the image. To hide the image title, click once on the image itself; click again to show the title again. If the image can be enlarged further, then a zoom option will be available and can be found in the top right hand corner of the image. Click on the magnifying glass to zoom into the image. Additionally, by clicking and holding down the mouse button you can drag the image within the viewer to view different parts of it. Clicking on the zoom icon again takes an image back to its original size.

Like the video player, the arrow buttons below the image window allow you to scroll through the other images in the section you have selected. The X button closes the image viewer.

5.0 - The Resource Bank

To view the resource bank, click on the Resource Bank icon on the Home page or in the or in the contents menu.

The Resource Bank is a collection of all the media (video, images) and activities available throughout this website gathered in one place for easy access. It also contains details such as image size, video length and file size of the activities. Due to the quantity of media contained in the Resource Bank it may take a while to load depending on the speed of your internet connection. If you have caching turned on in your browser the speed that this page loads will be considerably reduced after your first visit. You can browse through the collection using the scroll bar on your browser but to make it easier to find what you are looking for there is a filter option at the top of the page. For example if you are looking for something about the Boudica then click the Boudica & Greater London option. Alternatively if you are looking for a video you may want to filter by clicking the All Videos option. To get back to the top of the Resource bank quickly use either of the two up arrows to the left and right of the Resource Bank indicated below.

6.0 - The Timeline

There are a number of different ways to navigate the timeline included in this resource. First, click on the Timeline icon on the Home page or in the contents menu.

You can then use the quick links at the top of the page to skip directly to the date required. You can click on any of the dates in the visible part of the timeline to move to that date or you can use the arrow buttons at either side to scroll back and forth through the dates. The image viewer is also available for all the image thumbnails on the timeline. To enlarge an image, simply click on it. To focus on different parts of an image, click and hold down the left mouse button then drag the image.

7.0 - The Map

To view the map of London, click on the Greater London Map image from the Home page or in the contents menu.

There are three sets of controls used to explore the interactive map included in this resource.

The buttons in the top right corner of the page allow you to show the different items of interest on the map. These are: Find Spots which indicate the location where Roman artefacts have been found. Roman Roads which indicate where the Roman roads would have been. The Show All button shows both of these items at the same time and this is the default option set when you first load the map page.

The Zoom and Pan controls are found in the lower right corner below the map. Use these to zoom in/out and move around the map. As you zoom in you will see all of the London local authorities highlighted with a pin below their name. Alternatively you can use the list of local authority names on the right hand side of the page to zoom directly to the one you are interested in.

You can find more information about Roman finds in a specific local authority by clicking on either the pin or the name tag. The pin will fade in and out when you hover your mouse over a local authority to show that it is clickable.

When you click on one of the local authorities a window will open showing you the detailed information.

This includes a description of any artefacts found in this area and a detailed Google map showing their locations as icons. Use the Show Key button in the bottom left corner to see a key explaining what each icon is, then the Show Text button to make the description visible again. You can click on an icon in the map to see further information.

You can use the Google Map controls in the top left hand corner of the map to zoom in and out or switch to Street View. For more information about using Google Maps visit the Google Maps website.

To see a full screen map of London, click the View Larger Map button in the bottom left corner of the window. The Find Out More button takes you to the Museum of London website where you can find out even more about the history and archaeology of your borough. Finally, use the X button below the window to close it.

8.0 - Feedback

Ultimately, it is for teachers and students to decide how to make the best use of these unique resources. However we would love to hear from users of this site as to how this resource has helped their learning activities.

Please take the time to complete the online feedback form as we are keen to provide relevant resources that meet the needs of modern teaching and learning settings.