Northern Grid for Learning - School Broadband, eSafety, Learning Resources and More
Head TeachersTED: Jamie Oliver - Teach Every Child About Food18 October 2011
TED is owned by The Sapling Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader and there are thousands of videos to inspire, motivate and engage. Some of the talks may act as springboards for teachers to develop and further their own ideas while others will engage and stimulate many of our learners in our schools. ebeat - Youth Information and Advice Resource12 October 2011
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Security
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Good schools have effective security policies and practice. Having these in place enables more creative and positive uses of technology. Does your school have Policies and Practices which support creative uses of online technologies? Knowing who has access to your systems is important. How do you ensure integrity and confidentiality of staff and pupil data? Is your security policy enforced and reviewed regularly? What would be the consequences of public access to your confidential data? Loss of reputation is a key driver for securing your information infrastructure. Why not ask Heads of Departments to remind all users to change their passwords on a termly basis? Northern Grid's resources will be useful. Effective policies which deal with "leavers and new starters", improve the security of your systems and data. Do you remove former pupils and staff from your database to prevent them from accessing your systems remotely once they have left? Is someone tasked with ensuring that email accounts and other online systems have been disabled for those who are no longer part of your establishment? Do you ensure that new starters are provided with secure usernames and passwords which can identify them as unique users on your system? What about continuing staff and pupils? Do you have a system which requires unique usernames and passwords for all users and which has to be changed regularly? Why not ask Heads of Departments to remind all users to change their passwords on a termly basis? Northern Grid's resources will be useful. |
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eSafety
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Creative use of communication and social media technologies can have a positive benefit on teaching and learning. Does your policy adequately manage the risks and also ensure effective teaching and learning takes place? When did you last review your Acceptable Use Policy? Is it fit for purpose? Creative use of communication and social media technologies can have a positive benefit on teaching and learning. Does your policy adequately manage the risks and also ensure effective teaching and learning takes place? Policies should be developed and reviewed frequently in consultation with teachers and students. Good schools invite involvement and engagement with parents and carers. Is your AUP underpinned by training, support and a consistent pastoral and discipline system? Do you need to review or audit your AUP? Northern Grid is experienced in working with schools to review practice and develop appropriate and effective eSafety policies and training. Why not visit the eSafety section of our website or contact us for more detailed information. |
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Technical
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Wireless networks are common in most schools. They promote flexible and innovative use of technologies and extend the reach of fixed networks. Wireless networks which are well planned and managed support teaching, learning and management in schools. Does your school use a wireless network around the school buildings? Did you know that wireless networks, if incorrectly configured, can slow down the performance of your network? Are you confident that your wireless network is as secure as possible? Failure to put appropriate security levels on your wireless networks could result in your bandwidth being used by others outside the school. This will not only reduce the effectiveness of your network but could result in your data being stolen or corrupted. Why not talk to your network manager or contact Northern Grid’s Technical Officer to find out how your wireless network can be improved? |
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Broadband Connectivity
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Robust, fast and reliable broadband is essential for all schools. It enables creative use of technologies, supports effective management and provides access to a wealth of resources. Do you know what kind of broadband connection you have? Do you know its speed and capacity? How confident are you that you are receiving the bandwidth you pay for? Depending on your broadband provider and the type of connection you have, you could be sharing your bandwidth with other schools or even with other domestic broadband users. Ideally, your bandwidth should be dedicated to you with no more than one jump from your school onto a fast broadband network. Your school broadband connection may be part of a “daisy chain” where other schools share your connection. Why not ask Northern Grid to check your current provision and tell you about our broadband services? |
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Best Value
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Northern Grid buys broadband on behalf of schools in 8 Local Authorities. Because we aggregate broadband demand we save money for schools through volume discounts. Our average 100mb connections cost around £12,000pa. By comparison a commercial 100mb line can cost over £50,000. Last year we saved over £7,000,000 across all the schools in our seven Local Authority partners. We pass these savings to our LAs so that they can pass them on to their schools. From this academic year, we will be working more directly with schools. Why not ask Northern Grid to provide you with details of new broadband products and pricing? Schools benefit from other best value offerings. We deliver nationally procured software such as Audio Network and the British Pathe Archive. We offer school based support on eSafety and integrating learning platforms. Attendance at our regional events and conference is available to all schools in the region and free of charge to Northern Grid partner schools. |
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Procurement
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Volume discounts add up and save schools money. Your school could join together with other schools and together develop more buying power. Suppliers prefer to work with one key contact rather than lots of individual schools. Why not talk to other schools in your area? Once you have done that, contact Northern Grid to ask how we can deliver greater savings by procuring on your behalf across schools in the North East. |
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Engaging Parents
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Many parents are keen to use technology to keep in touch with their children’s learning. Some schools use mobile devices which pupils take from home to school. These can help engage parents with homework or enable them to understand what their children do in class. Why not find out from other schools how they are using mobile devices to support learning and increase interactions with parents or contact Northern Grid for advice? Technology can be used to communicate with large numbers of parents quickly. Good examples of using bulk text messages include when a school has to be closed in an emergency. Many schools have access to learning platforms. These can be used to share information on how well children are doing at school by sharing assessment data confidentially with parents. Online resources can be accessed and parents can communicate with teachers about their children’s learning. Why not ask your pupils to show their parents how they use the school’s learning platform? |
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Staff Development
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As part of your drive to become an outstanding school, you spend thousands of pounds each year in maintaining and improving your ICT and broadband provision. Do you know if your teachers use these resources effectively to engage and motivate learners? Why not ask Northern Grid to help you undertake an assessment of staff ICT skills to ensure that professional development is targeted to best effect? Many teachers now have good personal IT skills but may not have considered how effective use of IT can support teaching and learning. What about asking teachers to share online blogs on how they exploit the interactivity of ICT to support a range of teaching styles? Northern Grid has extensive experience of using social media to support teaching and learning. Why not ask us to help? |
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Environmentally Sustainable
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Have you ever thought how much power is used by all the IT equipment in your school? Have you noticed how server cupboards become hot and how you have to install expensive air conditioning to keep them all in working order? You could save significant costs and reduce your electricity consumption by moving your data and applications into “The Cloud”. Security and safety issues need to be addressed when moving data and systems off site but there are savings to be gained. You will be doing your bit for the planet too. Why not ask Northern Grid how you could use the regional hosting system to move power hungry systems out of your school? |
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Who Can Help? |
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Northern Grid and its team of experienced and knowledgeable staff can provide you with advice, guidance and practical help on all these issues. If your school already gets its broadband from Northern Grid these services are included in the price, if not there may be a charge for some services. If you’re reading this electronically, you can follow the “hot links” and access some of Northern Grid’s free resources.
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Social media and online communication opportunities are important and can have a positive impact on all elements of the teaching and learning process, the school and learning community. We see teachers and other professionals creating networks to share ideas and resources, children and young people crowd source ideas and information. They seek and receive feedback on their work while parents engage more fully with teachers, their children and the school. Furthermore, even if we feel too old or too busy to engage with social media ourselves then we, as teachers, must still be able to model appropriate, safe and positive use of social technology for our learners and the wider learning community.
An important element in the policy development process is seeking the feedback and engagement of teachers, parents, carers and students. It is also important to understand that policies are more likely to be adhered to if everyone has the opportunity to share in the policy development process.
Policies should be organic and responsive. With technology and the associated opportunities for communication developing at an almost startling rate, it is important that policies, practices and procedures are reviewed at regular intervals.
Let’s start with some simple truths:
Schools need responsive, effective and consistent pastoral and discipline systems in place to ensure that positive and appropriate actions are taken when incidents take place.
Every comment, image, video, audio, online purchase and interaction we make will inform how friends, enemies, strangers, colleagues, employers, parents, spouses, families and children judge us.
Regardless of how unfair or unjust we may feel about this, the fact remains that the teacher who posts pictures online, that they wouldn’t show their Headteacher or the children in their class, will undoubtedly be causing potential problems for themselves, and in all probability their colleagues. Who wants to work in a school where a colleague did That Thing?
There will be some who will see social media policies as an unreasonable intrusion into their private or off duty lives and we do need to ensure we keep a reasonable, considered perspective in this area.
This ‘unreasonable intrusion’ was present long before the recent and rapid advances in technology. When we became teachers we acknowledged that we were expected to model appropriate behaviour at all times, not simply between 9am and 5pm in school. The public have a right to expect the highest possible standards of behaviour from public servants and especially those with a responsibility for the care of children.
People expect teachers, and adults who work with young people, to act as role models and this means we have always felt a need to be guarded in our public behaviour. There may be 50,000 football fans in the stadium pointing and shouting abuse at the referee, but the teachers in that crowd need to ensure they don’t appear on television, on Match of the Day – or even BBC News.
Most of us understand that we need to avoid putting ourselves in situations which will potentially reflect badly on ourselves, our colleagues or our school. Similarly, online behaviour can have the same negative or positive impact on how we and our schools are perceived, even though we may protest that we are merely behaving in the same way as other non-education professionals.
We need to (and be seen to) manage the risks to the best of our ability.
We cannot eliminate all the risks.
Bad things happen.
You may wish to create a risk assessment pro forma to ensure a consistent approach to the use of social media.
This assessment may include some of the following:
Where social media is used with clearly identified aims and outcomes we can see that there can be clear benefits for our students. We know that writing for a real audience adds focus and purpose to a child’s work and the opportunity for the wider school community, parents and the entire world to comment and feedback is something that we should encourage at every stage.
It is also true that we need to ensure that every publication to the world wide web created by learners must reflect themselves and the school in the most positive light. It is also true that there are many unpleasant people in the world and there will be some who relish the opportunity to provide negative and hurtful feedback on learners’ work. We need to use this as an opportunity to provide our learners with strategies to deal with this.
A school blogging policy will try to ensure that negative comments do not reach the children in our care by only choosing tools where the teacher can moderate comments prior to becoming live.
This divides into two parts; how teachers and adults who work with young people, manage social media as part of their role at work, and how they manage their personal online activity.
Where adults wish to use social media as part of the teaching and learning process this must have clear education objectives and intended outcomes.
It is important that senior leadership/line managers are fully aware of the planned activity. By ensuring this transparency we can help manage concerns and perhaps objections raised by parents, colleagues and learners; ‘ Mr X always lets the kids use Facebook in his lessons it’s dangerous/pointless/unfair’.
A key benefit of social media for schools is the opportunity to communicate directly with parents and carers, and this immediacy can help ensure they have the right information at the right time.
‘School closed tomorrow due to strike action’ is clear and concise.
‘School closed due to pointless and futile militant action by some members of our teaching staff’ is clearly going to cause some frustration across the learning community.
For this reason it is worth ensuring that all public communications should be read and agreed by at least one other colleague prior to posting on Facebook, school website or micro blogging networks such as Twitter.
It will be important to help students understand that using social media such as Facebook for learning is not an opportunity for them to engage in recreational use. If use of social media isn’t managed effectively then it will soon be viewed by students and colleagues as an opportunity for time wasting and non-productive activity.
Micro blogging services such as Twitter, Google+, Digg, Stumbleupon etc. are a great source of links and information. To make the most of the many resources colleagues and children find online they should make use of bookmarking services such as Delicious and Diigo. These links can be saved and shared with colleagues within school and the wider education communities here and in other countries.
It is not easy to maintain a 24/7 presence online that doesn’t run a risk of causing embarrassment or in extreme cases lead to disciplinary procedures – yet this is what we must strive to achieve.
Whether you’re an active user of Facebook or an occasional contributor to online discussions your comments, observations, images, videos, reflections can get you and your organisation into trouble.
Sometimes we can be swept along with the popular tide of comment, and voice opinions that perhaps we should keep to ourselves – or at least offline. The recent riots and disturbances in our cities are a good example of where some teachers online have forgotten they are role models for a moment.
It is understandable that feelings will run high in these circumstances, yet the teachers who comment on Twitter and Facebook saying; ‘Lock them up and throw away the key’ have perhaps not thought through how this message may be at odds with the work their school is doing to engage with a community. Some members of the community may share some of the sense of alienation and frustration shown by the rioters.
We are all entitled to our opinion but where this is voiced publically and may cause conflict and antagonism for our colleagues at school we do perhaps need to think more carefully about how we represent ourselves online.
Similarly, it is reasonable that teachers may wish to express their disagreement with Government education policy but the ramifications of their abrupt and passionate comments may not be appreciated by colleagues who are engaging with the Government on your behalf to provide a more measured response to ‘The Cuts’ etc.
It is important therefore to try to make it clear that comments of individuals are not representative of the school or organisation. That said, it is not enough to simply add this as a by line to your blog or bio and think that will excuse any comment you wish to make.
For most of us who work in the public sector (though we can see that high standards should apply to all members of society) it is advisable to stay well clear of rumours or topics that can be associated with ‘public anger’. We should also try to ensure that we are neither seen to endorse or criticise products and services. If a teacher (or individual) writes a blog making passionate and negative comments about a leading brand they should not be surprised if the they find themselves in a litigation process.
Even though you have a disclaimer on your blog or website, be prepared to face disciplinary proceedings if your actions have shown your colleagues or school in a bad light.
Teachers do need to understand that some elements of their work is confidential. This means that details of mergers, staff changes, terms of employment, procurement, business partnerships and personal information relating to colleagues and children, must not be divulged on the social web. It is also the case that insurance companies are increasingly less likely to pay for equipment stolen from schools if there is evidence that teachers excitedly posted on blogs and micro sites about the new technology they were looking forward to using.
This has been discussed many times so let’s keep this simple;
Do not add parents, carers or children as friends or personal contacts in any social media.
Do not engage in any discussion online outside of formal channels.
Ensure all interaction is witnessed and approved by another, preferably senior colleague.
In the case of Facebook, schools should create a Facebook account or page where all interaction is controlled and professional.
Parents may feel that it is quicker or easier to raise concerns about the progress of their child, behaviour concerns etc. via a Facebook wall or message board but should be encouraged to use the channels best suited to professional and confidential discussion
Similarly, where parents and carers are invited to comment on children’s online work, guidance should be provided to help ensure all comments are positive and supportive. It is not acceptable for anyone to post negative comments about any child on social media associated with the school.
The opportunities for social media to enhance and extend teaching and learning should be embraced – and managed. By ensuring that all members of the learning community understand the benefits of social media, and manage the risks through clear policies and procedures, we can help ensure that responsible digital citizenship is a reality in our learning communities.
Kent's excellent guidance on social media in educational settings can be accessed here.
‘Hampshire School breached data protection rules’
The recent article link above highlights the importance of password protocol and security.
We would suggest that the misuse of the word ‘hacking’ is highlighted in this article as in this case and many others hacking has not taken place it is usually down to the lack of correct protocols and procedures as regards password security
Password security is an essential part of the risk assessment and audit process within your e safety / security provision and should always be linked to access rights within an educational establishment. Due to breaches of information confidentiality current government guidance is to align school information with government information classification levels.
Password protocols and policies are an essential part of your day to day practice as regards data security. Password Security is everyone’s responsibility.
The following advice is taken from the NEN eSafeguarding Audit Tool, hosted by Northern Grid.
Passwords are an important aspect of information security, and are the usual way to protect access to information.
As such, all members of staff with access to ICT systems shall be responsible for taking the appropriate steps to select and secure their passwords. These steps should include:
a) Keeping their password secure from pupils, family members, and other staff.
b) Using a different password for accessing school systems to that used for personal (non-school) purposes.
c) Choosing a password that is difficult to guess, or difficult for pupils to obtain by watching staff login.
d) Adding numbers or special characters (e.g. !@£$%^) can help.
e) Changing passwords regularly e.g. each school term.
f) Staff should try not to write down their password, unless absolutely necessary and then in a location that cannot be accessed by anyone else.
g) In addition, when leaving a computer for any length of time, all staff shall log off or lock the computer, using CTRL+ATL+DELETE.
h) Ensuring that there is a limit on the number of consecutive failed log in attempts. (Best practice is between 3 and 5 attempts)
i) Restrict concurrent access i.e. a user should not be able to log in at the same time from two different machines.
j) Access credentials (passwords) should not be stored within the machines internet browser or any remote access software.
Ask yourself…
Is there a clear policy regarding password conventions and renewing?
Is it monitored?
For advice and action use:
1. eSafeguarding Audit Tool
2. Northern Grid password protocol guidance
3. Check your password ‘strength’ with Microsoft Password Checker
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/pc-security/password-checker.aspx
Redcar Community College was the Winner in the Overall Excellence Category of the Northern Grid Awards 2010. This Case study looks at what they achieved and how they accomplished this, giving valuable insight for schools wanting to improve their ICT integration.
You can view the Case Study below or download it as a PDF.
Also labeled: Awards 2010, Case Studies, Case Study - School-based Innovations and Projects, Guidance, ICT, Awards Case Study 
The Summer Technology for Learning Newsletter was sent to all schools in Darlington. Articles give details of where schools can go for ICT advice and support, including a summary of what Northern Grid can offer.
While this newsletter is written for schools in Darlington, Northern Grid support is available to schools in all of our partner Local Authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, North Tyneside, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside and Stockton.
Oddizzi is a new, primary school focused, multimedia website. We wanted to find out more so we asked the creators to tell us a bit more about it.
Continued after the jump
Also labeled: Early Years, Foundation, Games, Geography, ICT, KS1, KS2, Lesson Plans, Literacy, Modern Foreign Languages, Multimedia, News, Parents/Carers, PSHE & Citizenship, Students, Teachers, Tools One of our eSafety experts, Simon Finch, was interviewed whilst at Plymouth e-Learning Conference 2011 about several subjects within the areas of eSafety and eSecurity.
View the 4 videos below or go to our YouTube Channel. If you need guidance and resources in dealing with these areas visit the eSafety area of our website.
Leave some comments below or on the YouTube Channel with your feedback! Thanks!
Also labeled: eSafety, eSecurity, Governors, Guidance, Handheld, ICT, News, NG Services, Social Networking, Teachers, Video, Support 
More about ebeat
3 October 2011
Download the Acceptable Use Policy 2011-2012
