Last month, we announced that two new e-learning products were on the horizon. School Merits and Jotter Learn were both unveiled at the BETT Show, in almost-finished form, and visitors to the Webanywhere stand had the opportunity to see how they could transform learning in schools.

This month, we announce our next development. School Jotter, the UK’s leading primary school website system, is to become part of a fully-integrated e-learning ‘suite’.

To begin with, all our existing customers who use School Jotter 2 – the second incarnation of the School Jotter system, launched in 2012 – will be upgraded to a new dashboard for free. Called the Jotter Suite, it’ll look something like the image above.
The Site button is where their School Jotter 2 website can be accessed. In other words, the website itself won’t change, or how it’s edited – more how it’s accessed. However, the messaging, admin and file storage features of School Jotter have been split off into separate apps, as you can see from the screenshot above.
Next – and this is where it all ties together – School Merits and Jotter Learn will both become available. They will both be accessible via the Jotter Suite dashboard, bringing with them apps for blogging and creating forums. School Merits and Jotter Learn will be available from 26th February,
Eventually, all Webanywhere products will be accessible via the Jotter Suite. It means one sign-in for all your e-learning needs, plus you’ll be able to transfer data between the different products, seamlessly. For example, soon, you’ll be able to download the progress reports of your class from School Merits direct to your School Jotter website system. Ultimately, it’ll save teachers time, give you more opportunities for integrating e-learning – and make learning online a more enjoyable experience.
If you’d like to find out more about the new Jotter Suite dashboard, or the new apps, sign up for the School Merits and Jotter Learn launch webinars on Wednesday, 26th February.
You can get all the details regarding the webinars here.

If you’re a School Jotter customer, or if you visited our stand at the BETT Show you may have already heard the news – or even seen an early mock up – but our flagship primary school product is changing.

School Jotter, currently on version 2, is used by more primary schools than any other school website system available. Teachers like how easy it is to use, and the attractive websites that we can create for them. Administering their website is simple and takes minutes, and means updating and maintaining the school’s website becomes a joy rather than a chore.

Because of this, we didn’t really want to change the way that the School Jotter system itself works. So, the changes that are taking place are more around the actual dashboard – the first screen you see when you log in.
Now, if you use School Jotter, your school’s website can integrate with your e-learning. The new dashboard – the Jotter Suite as it has been named – is now home to a range of apps, with more being developed all the time. The first apps, to be officially launched on Wednesday, 26th February, will be Jotter Learn and School Merits.
Jotter Learn allows teachers to create department and classroom websites – giving them a secure online location to assign work, and provide an information resource for pupils. These ‘learning sites’ can be created to support any subject or assignment.
Jotter Learn also allows resources and lesson plans to be shared between schools, with the aim of building a ‘School Jotter community.’
The School Merits app allows pupils to be rewarded online. Teachers can bulk assign classes and year groups with ‘merits’ – an online currency which pupils can use to build avatars and donate to charity. Teachers can track progress through online reporting and parents can see how well their child is doing in school.
Other, smaller apps that will be launched at the same time include Blog, and Messages; We’re expecting Blog to be particularly popular, as more and more schools are using blogs to improve written English skills.
Later this month, you could win the full Jotter Suite, including School Jotter, Jotter Learn, School Merits and Blog for one year! Every school that takes part in our launch event will be entered into a draw to win this prize, worth around £4,000. To stand a chance of winning, simply:

• Sign up to our launch webinar at 3.45pm on 26th February

Here, you’ll see the new Jotter Suite in more detail via an online presentation

Or:

• Attend our launch event at 4.15pm on 26th February at Webanywhere HQ, Keighley

Here, you’ll get to see the new Jotter Suite in more detail, enjoy an alcoholic beverage with us, and grab a bite to eat

For more information about the launch, to book a demo at your school, or to request a digital brochure, simply email info@webanywhere.co.uk.

It’s day 2 at the BETT show, and we’re as busy as ever at stand F380.

If you’re at the show, here’s a few offers we’re running which you might want to take advantage of:

– We’re offering 50% off our popular primary school VLE, Learnanywhere, all day today if you come to the stand for a demo.

– You can claim a free Spellanywhere account if you track down one of our dinosaur mascots and have your picture taken with them. Just tweet the pic and tag @webanywhere_ltd and we’ll get in touch to set up your account. Steve Ding (pictured), our Head of Primary Division looks like he’s claimed his already!

– Our orange shirted experts are offering free LMS checks all day, come over and have a chat about your system, how it’s performing and where you might want to develop it in future.

– On the LMS topic, Keith Taynton is giving a seminar at the stand on “Flipped Classroom” later today at 3:00pm – no need to reserve a place, just drop by.

We’re really looking forward to meeting up with everyone at the show, and we’ll have something fresh to offer each day, so watch this space or keep an eye on Twitter: @webanywhere_ltd.

 

 

BETT is now less than a week away – and here at Webanywhere, we’re making final preparations to release two very exciting developments of the School Jotter brand.

Continue reading →

In the latest of our guest blog posts by members of the Webanywhere team (you can see the first, by James, here), Becca, from our Support team, explains how you add a Twitter feed to your School Jotter website.

Continue reading →

Wow… It’s Christmas Eve already! Here at Webanywhere we’d like to wish every customer, non customer, teacher and school the Merriest of Christmases – and a delightful New Year.
Continue reading →

It doesn’t seem five minutes since the new school term started, does it? Yet here we are, into December already – and I’m sure you’ve started counting down to the last day of term!

If you’ve already decorated the classrooms, start thinking about getting your school’s website all festive too. If you’re a School Jotter user, we’ve listed three ways you can make your website more festive – and more fun to visit!

Continue reading →

January 2013 saw thousands descend upon London’s Excel exhibition centre, discovering the latest in educational technology and seeing talks by Professor Brian Cox and Professor Sugata Mitra. January 2014 will see the BETT Show bigger and more of an experience than ever.

Why? Well, for a start the biggest event on the e-learning calendar will be hosting more content than ever before. 2014 is the 30th anniversary of BETT, so this January there will be more presentations and ‘fringe’ events, as well as three CPD-accredited Summits. Visitors will also get the chance to ‘try and test’ – with interactive demonstrations, free guidance and advice on using all the latest products that’ll make a real difference to learning.

Webanywhere will be in attendance as always – but BETT 2014 will be a landmark event for us, too. We’ll be using the show to launch a brand new product. We can’t say too much right now – but we’re confident it’ll revolutionise how our customers use our products – making them easier to use, more enjoyable to integrate into learning, and ultimately more rewarding for teachers and pupils. We’ll reveal more closer to the event.
If you’re considering a visit to BETT, get more information at www.bettshow.com.
You can keep an eye on Webanywhere product developments by regularly checking this blog, and www.newsanywhere.co.uk. You can also follow updates via our Twitter, @webanywhere_ltd.
The BETT Show 2014 will take place from the 22nd – 25th January, at Excel, London.