John McLear » primary pad http://mclear.co.uk My mission: To encourage effective use of ICT in Schools. My main focus is on ages 3-11. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:46:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://primaryblogger.co.uk/?v=3.3.1 Safe Search on the Bradford Learning Network http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/19/safe-search-on-the-bradford-learning-network/ http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/19/safe-search-on-the-bradford-learning-network/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:36:44 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=1004 Today we rolled out a new feature for Bradford Learning Network(BLN) schools that we hope to roll out to other Broadband providers.

Regional Broadband consortiums such as the BLN purchase curriculum focused resources for their customers. We found that a number of schools were not aware of the resources they had access to so we decided to add a links section to safe search that will be displayed when any computer on the Bradford Learning Network accesses safe search.

The links direct the users to the single sign on link of their specific resource and have the Shibboleth WAYF set.

The links look like this:

You can directly link to http://primaryschoolict.com/bradford to access it from home.

If you would like similar functionality for your RBC or LA then please get in touch!

Technical note: We automatically detect the location of the visitor IE schools from the Bradford Learning Network just visit http://primaryschoolict.com and get the appropriate links. We do this based on IP address of the visitor

]]> http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/19/safe-search-on-the-bradford-learning-network/feed/ 0 PrimaryPad now works on Apple mobile devices http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/14/primarypad-now-works-on-apple-mobile-devices/ http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/14/primarypad-now-works-on-apple-mobile-devices/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:09:48 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=1000 When we designed PrimaryPad we knew that editing content on mobile devices would be an issue for a lot of people especially Apple device owners. Today we are pleased to announce that any Apple device running iOS5 will be able to edit pad contents. Enjoy! :)

]]> http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/10/14/primarypad-now-works-on-apple-mobile-devices/feed/ 0 NEW FEATURE: PrimaryPad autoQue / Teleprompter http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/09/19/new-feature-primarypad-autoque-teleprompter/ http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/09/19/new-feature-primarypad-autoque-teleprompter/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:47:09 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=987

Ever wanted to make a movie and needed an autoQue? Well why not collaboratively write your script in PrimaryPad then export it straight to our autoQue tool?

We have released the autoQue tool under an open source license and we will be adding it to the suite of tools available through the safe search website.

Check it out now, visit this pad then click Export –> autoQue

]]> http://primaryt.primaryblogger.co.uk/2011/09/19/new-feature-primarypad-autoque-teleprompter/feed/ 0 Our contribution to collaborative writing http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/22/our-contribution-to-collaborative-writing/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/22/our-contribution-to-collaborative-writing/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:00:05 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=969 Since December 2009 we have been contributing towards an open-source project called Etherpad.  Open source projects can be described as free software that is free to modify, use and redistribute.  Etherpad has been the technology we have used for PrimaryPad.  Today Etherpad Lite finally reached Version 1 which means it’s ready for download and widely adopted usage.  We’re really proud of this achievement and we hope to support the project into the future.

Read more about Etherpad including the option to host your own

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/22/our-contribution-to-collaborative-writing/feed/ 0 More colours on PrimaryPad http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/20/more-colours-on-primarypad/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/20/more-colours-on-primarypad/#comments Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:14:59 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=957

You can now pick any colour you want on PrimaryPad Beta.

Enjoy :)

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/20/more-colours-on-primarypad/feed/ 0 PrimaryPad Chrome extension keeps track of the pads you used http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/12/primarypad-chrome-extension-keeps-track-of-the-pads-you-used/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/12/primarypad-chrome-extension-keeps-track-of-the-pads-you-used/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:03:05 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=943 Ever forgotten the URL of a Primary Pad you have been working on? Well now this very simple Chrome extension will help you remember by providing a really simple click link.

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/08/12/primarypad-chrome-extension-keeps-track-of-the-pads-you-used/feed/ 0 PrimaryPad Wordle integration http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/28/primarypad-wordle-integration/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/28/primarypad-wordle-integration/#comments Sat, 28 May 2011 17:25:46 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=665
Click on the W in the toolbar to send your pad contents to Wordle. Your pop up blocker/browser may block this so make sure you allow it to pop up!

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/28/primarypad-wordle-integration/feed/ 0 New PrimaryPad and PrimaryWall pricing announced http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/15/new-primarypad-and-primarywall-pricing-announced/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/15/new-primarypad-and-primarywall-pricing-announced/#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 15:04:52 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=612 Today we’re happy to announce a 70% reduction in the price of PrimaryPad and a 50% reduction in the price of PrimaryWall. Both prices have reduced significantly as we have massively improved our efficiency and reduced our costs of providing these services. Enjoy!

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/05/15/new-primarypad-and-primarywall-pricing-announced/feed/ 0 PrimaryPad being used — Writing/search task http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/04/13/primarypad-being-used-writingsearch-task/ http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/04/13/primarypad-being-used-writingsearch-task/#comments Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:15:10 +0000 Admin Admin http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/?p=453 We thought this was a good example of teacher/pupil engagement with PrimaryPad. Here you can see the timeslider being used to play back the document progress.

]]> http://blog.primaryt.co.uk/2011/04/13/primarypad-being-used-writingsearch-task/feed/ 0 Why your school infrastructure matters more today than it did yesterday http://mclear.co.uk/2011/04/01/why-your-school-infrastructure-matters-more-today-than-it-did-yesterday/ http://mclear.co.uk/2011/04/01/why-your-school-infrastructure-matters-more-today-than-it-did-yesterday/#comments Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:39:05 +0000 Admin Admin http://mclear.co.uk/?p=2792 With the launch of PrimaryWall we noticed that we have a number of schools getting periodic dropped connections, this is due to schools infrastructures “dropping packets”.  I was dealing with a school a few months ago who had a technical support provider who promised them that dropping ~5% of packets wouldn’t affect their performance..  This may of been true for their current usage but really-real time web apps such as PrimaryWall and PrimaryPad require that your infrastructure is correctly configured, any packet loss is a potential future failure and should be avoided.  So how can you see if your infrastructure is up to par?

We made a simple heartbeat tool so you can test this yourself.  Enjoy!

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