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Wednesday, July 07, 2010 10:50 AM

Times they are a changing!

It can't have escaped notice that my Blog has been 'quiet'. You may be aware that Kent County Council Children, Families and Education Directorate have consulted widely on changes to the way we do business. This process of change is still...
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Sunday, November 08, 2009 12:00 PM

Becta publish draft functional and technical principles ...

Becta have published their draft functional and technical specifications for consultation. If you want your say before they're set in stone sign up for the Becta collaboration site (it could do with more activity!). I've commented the technical...
Posted by Sophie | 1 comment(s)
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Monday, November 02, 2009 7:55 PM

ICT Targets ... now that's an interesting subject!

I had an enquiry from a Kent secondary school asking about current targets for ICT. It set me on a bit of a quest as 'deadlines' are often quoted and mentioned. I started by looking at data the government collects through the school census, as...
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Sunday, May 10, 2009 11:17 AM

Graham Badman - Chair of Becta!

Graham Badman CBE, ex-managing director of Kent County Council's 'Childen Familes and Education' Directorate was appopinted Chair of Becta on 1st May 2009 , replacing Andrew Pinder who stepped down in January 2009. Graham has been interim...
Posted by Sophie
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Monday, November 10, 2008 6:54 PM

National Strategies website - something missing??

I notice there is a new National Strategies website in beta, and very comprehensive it is too! ... but ... shouldn't there be a mention of the national e-strategy, Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning ... Becta is a mere footnote ...
Posted by Sophie
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Friday, November 07, 2008 10:28 AM

... and the ICT Excellence Award for learner experience goes to ... Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre!

Homewood School and sixth form centre in Tenterden was runner up in the prestigious national ICT Excellence Awards . The award ceremony last night was attended by Chris Foreman (Vice Principal Learning Systems) and his team, and was accompanied by CFE's...
Posted by Sophie
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Saturday, October 11, 2008 7:15 PM

Becta Web 2.0 Research Report

Web 2.0 technologies for learning at KS3 and KS4 Becta commissioned the University of Nottingham in conjunction with London Knowledge Lab and Manchester Metropolitan University to research Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4. The purpose...
Posted by Sophie
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Sunday, September 07, 2008 8:18 PM

Online Reporting - Making it Happen.

All Secondary Schools are expected to make the following information available to parents via secure online access [PDF 6300KB] by September 2010, and Primary Schools by 2012: Attendance and behaviour (+ve and -ve) Progress and attainment Special Needs...
Posted by Sophie
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Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:31 PM

Harnessing Technology:Next Generation Learning - New Strategy in a nutshell!

I thought that I would try to summarise the key features of the revised and updated e-strategy Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning ; a sort of ' Reduced Shakespeare Company ' version for those who don't have time to read the document...
Posted by Sophie
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008 6:35 AM

Learning in class?

The chart above is taken from the recently published revision of the e-strategy, Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning . It shows the learning experiences of children taken from MORI survey evidence. Its quite an indictment that the most common...
Posted by Sophie
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Friday, June 27, 2008 8:45 PM

Parent Power? The case for online reporting.

Becta commissioned survey of 2,058 parents 95 per cent of parents think the effective use of technology can help their child learn 77 per cent of parents think technology can help their child engage with difficult subjects 78 per cent of parents think...
Posted by Sophie
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Sunday, June 15, 2008 9:40 PM

Becta awards Open Source schools project

The Open Source community is apparently ' up in arms' following Becta's decision to award a £270K Open Source project contract to AlphaPlus Consultancy . This follows previous work with Becta on e-learning vocabularies . Mark Taylor of Sirius...
Posted by Sophie
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Friday, June 13, 2008 7:39 PM

Parental Engagement - Online Reporting

Becta are sending all schools an introductory pack to assist them as they move towards online reporting. Secondary schools are expected to have arrangements in place by September 2010. Primary School's by September 2012. Parents will have secure access...
Posted by Sophie
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008 8:19 PM

Open Source! ... about to be taken seriously by Becta?

Becta are encouraging the use of open source software in its latest framework agreement for software. The four year agreement will start in October and replace the current software licensing framework that has been in place since 2005. Up to 10 suppliers...
Posted by Sophie
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Thursday, May 22, 2008 9:48 PM

Kent Boss reappointed to Becta

Graham Badman CBE, Managing Director of Kent's Children, Families, Health & Education Directorate has been reappointed for a further term on the Becta board. In addition there are three new members: John Roberts John Newbigin Lopa Patel
Posted by Sophie
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 7:44 PM

Technophobe Teachers?

The following is an opinion from Andrew Pinder , Chair of Becta in an extract from an article in the Times 7Jan 2008 : "State schools spent £1 billion on cutting-edge information technology last year but 80 per cent of them are failing to make full use...
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007 10:13 AM

Creating or responding to the world?

I am at a Becta regional event on Personalised Learning, and an interesting position has just been stated. "We have to prepare children for the technological world in which we live" It just made me think ... if the focus of education is on preparation...
Posted by Sophie | 1 comment(s)
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Thursday, October 25, 2007 8:24 PM

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...
Posted by Sophie | 1 comment(s)
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007 3:03 PM

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...
Posted by Sophie | 2 comment(s)
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:47 AM

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...
Posted by Sophie
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Sunday, September 30, 2007 8:23 AM

e-Portfolio Research Report

Becta have released their " Impact study of e-portfolio's on learning " conducted by a team of researchers from University of Nottingham led by Helen Barrett . The study provides eight case studies from across education, from primary to adult learning...
Posted by Sophie
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Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:16 AM

Becta recognises the role of Local Authorities

It is noted with interest that Becta has launched a Local Authority section to its website. This is interesting, as there were concerns that LA's were being by-passed by centralised initiatives aimed at creating a direct relationship with schools. Becta...
Posted by Sophie | 1 comment(s)
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