Michael Gove has made the decision that the Harnessing Technology Grant for 2010/11 will be cut by £100 million to contribute to the development of “Free Schools” nationally. This translates as an in year cut to local authorities and schools of at least 50%.
This suggests essential ICT systems will be unable to be maintained and improved – unless schools can find smarter ICT solutions, or use technology to achieve efficiency savings elsewhere in the value chain.  Here are some ideas worth exploring.

1. Switch your email exchange servers for cloud-based services
There’s a viable alternative to maintaining your own email exchange servers – services like Google Apps or Microsoft Live are free and both provide fully secure, branded virtual space for email, document sharing and storage. You can even retain your existing school-specific email address.  London Grid for Learning estimates that London schools have saved approximately £11m since transferring to Microsoft’s service last year.
2. Forget software licences – go Open Source!
Open Source software for learning platforms and e-learning content enable development and ongoing upgrade costs to be minimised.
3. Upgrade to the latest OS and save on power management
If you upgrade to the latest operating systems you will be able to take advantage of enhanced power-saving features, saving costs of between £23 and £46 per computer per year.
4. Switch to remote access
Microsoft’s latest operating platform (Windows 7) makes setting up remote access much more straightforward. Additionally some VPNs make use of free software packages that need no special hardware or software on the network to enable remote access.
5. Allow pupils to use their own laptops
Recent British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) research revealed that secondary schools spend 48% per of their ICT budget on new computers. Schools may consider asking parents to contribute by providing their children with their own computers for school and home use.
6. Change the way you communicate
Like encouraging parents to provide computers, this requires a significant cultural shift. The way in which student relationships at school are formed and nurtured are being reshaped as hallways of classrooms switches to social networks on digital learning platforms. There are inherent dangers in students using social networking that need to be managed – however, safe messaging tools for use in the classroom and at home can be provided, enabling students to access multimedia resources in a controlled environment.

Teachers are becoming open to the possibilities for social media tools in the classroom. In the hands of the right educators, they can be used to engage in creative ways and inspire discussion among even the softest-spoken students. However popular social networking and content sharing sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are often blocked by schools because its content can’t be moderated – even though they can be a good source of high-quality teaching resources.
Student Jotter is a system for e-portfolios and secure social networking that enables teachers to incorporate safe, secure social media into their lesson plans. Teachers can share their lesson plans, quizzes, videos, podcasts and other resources in a shared library. A community section allows teachers and students to network and collaborate with other members who share the same educational interests.  Class discussions are no longer intimidating for some students to participate in.

Everything is hosted in the cloud for free. Some great tools are included:  An online gradebook, customised quizzes, secure messaging, classroom blogs, the ability to track assessment and a customised profile page.  Student Jotter also enables students to easily share their work projects with classmates.
The interface is easy to navigate and teachers can monitor and edit any of their students’ messages and blogs posts. They can also control how private they want the e-portfolio to be; student-and-teacher only,  allow parents to log in with a password, or make them publically available.
In summary, School Jotter is a better way for teachers and students to organise themselves, and a place to put their work.
Is your school using social media for teaching and learning? What resources do you use? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Webanywhere customers that are LMS users may be interested to read that the core functionality of the world’s most popular open source LMS is built around five principles that have guided development since the earliest days.  These beliefs can be clearly seen in the design (the forums, glossary, wiki, etc) which all provide ample opportunities for students to create materials in a safe/secure online environment which can instantly be seen and reviewed by peers.

The five principles are:

1. Students can be teachers and teachers can be students.  Everyone can be a learner.
2. We learn well by creating and expressing for others.
3. We learn a lot by watching others.
4. Understanding others transforms us.
5. We learn well when the learning environment is flexible and adaptable to suit our needs.

Interesting thinking, I’m sure you’d agree!

A recent survey by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has revealed that just 2% of primary school teachers believed that investing in new libraries was more important than investing in ICT for the classroom. This would seem to suggest that, as schools see their funding squeeze, many feel under pressure to spend what they have on new technology rather than traditional learning materials.
Ray Barker, director, BESA commented:  “Due to the increase in the provision and use of interactive whiteboards, pupil computers and supporting digital content, the importance of traditional library facilities is of concern, especially where banks of computers have been provided in the space that may have previously held storage for books. The growing use of eBooks and of the internet for research, is putting pressure on schools to justify expenditure on traditional books.”

Barker added: “We are now naturally experiencing a reduction in estimated ICT allocations from school budgets.  However, despite schools being faced with many financial pressures, the survey indicates schools are managing the cuts sensibly and with optimism.”
At Webanywhere we’re helping schools to stretch their ICT budgets by developing digital learning platforms that use open source technologies and creating innovative product pricing ‘bundles’ that lower the unit cost of provision.

Learnanywhere integrates Global Grid for Learning (GGfL) digital resources
In September this year we launched Learnanywhere, the new easy to use VLE designed specifically for Primary Schools.  And to be frank, since that time we’ve been amazed by the excitement and enthusiasm around the new product!
Now, we’re pleased to announce that we’re making it even better.
New! eLearning Content from GGfL
Learnanywhere already provides the ability to incorporate publicly available web content and we’ve now gone one step further. We’re excited to announce that we’ve integrated the Cambridge University Press Global Grid for Learning (GGfL) digital learning library with Learnanywhere, extending the capability of the VLE to incorporate exclusive GGfL multimedia resources including interactive learning objects, video clips, audio files, images, animations, documents and ebooks.

With GGfL integration, Learnanywhere users can:-

• Access 1 million digital learning resources sourced from over 40 global content providers including most leading brands in educational publishing.
• Create even more fantastic e-learning course and lesson content.
• Motivate and inspire learners by delivering a unique learning experience, using resources that are not in the public domain.

To find out more, call us on 0800 862 0131 – and start creating even more amazing learning experiences for your students 🙂

Following the spending review Webanywhere has released new pricing packages to help schools beat the cuts and improve their efficiency.
Our pricing options have been created to ensure that the provision of learning technologies to students need not be compromised to meet recalibrated budgets. By choosing one of the bundled suites, schools can make considerable cost savings compared with purchasing individual products.

Additionally, schools can look to make productivity gains by using individual Webanywhere products to change the way that existing services are provided. One example is Payschool, which enables schools to collect electronic payments from parents for school trips, meals and donations – providing longer term cost saving solutions compared with traditional payment methods such as cash and cheques.
Schools are facing tougher decisions than ever before to close funding gaps while maintaining quality of service.
WebAnywhere is 100% committed to developing new web-based technology solutions that allow schools to maximise their ICT investment while improving efficiency.

It is called sharenting!!

That is a big word for those parents who innocently share too much information about and images of their children. Even the posting of a sonogram to your social media account can provide too much information to strangers who should not have that data.

The result is what many schools have been warning parents about- the danger of cyber bullying. Too much sharing can lead to a myriad of abuse from their fellow classmates as well as other children who gather on those websites designed for students to hang out.

According to the schools, this oversharing can put your child or children at risk of harm through mugging, theft and other bullying options.

What Are The Dangers Of Sharing Pictures Or Videos Of Your Children On Social Media?

The biggest danger will be exposing your children to predators. Even when you have strict privacy settings on your social media account, those privacy settings do not stop close friends from sharing your information on their not-so-strict social media accounts.

That sharing can lead to many dangers for your children. Plus, even strict privacy settings can be hacked by expert hackers who will use the information you post for nefarious schemes.

It is possible that oversharing can lead to identity fraud later on in your child’s life. Most likely, the exposure of your children to the public can lead to cyber bullying that brings devastating results.

What Is Cyber-Bullying?

Cyber bullying is more digital than physical. While it leads to physical results, cyber bullying takes place solely online using a phone, laptop, tablet or PC. It is where one or a group of individuals share false information about the targeted child.

This activity is done just about anywhere information can be shared online. Gaming rooms, texts, apps, social media outlets and more. Plus, the content is designed to harm another individual through negative, harmful, false, or mean content.

Even e-mails are not excluded from being a format used to cyber bully someone else. That negative content is not just written but can be done through altered or unflattering or embarrassing photos and videos.

Cyberbullying takes place in almost all online activities with just about any type of data possible.

How To Deal With Cyber-Bullying?

One of the most important steps you can take is to check your local laws. There may be some anti-cyberbullying laws that will guide the school in what action they can legally take.

Also, the school can develop its own policies directing teachers and the administration on how to respond to cyberbullying. These policies can lay out the discipline to be used or if expulsion is appropriate to stop students from being cyberbullies.

Also, schools can create a safe atmosphere that allows bullied students privacy to report cyberbullying. Encourage students to find someone they trust to share what is going on. Those trusted individuals can be parents, a teacher, school counsellor, and even a privacy contact page on your school web design.

One of the drawbacks to fighting cyberbullying is that only the targeted student and those the messages are meant for know it is taking place. Most often parents and school officials and teachers have no idea what is going on till a child becomes brave enough to talk about it.

How To Protect Your Child From Being Cyber-Bullied?

There are several steps you can take to help protect your child from being cyberbullied. Here are a few suggestions to get you on the right path:

– educate your children to identify cyberbullying and then teach them not to respond in kind. Instead, teach your children to be respectful to others whether in person or online

– teach your children not to respond to cyberbullies but keep the information saved as evidence it is taking place. Also, instruct your children to block cyberbullies

– set boundaries- this is where you create rules for internet and phone use as well as what internet sites they can go to and which ones are off limits.

– help your child create privacy and location settings and instruct them that participating in cyber bullying is wrong and unacceptable if they participate in it

– monitor your child’s online activities and know how to identify cyberbullying

– document everything- take screenshots, record dates, times and the nature of the cyber bullying and other documentation so you have evidence if needed.

When you need guidance in this delicate issue, contact our company. One of our priorities is protecting children from cyberbullying.

Cyberbulling via Facebook leads to teachers’ call for legal clampdown on uncontrolled social networks.
Scottish teachers have requested that the law be changed to make mainstream social networking sites more accountable for abusive and intimidating comments posted online by school children.
Scotland’s biggest teaching union claims it receives between 50 and 60 complaints a year from teachers who have been cyberbullied, harassed and threatened online by their students. It argues that new laws are needed to bring websites more into line with newspapers and broadcasters which are subject to defamation and libel legislation.

The union claims that social networking sites such as Facebook “have published derogatory material and in some cases it does a lot of emotional damage”.
“We need a change in the law to make liability rest with the site holders,” he said.
Schoolteachers have discovered abusive comments from their pupils on the web, often threatening physical violence. Some of the perpetrators have been charged with offences of breach of the peace and teachers have been left with anxiety attacks.
What do you think? Is it time for schools to re-educate social media users with alternative, controlled social networks for schools that redefine and reinforce the boundaries of acceptable and safe internet usage?