Merlin - for Parents and Carers

[speckytecky]

Anyone out there using Merlin in any way with Parents and Carers yet - we are looking at it and wondering how to go about it; how much effort to put into it etc.?

[superfletch]

I believe this system is still being finished, but is very very close to general release.

 

Put it this way, you can use it for parents and carers without using it for pupils - so if you already have another VLE / CMS solution and don't want the kids to use Merlin then that's possible (although accounts for the children will need creating).

 

You will also need to purchase a SIF agent for transferring data from your MIS into Merlins IDP (Identity Service) this should come at a price in the region of £100 - £200 per annum.

 

Although both pupil and parent / carer accounts will be getting automatically provisioned from your MIS there will still be a good deal of setup administration to do if you don't already use Merlin (or if you do use merlin, but without SIF). This administration will involve accepting the generated accounts for pupils (and giving them sensible usernames in case you ever do choose to use Merlin for the kids), then clicking to accept that the adults identified as parents / carers of said pupils from the MIS data are indeed parents / carers and you wish them to be able to access the data for the child(ren) identified.

 

I've seen screenshots and a live demo and it looks really quite good.

 

The SWGfL team are all very knowledgeable and can answer any questions you may have, in addition they have kept stressing that the reson this system has taken its time coming is because they want to do it properly first time.

 

They are very, very aware of the sensitivity of the data involved in this area, and this is very apparent at all the Merlin meetings I've been to.

 

Hope that's some help.

 

I'd give it a go for a year with one year group, then if it doesn't work out then it will only be the cost of a years SIF license.

Edited February 24, 2011 by superfletch