How did PsYonline start?

Back in 2002, Mike and Christine Davis were on a train journey discussing how difficult it was for students to find quality Internet resources related to psychology. “Wouldn’t it be great”, one of them said, “if there was a central index for psychology websites”. And so, PsYonline was born…

In July 2003, with funding from the DfES Building Bridges Scheme, the PsYonline Partnership Team of teachers, researchers and academics met for the first time to discuss objectives. The aim was simple: to develop a central index of existing psychology websites for the AQA(A) A Level psychology syllabus.

Several months and a great deal of hard work later, PsYonline was officially launched on the 4th May 2004 with an event at Edge Hill University. The AS part of the site was complete and A2 material was under development, most of which was added in the following 6 months.

From humble beginnings PsYonline has grown to an extensive resource for both students and teachers. In September 2005, PsYonline launched a new, password secure, Teachers’ Area. This has proved highly successful, with over 470 teachers signing up in the first year alone.

What is clear is that PsYonline is much bigger and more successful than we could have ever imagined. Looking at our initial objectives and to the site before us now, we can hardly believe what we are looking at. Thank you to everyone who has made PsYonline possible, including our thousands of users.

Visit our PsYonline Now page to find out more about what can be found on the PsYonline website today.

Who made PsYonline?

During the first three years of its existence PsYonline was designed, created and maintained by a Partnership team comprising teachers of A level psychology together with researchers and academics from Edge Hill University. At the end of July 2005 the Partnership was dissolved to make way for a new management structure and for new ways in which more schools can partner with us. You can read more about this on the PsYonline Now page.

If you would like to find out about the people who made PsYonline possible please click on a logo below.

	Arnold School
	Cardinal Newman
	Clitheroe Royal Grammar
	Edge Hill University
	Kirkham Grammar
	Lytham St Annes High
	Wirral Grammar

What is the aim of PsYonline?

Initially, our aim was simple - to create a central index of existing quality psychology websites. The team decided on a set of criteria to evaluate sites by, giving them a score out of 10. You can read more about our criteria here. Further to this, the team wanted to develop study, revision and exam guidance, so as to facilitate students in all areas of their study of psychology.

PsYonline is not about providing students with all the resources they will ever need for the course. Instead, through gathering together quality resources, PsYonline seeks to educate students about what good resources look like. Therefore students should be much more able to do effective Internet searching of their own. This is why we have written our Guide to Effective Internet Searching, which is available in the Student Room.

In addition to providing for students, PsYonline is committed to supporting and engaging with teachers – hence the development of our Teachers’ Area. We are seeking to build community among psychology teachers, where individuals can share resources and best practice. We see this as particularly important for teachers in ‘lone departments’.

Overall, PsYonline is dedicated to growing and changing with the needs of the people who use it.