BBC Jam

BBC launches learning site
The BBC is launching a new learning service for five to 16-year-olds this weekend.

BBC Jam aims primarily to put children in charge of what, when, where and how they want to learn, although it also hopes to encourage parents to be more involved in their children's education. The service will combine curriculum-based activities, video games, audio and animation. It works best with a broadband connection but will still function with dial-up services as it detects what speed a user has the first time they log on and remembers the settings for subsequent visits.

There will be 20 topics throughout the year. The first six are maths and English for five to seven-year-olds, science for seven to nine-year-olds, geography for seven to 11-year-olds, French for 11 to 14-year-olds and business studies for 14 to 16-year-olds.

It will continue to add content and topics covering all areas of the national curriculum until the autumn of 2008, making it the BBC's most comprehensive education service. It is available free of charge at any time.

Mark Thompson, BBC director-general, said in a statement: "Learning has been one of the three pillars of the BBC since the 1920s and it remains so today.

"I'm extremely proud that we have been able to design a service in discussion with the young people who will use it, to bridge the gap between home and the classroom by creating something innovative and distinctive which really works for them."