Andie

An office?? What, one of those places that you can work in without getting kicked out by a class?? Where you can put your own stuff?? Can I have one too?? Please please please.... Oh, all right then....

I will happily argue that it is difficult to use! But I agree with the speed issue. And I'd forgotten about the pupil username problem: for some of our primary children, having to remember two different logins is a nightmare.

(Sorry, Russ, I know you like kaleidos and keep saying it workks well, but...) Our LEA got kaleidos so we didn't get a say in it. We had LEA provided training on it on version 1, which was horrible. Then along came version 2. It is better but, after having Kaleidos for at least 18 months, probably longer now, no one in the school I work in is using it. And I've checked with a few other schools - same thing. I think perhaps one primary in whole LEA is trying to make a go of it. Everything takes so long (loading a powerpoint took two minutes), there are too many steps, it has an annoying default home page, it isn't intuitive. Yes, it can take your users off of your MIS. But what's the point if the users don't then use it? If FROG set up a dummy for you to use, that's brilliant. Get some real live teachers to try it and if they like it go for it.

I think some schools are getting desperate to explain plummetting levels of enthusiasm for the education system! I've got two teenagers, 15 and 18, and both are able to get up very early when necessary. My 15 year old got up at 6.30am through the school half term because he got himself some volunteer work experience, and needed to get up to catch the bus to get there. He's less keen to get up for school...says it all, really!

Absolutely! I'm in same sort of position. Thankfully (although not from the security point of view!) we are just developing AU policies here and I've been involved in the process. If you don't feel you can talk to the head, write the amendments as suggested and sign it. Don't be pushed around!

I've been reading through the scavenging article, and looking at what is already set here. No scavenging is enabled yet on zone or server. But when I go to the Resource Record in DNS, I compare the properties to the screenshot on the article, and we don't have the box ticked next to "Update associated PTR record". Is this a problem? Whilst I tackle the issue of scavenging, I have been looking at the tools in ipconfig. I've tried to do ipconfig /renew on one machine, but it still comes up with the same ip address. Also there is a /registerdns setting - can someone tell me if that will send ip address info back to DNS and update things manually. I could maybe use this on the two machines that AB Tutor thinks have the same ip address as a third machine. I still don't really understand how DNS is apparently affecting AB Tutor, as it says it doesn't use DNS...??

Thanks. I will read, and hopefully learn!

I think Kaleidos is going to cost us about £6 a head (pupils and staff) when LEA stops paying for it in May 2010. That's for Platform plus VLE bit, and only 100Mb per user (though that is adjustable so big users can be given more of the slice and smallers users less). Extra storage costs more.

Not sure if this is any good - deals with the computers for pupils funding, and I haven't looked at it in any detail. It's probably been lost in the mists of government... but anyway: Teachernet, Computers for Pupils

And just in case - Viglen Classlink: NOOOO!!

We buy laptops from them, and apart from one glitch (see threads listed below) the kit has been OK. However, we did ask them to tender for new IT Suite and server set up about three years ago now. Sent a detailed spec of the type of kit we wanted. They didn't make it to shortlist as they (in our opinion) undersized our server spec. We did go back to them and query it, but they thought their spec was sufficient. Maybe we were wrong... Possibly look at related threads that come up below for a few other opinions.

That's what I thought too, looking at the help stuff for ABT, but then why are we getting this problem in AB where it shows the same IP address for three different machines? In Watch mode, this means that one machine screen and the associated login is shown in three different places.

Sorry, I meant that three different machines all had the same IP address in DNS forward lookup. Not if you look in DHCP leasing, and not if you go to the machines themselves. How do I enable scavenging? Will this fix the problem of three clients with the same IP address in forward lookup?

We are trialling AB Tutor Control, and it has thrown up something on our network that I need help from you experts on! When we watch computers using AB, it shows one person as being logged onto three machines. We have physically checked who is logged on at the actual machines and this is incorrect. Same three machines each time. So I've been checking IP addresses. If I physically go to each machine and do ipconfig I get three different IP addresses. However, if I do ipconfig using cmd prompt from AB Tutor I get all the same IP address. So I've had a look at DNS and DHCP. These both run on the same server. And the same problem IP address is in DNS for all three machines in forward lookup, although the machines themselves think they all have different IP addresses. Reverse lookup seems to be a mess, with multiple records for some machines and missing records for others. In DHCP, the address leases shows different IP addresses for the three machines that are giving the problem. I think there is some breakdown of synchronisation between these programs, but don't know where to start to fix this. I guess the first thing would be to sort out the duplication of IP addresses in DNS forward lookup? How please? (In easy to follow steps!!!)

Peterborough (a unitary authority within Cambs) has gone for Kaleidos from RM. They already use Integris for MIS. Think it has been bought for all the secondary schools as well as the primaries, but not sure how widely it's been taken up although we've had it for about 2 years now (now on version 2). I think the schools may be due to pay for it themselves in next year or so, and then we will see who is happy with it and who's not.

Well, it's about time I reported back... We have had some of FITS up and running since I first looked at it. Basically, it's been down to me to sort it out, as i suspected. We set up a simple book in a rack down the corridor to the staff room, with a pen attached, so staff could report faults. To some extent that has worked but mostly when I'm out - if i'm in teachers still come and get me. I've modified the Incident and Problem forms, as i spent a lot of time reporting to myself (I'm first and second level support) - filling out same stuff in duplicate was time-wasting and having two numbers for each fault got confusing, so I have one fault number, copied across to problem form if fault takes longer than about half an hour to sort! Got rid of some of the boxes that were duplicating stuff. Modified the Fault log too, to fit with my forms. Have used the build procedures a bit, mainly for major installs of hardware. The FITS folders have been useful for beginning to store information, like assets, and I have now deposited an envelope in the school safe that gives someone the passwords and locations of stuff on the server if anything happens to me ! It has been more of a useful exercise than I first thought, especially the fault forms. Of course, I fill these out myself - teachers don't do form filling, do they!! - but I have been able to check on the fault log for those annoying once in a blue moon faults that you can never remember how you fixed, and get the info I need quickly. I don't think here it would ever be possible to implement FITS properly, the way it should be done with all the correct management structure. But at least i'm more organised now!!

Never mind the support luxury - they have 4 servers!!!!

We have one curriculum server, 57 desktops and 9 staff laptops, 8 IWBs. Admin have one PC acting as a server, 3 desktops and one laptop. I'm in house, 15 hours per week with occasional extra hours as needed. I'm officially only in charge of curriculum (LEA do Admin) but help the office initially with any problems and pass up to LEA if necessary. Up till now I was on my own completely (well, apart from edugeek!!), but we are in the process of getting an additional support contract of 1 hour a week from a local secondary school, which looks like it will be very helpful (and crucial as curriculum server warranty expires).

Ctrl+F5 worked! I don't think the problem is ISP or proxy related here, as not all machines have the problem, and some machines that were fine now aren't. The problem seems to come in waves, possibly due to changes to something at YouTube (as suggested above) or Flash. I'll have a look at some of the other suggestions here too, but for the moment all is back to working order. Maybe we should let the folks in the YouTube Community Forums know the solutions too!!

Looked it up on the web - it's a full refresh rather than a normal refresh. Not convinced this will help with the one machine that is driving me mad with this, but will give it a go and let you all know the result.

Sorry - I should probably know this - but what does that key combination actually do??? Can't work out why it would fix this issue with YouTube.

I'm getting this too, but only somatimes on some staff laptops. Have checked Javascript is enabled and updated Flash again, although every other site working fine. Still no good. In the end, I installed Firefox and asked teacher to use YouTube through that, as no problem with it on there. Searched on the YouTube forums and there are lots of folk reporting this issue, but no one coming up with any solutions.

Thanks for the suggestion, and all the other help from eveyone. We didn't want a skin as it probably wouldn't last very long. I have now purchased a keyboard from Adapt-IT, who have been very helpful in my invsetigations into all this. It is USB with a PS/2 adaptor, that we aren't using. I've plugged it into one of the rear USB ports and we can now use either keyboard on that computer.

There's a game called Shooting Ducks on the Woodlands Junior School. You shoot the ducks, fairground style, with mouse clicks. Only single clicks, but you have to move the mouse to get the duck. May be of some use. Kids Internet Games - Shooting Ducks and more

The key caps are lowercase. The statemented pupil has poor keyboard skills generally, but it is made worse by poor recognition of capital letters. Thanks for all the help.