Next Generation Learning in Kent

"Piggybacking" school wi-fi theft - pair cautioned in Maidstone!

In this weeks Kent Messenger (Maidstone Edition) there is a story about wi-fi bandwidth theft from a school ... "Piggy Backing", more formally known as 'dishonestly obtaining an electronic communication service" is an increasing problem, especially as in practice free hotspots in towns and cities are not easy to distinguish from those that are private. The truth is though, that if you park yourself outside of a school or private house long into the evening to use their Internet, you probably know you are open to challenge.

In this case a couple parked themselves outside of Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maidstone with a laptop for three consecutive nights, and were spotted by suspicious locals. They were arrested and after admitting the offence, were cautioned.

The couple were apparently able to access the Internet, and it highlights the importance of schools being vigilant in protecting their networks. If outsiders can access the Internet from the school wireless, then potentially they can also access other parts of the school network. Where not set up with appropriate security, this potentially exposes systems to intrusion and attack. A good deal of personal data is stored on a school network. I was once told that having an insecure wireless network is like putting all of your data sockets on the outside of the building!

Security measures must be in place for school wireless networks:

• Switch on the encryption (WEP or WPA), or authenticate each computer using their MAC address (they will know what this means).
• Have an effective policy for regular changing of user passwords.
• Remove old users immediately staff or pupils leave.

i-whiteboards - the benefits are clear?

Following outstanding claims for the effectiveness of interactive whiteboards in a recent Becta research report and highlighted by my colleagues on their Blog, I read the full report. Its very thorough, and offers some interesting conclusions if you read between the lines.

It takes between 18 months and 2 years for a teacher to become a competent i-whiteboard user!

"...when teachers have had sustained experience (around two years) of using an interactive whiteboard, they are able to change their teaching practices to make best use of facilities."

"...  Eighteen months after installation of their interactive whiteboard, the majority of teachers in the case study schools had become highly competent users of the interactive whiteboard as a basic resource, and many were beginning to experiment with using it for a wider range of purposes."

" ...By the Autumn of 2006, the pool of expertise in interactive whiteboard use resided in the schools where teachers had been using them on a daily basis for more than two years."

The consistency of this figure throughout the report is notable. Does this offer a reliable benchmark for managing change when introducing a new technology?

Emphasis on whole class teaching

 "... This appears to be because it is a resource which is immediately useful to teachers in conducting whole-class teaching, which is a requirement of the primary strategies."

"The interactive whiteboard is an ideal resource to support whole-class teaching. It acts as a focus for pupils’ attention and increases their engagement in whole-class teaching. Teachers tend to spend more time on whole-class teaching when they have an interactive whiteboard (Higgins et al., 2005), but if whole-class teaching is more interactive as a result of the interactive whiteboard, any negative effects from reduced group work may be negligible."

" ... serious consideration also needs to be given to developing strategies other than whole-class-teaching for using interactive whiteboards to support pupils of lower ability."

" ... These effects are greatest when they have the opportunity, individually or in small groups, for extended use of the interactive whiteboard rather than as part of whole-class teaching."

 Teaching Assistants

 " ... There has been no training for teaching assistants (TAs) ... and this has been noted at both school and local authority level as an unfortunate gap in provision"

 " ...Where teachers had been teaching with an interactive whiteboard for two years and there was evidence that all children, including those with SEN, had made exceptional progress in attainment in national tests, ... This was often done by teaching assistants who had been trained to teach numeracy and literacy."

Microsoft referred to Office of Fair Trading

Hot on the heels of the EU fine, It would appear Microsoft are now facing pressure in the UK from Becta. The issues of the EU decision were complex, and arguably the act of forcing Microsoft to hand over its Intellectual property to competitors is highly questionable. It's interesting that Apple could equally be challenged on similar grounds for its iTunes/iPod ecosystem!

Becta's referral relates to a different issue. School's in the UK choosing subscription licensing (rather than pay for the one-off perpetual license) currently have to pay Microsoft even for those computers that cannot run the software. This is due to Microsoft's 'eligible PC' concept used to calculate the fees. In addition, schools who decide to buy themselves out face high charges to do convert back to a perpetual license.

Then there is the issue of interoperability between Microsoft Office 2007 and 'free' software such as Open Office. Effectively this means that Microsoft does not support the Open Document Format. There are now numerous free Office packages available that offer similar functionality to Office.

In my opinion, Microsoft subscription licensing concerns are legitimate, and due consideration of the issues by an external body is a good idea. This should not cloud the issue of compatibility with Open Office, or the price schools pay for the perpetual MS Office. Open Office, the free alternative can read Office files (in the main), and there are lots of alternative free products that read Open Document Formats. In value for money terms though Microsoft Office remains a great deal for schools for perpetual licenses. This then is a no-brainer. If you want a free Office package then go get one. I have tried most of them, and still opt for Office!

Perversely, Becta may be acting a little mischeviously, as I can't find any 'Open Document Format' documents on their website provided in this "internationally approved" file format. If you can find one on their website, post the link. As far as I can see they all seem to come in two universal international de facto formats, ... PDF and Word! In fact this seems to cross both National & Local Government sites. Umm...

Microsoft Education have responded on their blog. 

Here we go again ... wi-fi!

My colleagues and I spend an inordinate amount of time reacting to the scare stories about the potential health effects of wi-fi. Despite the facts, and all of the evidence to the contrary, the issue just keeps re-emerging. The Health Protection Agency (HPA), has decided to consider research, and as it says, expects the "... results to be reassuring".

The research will bury the critics of wi-fi, and whilst I am reasonably confident the issue won't go away, I am supremely confident of the outcome. The HPA confirmed in the statement that " ... there was no problem with wi-fi, nor any reason to discourage its use". Bring it on I say, then we can get on with the more important issues, such as how we can exploit technology to improve teaching and learning.

McDonalds have already announced that it is set to become the UK's largest provider of free wi-fi, with all of its 1200 branches getting free wi-fi.... no jokes about irradiated burgers ... please!!

Politics similar to education? Surely Not?

This is the Kent Secondary Strategy aspiration, but there remain excessive controls on learning due to inflexible external assessment regimes that insist on leaving technology at the exam hall door and setting targets on narrow measures. It's well worth a look at my colleagues web pages for secondary transformation on Clusterweb to see how Kent thinking is shaping up!

I often muse that any attempts at measuring the impact of technology is prejudiced until we collectively figure out what we are trying to measure. It makes no sense to me to create an exciting learning culture that embeds ICT just to remove it completely, and send kids back to the dark ages at the point where they have to show what they know, i.e. the exam hall. Technology has to be part of the assessment, and that means that assessment has to be clear that it is not purely aimed at testing knowledge, but focussed on the critical processes, and ensuring children and young people know HOW to learn in a digital age. Education technologists (us) need to get our acts together to work out how we assess the role processes and outcomes effectively in ways that are meaningful to teachers.

I was interested to see the excellent work at Cramlington on ‘Learning 2 Learn’ highlighted in last weeks TES. It’s good to see that the move to shorten KS3 has been stepped back, and the time used productively to teach children how to learn, and how to use technology effectively to control their own learning.

Personalised Online Learning Space = Kent Learning Zone!

Schools may have recently received an email from Becta on their Oct 2007 ICT Advice Alert. The states the Government target that all schools should have a 'personalised online learning space' by August 2008. The alert also suggests that schools contact their Local Authority for advice as to how we are meeting this requirement.

Just so that there is no doubt, Kent Learning Zone is the Kent Local Authority solution, providing a host of features, including web based Outlook (including email) and online personalised learning spaces! It is designed by EIS in Kent for Kent schools. The unique feature is that the architecture we have designed is based on the latest Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Learning Gateway architecture, draws user data directly from SIMS and allows schools to choose the 'Virtual Learning Environment' (VLE) of their choice to plug in when they are ready to meet the 2010 target for a full learning platform! Kent Learning Zone supports Kent's strategy to provide a connected broadband infrastructure that allows schools to plug-in products and features that they choose.

Best of all, Kent Learning Zone is phenomenal value for money ... as the ICT Advice Alert states, it is subsidised through Standards Fund Grant and not for profit!

Currently we are working closely with a number of Becta approved suppliers to ensure their products are a good fit with the Kent Learning Zone, and hope to have news in the very near future on the early adopter VLE products those who can't wait to get started.

Donna Rogers, e-Learning Officer is out and about with EIS spreading the good news and providing briefings. EIS are managing the implementation, and should be contacted by schools wishing to take up the offer.

Digital Inclusion Report

A recent report by UK Online Centres, "Understanding digital inclusion" on digital inclusion makes the following observations.

• Despite developments in technology the uptake of ICT has largely plateaued.
• Access to ICT is not enough – a proportion of non-users of the internet reside in connected households.
• There is a demonstrable correlation between social and digital exclusion.
• Digital exclusion is unlikely to be adequately addressed in isolation from other policy areas.
• A significant proportion of the digitally excluded are at risk of deepening exclusion.
• Penetration by market forces is unlikely to eliminate digital exclusion.
• Digital exclusion is also unlikely to disappear over time through demographic developments.
• Extending digital inclusion can have tangible beneficial impact for national productivity and GDP
(Gross Domestic Product).

Interesting reading!
 

Family Learning Week? Get Online Day?

I have the feeling that I'm not the only one that hasn't heard about Get Online Day on 12th October aimed at attracting families who do not use the web. So, how is this opportunity being promoted if I have a child and haven't heard about it through anything other than the web?

The activities are part of Family Learning Week (6th - 14th Oct 2007). I heard about it through a specialised Government newsfeed. This is surprising since I have  UK online centre close by, my daughter attends a local school, and ...

Those who don't currently use the Internet need to find out about such events through old-fashioned methods, such as TV, radio, printed materials from schools etc.

Fingerprints in exchange for food? lighten up!

Morley High School in Leeds have been accused of breaching the Education Act 2002 for their stand on 'fingerprints for food' school meals. The Headteacher told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme that "We have given parents an opt out. The opt out is that you don't have to have anything to do with the system whatsoever and that you then have the responsibility as a mum, dad or carer to provide a very healthy alternative to your child."

The Education Act 2002 means schools have a legal duty to provide meals for those children who want them, and the DCFS confirmed that the approach by Morley School might amount to a breach!

Despite the recent guidance on the use of biometrics in schools, there is still considerable confusion, and the guidance left a lot of questions and interpretations unanswered, with the current line being that schools have the "freedom to run their own affairs". The bottom line is that you can't ask any person to give over biometric data without their permission unless you have a clear statutory power so to do (e.g. in the event of an arrestable offence, or national identity scheme), no matter how inconvenient this is.

Broadband Report - Stats and stuff!

Kent ... to get the fastest broadband in the UK!

Virgin Media cable customers in Folkestone have been trialing 50Mb home broadband ... the fastest in the UK! Ashford have started a trial that will last until the end of December, with Dover dates to be confirmed. The eventual cost of the service will be £47 a month. The service uses the latest 'Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS)', if that actually means anything to you! Essentially it is a technology that uses  the same wires for the TV and broadband.