Northern Grid for Learning - School Broadband, eSafety, Learning Resources and More
TeachersNorthern Grid - Broadband Update #211 May 2012
Northern Grid Awards 2012 Shortlist Announced25 April 2012
After several weeks of reviewing the award entries the judging is complete and the shortlisted schools have been invited to the awards ceremony on June 21st. Before the ceremony the schools will take part in an exhibition to showcase their entries. Book your free place now to attend the event; find out more about what these innovative teachers and creative students have been doing, celebrate their success and learn how you can do similar things in your school. This is Northern Grid's favourite day of the year, we always leave impressed by the confident and articluate pupils. It is an outstanding opportunity to be inspired and enthused about how technology can enhance teaching and learning. The event is open to staff and governors from all schools and local authorities. Visit the event page for booking information. The shortlisted schools are:
Northern Grid - Broadband Update #119 March 2012
Northern Grid - BT New Service Provider29 February 2012
We look forward to working with BT to maintain and further develop our broadband and services. For more detailed information download the Press Release, get in contact with the office or fill out an Expression of Interest form
Building Our First Mobile App14 February 2012For winning one of our Teacher Awards last year, Stephen Ainsley from Harton Technology College in South Shields asked for us to develop a mobile app (specifically an iOS app originally) for the school. Stephen wanted an app version of their school planner – in other words, a digital version of a homework tracker, timetable viewer and school information database. This article is intended to briefly cover the route we took when developing our first mobile application. Northern Grid Leading Schools Launch Event19 December 2011
Northern Grid has been working with schools to provide broadband connections since 1999. Many people don't realise that when it started there was no technical infrastructure in place and our priority wasn't to provide the regional network but to work with teachers and local authority advisors to look at how the technology could be used to support teaching and learning and make a difference in the classroom. This clearly demonstrates that Northern Grid's two priorities were improving teaching and learning and working in partnership with schools. We continue to focus on these priorities and to provide support to all our partner schools. This support is even more important now than it was when we started. There have been significant changes nationally and locally and much of the support that was previously available from Becta and Local Authorities has disappeared. Increasingly schools are being told that they know best about what is needed and that they should get on with it. While the freedom this gives schools can be welcome many schools don't feel that they have the knowledge they need and they are already strengthening relationships with their local schools so they can work together and learn from each other's successes and challenges. Providing schools with links, contacts that they can call on is the first purpose of the Leading Schools Network.
Using ICT Effectively and Saving You Money14 November 2011A guide for ICT Team LeadersCloud Storage - is it safe to use?Cloud based storage and online synchronisation offers individuals many benefits, one of which is removing the need to carry flash pens and portable disks around. The question that needs to be asked is what issues are raised by this increasingly popular and free service. Google Apps and Live@Edu have storage space available as part of their email offering. An increasingly popular trend is synchronising online storage. Dropbox and SugarSync are currently two of the more popular. The services mentioned are all available at no charge but with limits be it limited storage, non-existent Service level agreements or limited control over the functionality or how it changes. The main concern with Dropbox is the significant risk of breaching the Data Protection Act. Staff wishing to store personal information should not use a service that does not comply with the EU Safe Harbor agreement. The EU Safe Harbor agreement requires that personal data is stored in the EU or in other countries where we have set agreements. Dropbox is hosted in the US is non-compliant! There are also security issues with free services, in June 2011 Dropbox confirmed that a programmer’s error caused a temporary security breach that allowed any password to be used to access any user account. If you decide to use this service it’s highly recommended you encrypt your files prior to synchronisation. Web Browsers – Upgrade to Internet Explorer 9IE9 is the most secure and best performing Microsoft browser it therefore is recommended that schools upgrade. Websites designed for earlier versions may not display correctly to resolve use a feature called Compatibility View. To ensure IE9 can view all webpages correctly an icon titled compatibility view has been added. The icon normally looks like Online Safety and Time Travel24 October 2011International Collaboration on EsafetyOn Friday 21 October 2011 at 15.45 I Skyped with TeachMeet Kentucky at the National Corvette Museum where around 300 delegates had assembled to share and learn from each other.
Although my Friday was drawing to a close, simultaneously in Kentucky teachers were settling down at 9.45am to hear me speak about the challenges of communication technologies for adults who works with young people. The feedback from the session was positive and I enjoyed the experience although presenting via Skype is more challenging than face to face. I can't see or hear my audience and I realise that it is the visual feedback as I'm speaking, that helps define the session and how to select themes to emphasise and expand. I think in future I may try to lose the slides and speak directly to web camera and see if that is a way to engage more fully with my audience.
Thanks very much to all who helped make Teachmeet Kentucky happen and for inviting Northern grid to particpate in an outstanding day of learning and fun. If you would like Northern Grid to support you then email support@northerngrid.org
TED: 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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Northern Grid has signed a 5 year contract with BT and will be providing new, fast, affordable and robust broadband connections to schools across the North East of England. The update reports are intended to keep you informed about what to expect during the installation process and the services that will be included.
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Northern Grid signed a contract yesterday (14th February 2012) with BT to provide broadband to Northern Grid schools for the next five years.
On November 29th schools from across the Northern Grid region came together at the launch event of the Northern Grid Leading Schools Network. Only 14 schools had been invited to participate in this network to work with schools which, like them, were doing exciting and innovative things with educational technology.
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