What was once a separate discipline held in a dedicated computer room and accounting for a small fraction of the timetable is now being taken seriously as an application in every subject area. Becci Knowles investigates the impact of ICT throughout the curriculum...

In the 21st century, no child will leave school without knowing how to compose an email, offer a PowerPoint presentation or conduct interactive research on the World Wide Web. Today’s classrooms have evolved into modern office environments, with education rejecting the historical polarisation of academia and business in favour of a more interdependent relationship.

3M, the diversified technology company, will be demonstrating its latest range of structured cabling solutions at this year’s Networkshop. Drawing on its extensive R&D track-record, 3M is already one of Europe’s leading providers of structured cabling and is now focused on delivering voice and data communications solutions to the UK education sector.  

Under the brand name of Volition, 3M has an established and comprehensive range of copper and fibre optic structured cable systems and accessories, across all main internationally recognised standards.  

As a College of Technology, Swanmore required a suitable medium for communicating valuable information centrally as well as to their network of local feeder schools. 

ONELAN was chosen for the ability to setup different zones with different content types, and for stability: ONELAN NTBs are Linux based  and therefore more stable than Windows based systems.

On Safer Internet Day this month, (ISC)2,  a non-profit organisation which runs a program helping volunteers visit schools, clubs and parent evenings, spoke about the real need for  kids to receive guidance on security online  as well as safety. John Colley is managing director of the organisation. He said: “Schools must realise that it is the young people that continue to use the internet in new ways and take risks in a world where their parents and teachers are ill-equipped to guide them.  Children are only just beginning to understand how to protect themselves online and have little understanding of how their actions presents risks  for themselves, friends, family or even the work place. We need to understand that there is no safety without security and ensure our kids are empowered to act responsibly,  he concludes.

Saville Audio Visual has launched an exclusive new range of folding furniture for schools. Saville Academy tables are designed and built for years of trouble-free service, offering a versatile concept for primary and junior schools in a range of hard-wearing laminate surfaces. Robust, easy to fold and easy to move, the tables are available three different shapes with smooth locking castors. The bright, coordinated finishes can be mixed, adding a dynamic extra feature to classrooms and teaching areas.

Blossom Learning has launched Mrs Blossom’s “Online Applied SMART Board Course” to inspire the greater use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

The new eight stage course is taught by a state-of-the-art digital animation character Mrs. Blossom, a ‘superteacher’ that every professional educator will immediately relate to. The programme aims to inspire and educate teachers using SMART Board technology, leading to more creativity in the classroom and maximise returns on hardware investments.

St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington, the fastest changing school to academy in the UK, has partnered with Ramesys and Kodit to implement full on-site ICT services to support its recent move to a new £16.4 million building.

Alan Dick, assistant principal said: “In accordance with the school’s transition to become an academy and its relocation to the new site, cutting-edge ICT solutions were imperative.  To support us we appointed Kodit and Ramesys which both boast a positive and strong presence in the education sector.”

Harnessing the benefits of technology delivers a significant competitive advantage not only to your students but also to the educational establishment as a whole. Balancing the benefits of technology against costs both to your budget and the environment is not always an easy task. Consideration of the Total Cost of Ownership is high on the agenda in the education sector. Comparing only the product cost is now less important than consideration of the overall cost taking into account lamp life and lamp costs, for example. Operating costs – defined in terms of power consumption – also play an important role. This development is being reinforced by tougher legislation, such as the new EuP directive, which imposes limits on standby power consumption.

DRS has been AQA’s technology partner since 2003, when, after a successful pilot, the awarding body appointed it to improve marking standards through electronic marking.  With access to electronic marking technologies, including imaging techniques, AQA examiners and markers can mark scripts efficiently and effectively without the logistical problems faced with paper script marking.  Over nine million scripts are marked using e Marker® with 20,000 home based and centre markers submitting marks over the DRS e-Marker® infrastructure.

Epping Forest College has completed a major technical upgrade allowing the college to offer innovative Arts and Media facilities that will keep present and future students up to date with the latest equipment, skills and practices.

Clarity in Sound, Light and Vision Limited, specialists in sound, lighting and audio visual installations for education, has completed the development of the technical infrastructure required for the College’s Arts and Media department - including its television studio, dance and drama studio and the main college theatre.

Take a seat and imagine yourself being taught your favourite lesson as a child. If you think about it, you can probably imagine the voice of your teacher without too much difficulty.

Next, imagine a power cut kills the lights: shut your eyes (if they weren’t closed already) and try again, so that you cannot see your teacher. Writing on the board goes unnoticed. Arm-waving and gesticulations for emphasis also pass you by. Demonstrations for emphasis or entertainment are now pretty irrelevant.

Now, by way of comparison, consider the same scene, but this time you can see your teacher but you have a bad cold and your blocked ears mean you cannot hear well.

European Electronique, a leading technology company spearheading the delivery of ICT to the education sector, will be showcasing a range of the latest innovations in ICT at BETT 2010.  The team will be on stand number D80 demonstrating how its cutting-edge ICT systems and solutions can help drive down costs while enhancing and empowering teachers and pupils alike.

Yolanta Gill, Managing Director of European Electronique explains, “With a general election looming and public sector cuts expected, schools’ ICT budgets will certainly be affected. We regard this as an opportunity to help school IT and procurement professionals reduce overall spend through the adoption of appropriate ICT technologies.

As a leading, global provider of desktop and server management software, ScriptLogic Corporation, www.scriptlogic.com, understands its customers’ needs and develops solutions to address daily IT challenges. In the education sector, common IT tasks such as application rollouts, desktop configurations and ensuring that specific users and groups have access to needed network resources, would take a significant amount of time for the generally small IT departments if completed manually. ScriptLogic’s Desktop Authority, a desktop lifecycle management solution, provides IT teams at schools and universities with the management functionality that they need to increase productivity and decrease the total cost of desktop ownership.

UK schools face a familiar challenge every year: how do they get the most out of limited resources? And this challenge is never greater than when investing in IT solutions.

So, when schools ask: "How can I finance my new printer?", vendors increasingly need to look at offering flexible payment options such as a ‘pay as you go' model, where schools just pay for the printing that they use, or finance packages which allow them to spread costs over an extended period.

How much of your life is lived "virtually"? Do you shop in your favourite stores online, socialise on networking sites and read paperless newspapers on screen? If so, you are among the majority who use the internet to give their lives greater flexibility.

Although we have become used to booking our holidays or doing our banking online - the thought of using the internet to get closer to our children's education is a new one. Most students are familiar with working in cyberspace already - as the majority of schools now have a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) - sometimes called a Flexible Learning Environment - meaning they can access their timetables, homework and lesson notes online.

A Nottingham-based company has struck a major deal to have its laptop storage and charging product supplied to schools throughout China as part of an initiative being run by global computer giant Dell.

Under the deal, Monarch Education Furniture's LapCabby will become a key component of the Dell Connected Classroom. The solution, which helps teachers prepare students for work in an everchanging digital world, also includes Dell's Latitude 2100 netbook, the Latitude XT tablet, interactive whiteboards, classroom management software and video conferencing.

Like many schools, Rosebank Primary in Nairn, Scottish Highlands, recognised the potential of interactive technologies to transform teaching and learning. However, the school also acknowledged that critical to the effective use of technologies in the classroom is teacher training. That's why when implementing Promethean ActivBoards and accompanying software, the school chose to establish a comprehensive training programme.

Virtually all pupils and teachers would agree with a definition of ‘good' acoustics that meant ‘best speech-intelligibility within the classroom'. Good understanding of speech must be the key ambition within any classroom. Soundfield systems have been designed to achieve this.

Unfortunately, for architects, engineers and builders, the meaning can be different. They would define ‘good' acoustics as the prevention of noise transfer between rooms and floors, or the reduction of reverberation to reduce echo and distortion.

MindGenius is a powerful mind mapping software application that helps teachers, pupils and students in schools to organise information, collect ideas and explore their coursework at home and in the classroom, more effectively. The new version, MindGenius 3 provides improved functionality around analysis, task management, brainstorming, exporting and presentations.

Dustin Newport, a director for MindGenius says: "The ethos for MindGenius has always been about facilitating the journey from unstructured data capture through to analysis, actions, and ultimately - results! We have made this journey much easier through a visually appealing interface, that will be very familiar and easy-to-use for those used to mainstream computing applications."

Becta has recently awarded a contract to Insight Direct (UK) to provide assistive technologies on all its Home Access packages when the scheme goes national later this year. Home Access is a government programme managed by Becta. It aims to ensure that more children in state-maintained education in England have access to technology at home to support learning. To ensure that all learners are catered for, regardless of their needs, the packages available will come preloaded with a suite of assistive technology software. This has benefits not only for learners, but for their families too.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd has launched the bizhub C452, the latest addition to the highly successful bizhub colour multifunctional range. The bizhub C452 has a 45 prints per minute output speed in black-and-white or colour. Designed for intensive workgroup use, the bizhub C452 has an impressive array of high-productivity features.

Using Konica Minolta's bizhub Emperon print controller, the bizhub C452 offers network print, copy and high-speed network scanning as standard with optional fax functionality. The powerful Emperon controller also includes the advanced ‘MyTab' printer driver tab, enabling users to choose their favourite printing functions and post them on a single or ‘home' tab for maximum ease of use. ‘MyTab' recently received the prestigious ‘Outstanding Achievement Award' from Buyers Lab Inc.

ARDEX UK, premier manufacturers of high performance flooring products, teamed up with flooring contractor Sandafloor Limited of Gateshead, to provide over 3,500m2 of flooring underlayments for the new £36 million Bede Academy in Northumberland.

To commence, the classrooms and laboratories received ARDEX DPM 1 C One Coat Surface Damp Proof Membrane, which is easy to apply, fast curing and can accommodate Hygrometer readings up to 98% RH.

Lafarge Plasterboard, one of the UK's leading plasterboard and drylining systems manufacturers, is working with Laing O'Rourke on one of the largest schools complexes in Edinburgh, supplying its innovative GTEC Aqua Board.

The Forrester and St Augustine's schools are being redeveloped with a shared sports facility including a large swimming pool. The gypsum based GTEC Aqua Board is being used in the swimming pool complex due to its enhanced water and mould resistant properties.

Southampton City College is currently part way through a full redevelopment of its St Mary's Street campus. As part of a total investment in the project of £43.2 million WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.co.uk) is supplying natural ventilation control systems for various buildings around the campus.

WindowMaster was selected because it was able to provide a model for an innovative and cost effective natural ventilation solution that worked according to the consultants' brief.

The start of a new academic year is an exciting time that usually heralds a raft of product launches and new technologies with the potential to greatly enhance curriculum delivery and student engagement. But in their enthusiasm to embrace the latest technological advances schools can sometimes forget to reflect upon the impact of technologies of new terms past. Even the most analytical of school leaders can be so seduced by the technology that they lose sight of the need to consider its impact on standards and achievement and the total cost of ownership.

Schools and Colleges have the biggest communications problem of any ‘business'. To communicate a large number of messages simultaneously to such a widely diverse audience is a challenge.

Early adoption of digital signage saw institutions utilising consumer based screens displaying Powerpoint presentations but this solution is inherently limited and far from ‘real-time'. Utilising a multi-message zone player typically delivers at least 4 zones to display content simultaneously in the most appropriate format. Photos can be shown as slide shows, timetables as intranet pages and school news as RSS news feeds for instance.

MGL Media is a digital signage package designed to help schools provide information to pupils, staff, parents and visitors in a fast, modern and attractive way. From showcasing a video of the latest school production to letting people know what's going on where or even sharing the lunch menu for the day, MGL's digital signs are an ideal way to raise engagement and enhance your school's communications.

We all agree that we have to take a more responsible attitude to our consumption of energy and our carbon emissions.

The education sector is keen to establish its own green credentials, expect the highest environmental standards from their own suppliers, and being able to demonstrate best practices could mean the difference between these suppliers winning and losing contracts.

According to a study by market research institute Gartner, commercial IT is responsible for 2 per cent of the world's CO2 emissions - around the same volume as global air travel. In Europe, around 25 per cent of electronic waste is currently recycled, which will increase as legal regulations are increasingly implemented. In view of the large quantities of generated waste material, manufacturers have a responsibility to make recycling as easy as possible. NEC Display Solutions has long recognized its corporate responsibilities and is basing its Green Vision campaign on the two pillars of Green Productivity and Green Sustainability.

With increasing numbers of pupils using laptops as part of their core curriculum, safe storage and charging is becoming a real headache for network managers and ICT teachers.

"I realised what a major problem it can be when I spoke to educationalists who spend a great deal of time and effort in ensuring that students, who are increasingly mobile, have a safe solution for storage and re-charging" comments Chris Mott, Global Business Development Manager of the KE Group.

Schools and Colleges have the biggest communications problem of any ‘business'.

To communicate a large number of messages simultaneously to such a widely diverse audience is a challenge.

LapCabby (www.lapcabby.com) is the most cost effective laptop and netbook storage and charging product on the market, and is as feature-rich, robust and secure as products costing two to three times as much.

Now, with 8,000 British schools already using the device, the company behind the product is set to expand across Europe.

Spitfire, the leading ISP and Internet telephony service provider, has launched PureStream^TM SDSL for customers requiring high bandwidth SDSL, coupled with 100 percent resilience. PureStream^TM SDSL combines a 2Mb uncontended LLUStream SDSL (including market leading service level guarantees), with a 2Mb uncontended SDSL(M) as a backup circuit - for a fraction of the price of a 2Mb leased line. This offers outstanding resilience combined with network redundancy as the circuits are provided over different network infrastructure and routing.

Award-winning Barry Island School, one of the highest achieving schools in the Vale of Glamorgan LEA, has become the UK's first school to implement a state-of-the-art networked ICT solution that provides all children with their own monitor, mouse and keyboard at their desks. The former ICT suite has now been turned into a new classroom for 30 additional pupils.

Recognising the importance of technology in education, and the need for the school's ICT systems to work effectively and efficiently, the school decided to invest in a new ICT solution that met its core objectives: a low total cost of ownership (TCO); a high return on investment (ROI) and a system that was environmentally friendly, easy and quick to install.

The new LG Network Monitor is a virtual computing solution for schools that reduces costs, maintenance and energy consumption by allowing multiple users to share a single host PC. The host computer acts as a server, with up to eleven users independently running the software application of their choice via LG desktop monitors.

Connecting several monitors to one host PC has the advantage of reducing energy spend as each individual screen draws considerably less power. A normal terminal draws between 15-80 watts, while the LG network monitor reducing this to between 1-5watts. This has means that a school can potentially lower its annual energy cost by almost 80%.

Meru Networks' "wireless without compromise" has vast potential for the future development of education delivery. With some of the largest school, college and higher education deployments globally, Meru's cutting-edge "virtual cell" wireless architecture has the proven ability to deliver the highest-speed IEEE 802.11n standard at full power to hundreds of students simultaneously, without any dropouts, failed connections or quality-of-service problems. With huge investment directed at education and ICT investment in particular, UK schools are finally starting to take notice of the transformational innovation Meru's wireless architecture can provide.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd has launched the bizhub PRO 1200 mono production print system offering up to 7,200 impressions an hour (120 prints per minute), with a maximum duty cycle of three million prints a month. The launch of the bizhub PRO 1200 extends Konica Minolta's presence in the digital mono print market, offering customers a mid-range production system with outstanding image quality and a comprehensive range of modular finishing options.

Nintendo and Musical Futures, an educational initiative that introduces informal learning approaches into the classroom announce the launch of a pilot scheme bringing Wii Music into schools as an innovative learning aid.

The pilot scheme has been running in five champion schools* identified by Musical Futures as schools that are open to introducing innovation to music lessons.

Muratec Europe (UK), manufacturer of multifunction office equipment and business solutions, has won the coveted Editor's Choice award from Print.IT magazine for the Muratec MFX-C3400 system.

For colour output the powerful MFX-C3400 has a 26 page per minute (ppm) print and copy speed, making output of colour documents, such as reports and training notes, easy and quick. For black-and-white output the MFX-C3400 has a fast 34ppm print speed.

Becta has recently awarded a contract to Insight Direct (UK) to provide assistive technologies on all its Home Access packages when the scheme goes national later this year. Home Access is a government programme managed by Becta. It aims to ensure that more children in state-maintained education in England have access to technology at home to support learning. To ensure that all learners are catered for, regardless of their needs, the packages available will come pre-loaded with a suite of assistive technology software. This has benefits not only for learners, but for their families too.

Exterity, the building IPTV specialist, has launched the AvediaStream chassis and blades. This modular head-end solution makes it easier than ever before for educational institutions to capture and distribute high-impact TV and video learning materials over their existing building or campus network (LAN).

Make foreign language broadcasts available to faculty and students or distribute live lectures or announcements from video cameras. Save internet bandwidth by distributing TV to student accommodations from an internal source, eliminating multiple streams from outside sources such as BBC iPlayer.

With more adults than ever entering further and higher education, the demands on institutions to provide students and lecturers with the best resources and infrastructure has never been greater.

"Having an IT infrastructure capable of meeting student demands is absolutely central to the college's continued success", says Alan Race, Director of ICT and Purchasing at New College Durham; an institution which knows a thing or two about success, having been awarded "outstanding status" in a recent Oftsed inspection, and whose performance and success rates place them among the top 10% of Further and Higher Education colleges in the UK.

With extensive experience and expertise in the education sector, HellermannTyton has its products installed in a wide portfolio of schools and universities across the UK.

At HellermannTyton we believe that cabling infrastructure in educational establishments needs to be cost effective whilst being of the highest quality and standard to meet the unique exacting demands of the environment.

Mitsubishi Electric has for many years been a leading manufacturer of presentation and display products for the education sector and has recently launched a new user friendly, ultra portable projector - the XD221U.

Designed to meet the changing demands of today's educational establishments, the XD221U utilises DLP^TM technology and features a 10-watt speaker and audio mix function. Benefiting from both audio and visual components, users can produce high quality presentations to keep their audience entertained.

One area of school supply that has been growing rapidly in recent years is that of curriculum software. This can be anything from software that constitutes a teaching tool to what has been termed a "lesson in a box".

It is almost 20 years since the first interactive whiteboard was introduced into the teaching environment. Anybody who used one of those early boards would recognise the technology as largely unchanged. But with many schools and colleges now planning their second generation of teaching technology, alternatives to the whiteboard and projector combination are of increasing interest.

About ACS International Schools

ACS International Schools serve international and local communities via three campuses in Greater London: Cobham, Egham and Hillingdon. The schools are co-educational, and offer day and boarding education to pupils aged 2-18.

Claro Software is an innovative software company that develops and licenses "assistive software"; using leading edge speech and imaging technology, and adaptive techniques to make the computer easier to use.

The diverse range of English language skills among pupils in today's classrooms presents a challenge to many teachers who are trying to teach the same curriculum to everyone.

Students at Silicon Valley's San José City College and Evergreen Valley College need no longer visit the computer lab, library or local coffee shop to plug in their laptop computers since a new high-performance wireless network from Meru Networks has turned every indoor space on campus into a "wireless hot zone" for Internet access.

Texthelp Systems Ltd, the worldwide leaders of literacy software solutions continues to address the needs of Apple Mac users with literacy difficulties and dyslexia.  Read&Write 3 GOLD FOR MAC is the latest assistive software product from Texthelp, designed to support Apple MAC Users of all ages and abilities who need help with their reading and writing. The software takes the form of a flexible toolbar that integrates with MS Word 2008 and the Safari browser.

With a proven history in the Education sector, Navaho Technologies Ltd works with clients to improve the impact and efficiency of campus communications through the use of Navaho's media presentation system, MediaCAT.