Trying out remote support in Primary Schools (again)

We have had numerous attempts at trying to find the right solution that suits us and our customers needs for technical support.  We often get it right but remote support has been one of the harder things to implement.  Firstly it was a technical barrier, we hope now it will just be a training barrier.

We are trying to implement remote support using a mash up of technologies that makes it as easy as possible for a teacher to get instant support.  We aim to roll it out fully in the next 6 months.  We are using the Google Talk protocol with the pidgin client on desktop machines and the google talk client on mobile devices.

Here is a screen shot of the interface:

If you recieve support from us for a paid product then get in touch if you want to try it out early on.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Show My Homework review

UPDATE & Warning: Show My Homework will spam your email inbox with no option to unsubscribe.

Show My Homework is a web based service for teachers to creates a calendar for pupils that shows when homework has been issued and is due.

The process works like this:

  • Teacher posts a piece of homework, including information such as the recipient class and date/time.
  • Pupil checks on a certain URL to see what homework has been assigned to their class.

This website is primarily aimed at secondary schools and colleges where homework is set in advance and is essential to the ongoing education of the child. Comparing this service to something like Edmodo is difficult as Edmodo is much more of a communication platform where files are the focus.

I don’t see the Primary School uptake of a system like this being high.  The concept is great and so is the delivery but I feel without a large change in the way primary schools assign homework and a change in the way the website handles individual/group assignments, learning platform integration that this service may be overlooked for some time to come.

The credit process encourages teachers to get other teachers involved with Show My Homework by providing free credits as a reward for inviting other teachers.  There is no mention about how the process will work when all of a schools teachers have been invited onto the system.  I expect this is when a small fee will come into place.

Show My Homework is focused more on classes than groups, some would argue this sacrifices individualized learning for a more formal work structure, this seems like a natural sacrifice as Show My Homework is a specific job for a specific task and that task is homework assignment.

I like Show My Homework for its simplicity and practicality and salute it for not trying to be something it isn’t.  A perfect example of how it is beautifully simple are the email reminders, nudging you if you haven’t assigned any homework lately.  I personally think Naimish and his team should think about providing an open standard for homework assignment that can integrate with a learning platform such as Moodle.

Watch the video and see what you think!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

bMoble Teachmeet 5:30pm 20th May @ Abundant Life Centre


The bMoble Teachmeet will be at 5:30pm on the 20th of May at the Abundant Life Centre

Curry will be provided by the Mumtaz curry house.

The bMoble conference will end at 3:30pm at which point some refreshments will be available in the form of a nearby pub.

More details on the conference available here.

Android gets turn-by-turn based navigation

android_man_kicking_appleSo, this might initially be a very “educationally focused” post but you have to read between the lines to understand the significance of this (even though it was somewhat inevitable) announcement.

Basically turn-by-turn is that lovely lady who tells you to “turn left in 20 meters”.  We all knew it was coming to the UK but companies such as Jarmin & Tomtom have been trying to stop it.  That is because they have made absolute packets of money by selling their app to iPhone fanbois and girls alike.

This may be the final blow android needed to really knock the Apple iPhone OS off it’s #1 mantel.  How does this affect education you may be asking?  Simple, a consumer based demand of Android handsets is inevitable now that your phone now replaces your usual Sat Nav product, and lets face it.  Google will do some crazy cool stuff with turn-by-turn based navigation, already boasting an incredibly smart caching system that caches your trip so if you lose Internet connectivity you don’t lose your map or location.

As android becomes more popular and more schools grow sto adopt the platform it means less iPhone applications will be developed and more Android developers will pop up.  Is this a good thing?  Surely iPhone apps are better than Android apps?  Yes it is a good thing.  Android promotes open source and a large majority of the applications available in the market place are completely free.

So today’s  announcement might not have a direct impact on Android in Education but the knock on effect should be huge and the future certainly looks bright the little green operating system and it’s place in the UK market.

As a side note its worth mentioning that most of the popular netbooks/tablets will soon run Android (including devices such as the Asus EEE)

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]



Safe Search gets an earth day snail

Today I added a snail banner to the safe search page to promote a move towards using ICT as an embedded tool and to move away from the standard wasteful paper based approach of sharing information.

earthday[1]

Before I run into a flak of teachers accusing me of a Zionist approach to education I will say that paper has its place and that ICT shouldn’t have to be used in every lesson.  I am merely trying to help promote something I believe in.  It will be removed on the 25th when Earth day has finished.  More information on Earth day and more information on the pledge to go paperless for the day.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]