siuko

Would it be possible for anyone with an naace account to be able to download the presentation and either link it for us to download or possibly send to me via email?

Hi Rob I have PM'd you to ask if you could send me the briefing paper you mentioned.

Hi Kevin, I am also under the Derby BSF rollout. Have you heard any further details of the meeting besides it being on Sept 12th? Such as location and time of the meeting. Have any of your senior management and Head of ICT been disappearing to BSF meetings that we haven't heard about and do you have any details as to what's been said at these meetings. BTW I'm at Lees Brook School in derby. Where are you based?

Hi All, Is anyone using LPPlus for their VLE? The Head of ICT has purchased a VLE from LPPlus and I was just wondering if others were using it and whether I could possibly view how you have structured it for school use. I feel that the way the LPPlus VLE we have been provided has a very odd structure and doesnt seem very logic for student and staff use. I do understand that the structure can be changed but would like to see examples to see what others have done with it. Thanks in advance.

Please let me know how it goes - just so I know if I messed up by not even going for it I was a little sceptical about being between RM supporting the systems and the school - just wondering what it actually would be like in real life. PS. I'm at Lees Brook School in Derby.

Just wondering... would this school happen to be in Littleover, Derby? I had looked at a job just the other day that had exactly the description you mentioned. Gratz for getting the job!

Hi all, We are planning on enforcing stronger passwords onto our teaching staff as we are moving to 1 computer in each classroom for registration. Does anyone know how we can go about forcing password strength but ONLY for certain OU's (specifically the teachers OU's). As far I can tell it only seems to be domain wide - so would affect students. We are running a vanilla win2k domain with separate OU's for students and staff. Any help would be fantastic

I get all my cables etc. from Videk and they seem to have Cat6 cable HERE Don't know whether that is grey or white though....

It was half way through the day - after the 4 initial short interviews were over and before the bigger Formal interview took place. We were given the opportunity to decide if we wanted to go onto the final formal interview, which is when I backed out. I backed out because I am very happy where I am at present (only the thoughts of BSF in 2-3 years time is worrying me about the future) and the job had alot more leadership which I was uncertain I could manage to the schools and my own level.

Right well here goes. And dont blame me if its not the most secure or efficient way of doing it. 1) If you are using VNC on the computers uninstall this first (italc uses the same port as vnc) 2) Install your first master computer (I just installed it on the first teachers pc in the test room I was using) - install using the instructions HERE Just make sure for the master server you install master and client. Create a new key-pair. Export private keys. Also save the public key to somewhere you can find it. 3) Once installed please make backup copies of the c:\program files\italc\keys folder and also a backup copy of the italc_dsa_key.pub file. 4) Install all the clients (only select client install) and when you get to the key section point it to where you have stored your italc_dsa_key.pub public key file. This will verify that the master computer can connect to the client computers. 5) Next I installed a master copy onto my IT support staff pc. Just do the install the same as the other master, but when you get to the key section point it again to your italc_dsa_key.pub location. Once installed copy everything inside c:\program files\italc\keys folder that you backed up onto the same place on the IT support staff pc. This makes sure that your IT support staff pc can verify with the same keys to the clients. 6) On the IT support staff pc add all of your rooms and then all of your clients to Italc in the Classroom-Manager. Close Italc and make a backup copy of the globalconfig.xml found in %PROFILE%\Application Data\iTALC\. I then made copies of this file and edited them to suite. I have full_globalconfig.xml C1_globalconfig.xml etc one for each room I use Italc in. The full xml file has ALL computers (including teachers pc's) in it, and each room specific xml has just the pupil pc's for that room. Keep copies of these xml files and also copy them to the root of c drive of your master pc's in each classroom. I chose root of c drive as staff can read from here but not see it (and they are easy to locate). 7) Run > Regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/iTALC Solutions/iTALC/paths (you may need to create a new key called paths) and create a new string named globalconfig (if doesn't exist already). Then edit it and make it point to the globalconfig.xml file on the C drive. You could also keep these xml on a network drive if you prefer - See HERE for details . 8) Any time you need to install a new master always use the same keys that you backed up and just change the location and name of the globalconfi.xml - Its not the most secure way but has worked well for a week so far. Also note you can automate the install process - take a look on the wiki, it didnt seem to work correctly for me so I found it faster to do it manually than debug why the auto install wouldnt work. Hope it helps - sorry if its a bit of a ramble... Let me know if you want me to clarify any points

Hi there, Thanks for the reply and thanks for a great day at the school. I am the one that decided to back out - I had a feeling that matthew would be the one to get it. Congratulations to him. If you ever have a well paid job going that has a little less leadership give me a shout

Yes it is achievable its exactly how its setup here and running ok. The only downside, as it was a quick bodgejob on my part, is that it isnt quite as secure for staff as it could be. I have used the main keys for master for ALL rooms - so feasibly staff could guess computer ip addresses from other rooms and add them to their lists, but the likelihood of that is very low. Also since Italc has been installed the IT teachers have asked for it to be installed on their admin computers in their rooms so they can view any room (so worrying about them adding a few computers onto a room master pc doesnt matter much anymore). I also installed a master onto the IT support staff pc's and created a full globalconfig.xml file with lists of all rooms and all clients (including the teachers master computers). Once you create the full globalconfig.xml it is VERY easy and quick to just open and edit it for each room. Do you want exact details now?

Well this section of the Italc Wiki has a very easy to follow install guide for windows if you only require a simple setup. This works on 1 master pc (ie the teachers) plus many client pcs. I knew that I would be using Italc in multiple rooms and require access to these rooms by IT support staff too so I decide to make things a little more complex by adjusting the location of the globalconfig.xml file. The biggest thing to remember is to make sure on the very first master install (where you tick to install master and client) that you make a copy of the keys folder and the italc_dsa_key.pub file. If you decide to go further than just one master and clients let me know and I will write more details on how I have setup multiple rooms and IT support staff computers. Although to be honest I still do alot of the adjustments manually like copying keys and editing the registry to relocate the globalconfig.xml which I could probably script. I also do not have the security issue with the icon showing an ip address as we have taskbar icons hidden for students.

Went for an interview at Ilkeston School in Derbyshire yesterday but decided it wasnt right for me I was just wondering (as some of us had chatted about coming on Edugeek at lunch) who had actually got the job. Well thats if the person who got it comes on here Strange thread I know I was just wondering.....

Well I did add the computers by ip address which didnt take long to do the 100 or so machines... You can then use the created globalconfig.xml file to share this with other computers etc.. You can even change the location of the globalconfig.xml via the registry. Take a look at the italc wiki for further info If you get stuck give me a shout we have it running ok here. 2 issues since install 1) Make sure you have plenty of ram 512mb+ on the masters - they dont seem to like less 2) The tightvnc bug that greys out the username and password field sometimes on the client pcs. Teachers seem to be liking it so far!

We have just installed Italc in a few rooms at the school were I work. It seems to be going down very well with the teachers so far.. And the best bit is its free so you can try it without any problem of costs Viewing of student screens Locking students computers Demo of teachers screen to all student computers etc etc Very nice!

Ah yes sorry about that I hadn't noticed that post The issue with the other post is still the fact that there are no details (and yes I know that each BSF contract will be different depending on the output spec etc). But some schools HAVE been through bsf and so must have pricing structures in place for many of their extra requirements. I'd just like an understanding of the difference between bsf costs and charges under their rules and how much it would cost me to purchase equipment, build computers, purchase software etc under my own steam. (Such things as why would bsf purchase new OS software on the new computers when I already have £9000+ worth of WinXP that will be wasted and £9000+ of office software etc) I'm certain there would be large differences in pricing. And as many have probably stated elsewhere - it wont stop the bsf steamroller but I will feel better putting my point across knowing ALL the facts not just the vague facts given.

So if the £1million payment comes from the government or through from pfi... Why exactly does the managed service need to be there? I guess I'm not understanding the full picture but I thought that it went as follows... Business stumps up lots of £££ to build school - business gets back initial cash by school paying for managed service etc? If the £1million+ comes from the government why involve the business at all in the IT side?

Yeah I guess you are right... Those amounts are for the gross (think thats the term) pay that shows on our wage slips. It also shows the deductions for NI Tax etc. - so I don't actually know if there would be any extra payments behind the scenes sort of thing.

Ok - so for the school I am at which is expected to have a pupil level of 1050 this would give the very basic managed service costs at 1050 Students X £100 per student = £105,000 per year (approximately) 1 IT Technician + 1 Network Manager + 1 System Manager = £54,000 per year (approximately) So far this would leave £49,000 per year left for ICT purchases. What are peoples standard yearly budgets? (I've not had a proper budget in a few years) These costs still don't included addition costs that may be placed for addition requirements (this information would probably be the most useful as its likely to be the more expensive and best profitability for the preferred bidder). I also still don't understand so far if this is the case the preferred bidder would make 4 years X £105,000 - £420,000 over the course of the contract and this does not come close to the £1million+ that will be provided at the start? Where are they making up the rest of their money or is the rest of the £1million+ provided by the Government? Or is all the £1million+ provided by the government (that would be worrying)

Does anyone have any real costs from any schools who have been through the BSF process? If I am to argue my point between what the SMT will get from £1million+ of BSF IT funding plus having to pay for the managed service - against opting out of the BSF funding and keeping 3 ICT staff and having to fund the ICT purchasing themselves it would help to have the details of exact running costs involved. I understand the basics about charges per pupil for the managed service, but what about how much a new pc would cost through the preferred bidder, how much it cost to add network points etc etc.... For example - buying 1 pc from the preferred bidder at their set overprice of £500 against buying 2 pc's from compenents and building them ourselves for £500... If anyone can shed some light I would be grateful.

More than happy with the adverts as they are... They aren't exactly unsightly or anything. So I wouldn't pay a subscription

I just checked the SIMS solution search and there doesnt seem to be anything obvious that relates to your upgrade issue. Your best option would be to contact your SIMS support desk as they would have a much clearer understanding of whats going on. Your also 100% certain that the November release is work correctly? (I just ask as I had an issue with the November upgrade as it had permission problems when trying to update the database)

Hehe yeah I guessed that much But are there any specific errors - that you could post so I can read them Like cannot contact such and such Cannot download file such and such etc

What errors is it coming up with? The upgrade path can vary depending on who you have your Sims support provided by...