SATs marking/Adobe Connect...?

[Koldov]

Not really sure where to put this, but here goes...

 

Pretty busy at the moment so I'm hoping EDUGEEK can save from a few rabbit holes this morning!

 

I just received an email from a teacher:

 

"5 teachers are marking SATs this year and wanted to check we have the software on our laptops."

 

Then a copy/paste of what looks like some sort of instructions...

 

 

And that's it.... I guess the rest is up to me, so I just wanted to know if anyone has any knowledge of Adobe Connect (instead of just using Teams, Meet or even $deity forbid... Zoom)...

 

Also if anyone knows what the Primary Assessment Gateway is and how to access it, that would be grand...

 

EDIT: Unless the teacher is reading this incorrectly and only 'supervisors' need Adobe Connect...? Because it looks like a 'paid for' application so far...

Edited April 21, 2022 by Koldov

[Steve21]

I mean normally the users download the software from the portals, I’m guessing that’s more just a “your hardware must be able to run it” kind of email

 

Things like MarkManager logins are emailed directly to those staff doing it

 

The PAG is a government portal for schools to assign/get exam data, so your exam team should have access to it, as there’s only limited logins for it normally

 

Steve

[Koldov]

Obviously I'm completely in the dark about all of this, so I'm just trying to find out who needs what and why. Also need to see the specs from the PAG, although I'm hoping there won't be anything that needs more than a basic modern laptop to run it.

 

If they download any software I doubt they'd be able to install it on their machines, so that's going to be an issue to start with...

[Steve21]

Obviously I'm completely in the dark about all of this, so I'm just trying to find out who needs what and why. Also need to see the specs from the PAG, although I'm hoping there won't be anything that needs more than a basic modern laptop to run it.

 

If they download any software I doubt they'd be able to install it on their machines, so that's going to be an issue to start with...

 

I may be missing the obvious here, but why is it an issue? (In terms of you/IT)

 

SATs marking is private work for Capita, not school related, so it should be their own devices normally anyway.

 

Unless it’s changed recently anyway, but it’s not your requirements to provide anything unless you’re feeling nice (considering using school devices for personal reasons is normally directly against policies too)

 

Steve

[Koldov]

Well.... I didn't know that... I just presumed that as 5 teachers were doing it and the request came via official school email it was legit school business... not just a 'can you do me a personal favour' kind of discussion in the corridor...

 

I spoke to a teacher who I remembered did it a few years ago...

 

I thought it strange as she said that as she had a Mac at home she couldn't do it back then as whoever was the service provider didn't have Mac software, but now it has changed to Capita...

 

All starting to make sense!

[Steve21]

I mean feel free to check as it may have changed. Just going on my past experience with it

 

But it’s normally the fact that May-June is after a lot of students have left (11s/exams etc) and lots like to get the boost in money for a few weeks “extra” work in their “spare” time

 

It’s always been limited to teachers who can apply to do it, but it’s never been an official school thing at least that I’ve seen, as they have to apply to capita and do training/demo marking with those companies before they’re accepted, and once accepted generally they always get re-invited

 

Steve

[psydii]

Often schools encourage their staff to take part in marking the public examinations / tests to give them better insight into the process, and (hopefully) a better perspective on how to support their students in these tests/exams in the future.

 

Therefore.. teachers expect to be able to do this on school devices... and thus it is our problem. Last time this crossed my desk I advised the teacher to ask for a test/validation from the provider and to see if they could do it without my intervention, and to pass me all the details if there was a problem. They went away happy so I assume it was fine. It's possible we've got an AppLocker rule somewhere that allows them to run the signed apps, and they just install it to local appdata (like chrome/Teams/Zoom etc)