bjohnny42

I have concerns that the odd pupils are logging in as someone else. Without grabbing hold of their mouse and clicking on the start button I can't see who they are logged in as when wandering around a classroom. Does anyone know of any software that just sits on the taskbar and displays the username of the person who is logged in? Might be a bit of a deterrant. I'm sure I remember something for windows 3.11..... (showing my age now!) Johnny

I'm not a Linux user, or any of the software you mention but we've had terrible trouble with slow Java loads (Mostly WebJetadmin). The following worked for us and may be of some use. Right click on Java icon in taskbar, Open Control Panel, General Tab, Temporary File Settings, Remove the tick on Keep Temporary Files on My Computer. Close and restart your browser.

Anyone use the nwnet.org.uk website. I have a couple of members of staff who use it here and it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth for the last week. At first we put it down to a glitch with there internet connection / web hosting. Anyone able to shed any light on the situation? Know what's happened or if it's coming back?

What is the auto logout timeout and can we lengthen it? I'm not keen on the remember me button as I then don't have to remember a password or login name as so would be prone to forget for future use or when away from home pc.

Were dipping our toe in the water to do some external exams using ICT Equipment for the first time. Making the previso that a power failure / network failure would totally cock things up what do people have in place? Were starting with some External listening exams so the students don't need to use tapes. This is what i'm passing to the exams officer. Have I missed something here? How does everyone else do it? Language teacher gets tape in morning from exam board, digitises it then puts it in special place on network. We have specific users which are logged in before the students arrive. (Students don’t know passwords for this user). These usernames do NOT have internet access and cannot access USB drive letters or shared drive areas. Media player and the file already open for the student to click play at start of exam. When setting this up staff can check headphones are working for student by playing the file for a few seconds. I would suggest that 1 spare pc should be left for every 6-7 students in the classroom if possible just incase there is an issue so a student could be quickly moved between systems. With this being a listening exam they then would not need any work moving as the file is still the same one on the network. Staff to note who sits where. Staff to clearly give out information on not logging in or out during the exam or trying to use other applications. The students don’t have any other applications apart from Media player initially available in a menu structure. All of the screens will be viewable by the member of staff on invigilation. All the screens should look roughly the same so anyone with word or logging out is very easy to see as it would take a two or three minutes to logout and back in before possibly getting anything resembling a desktop back. (May mean the member of staff sitting in the centre of the room as the pc’s would have the screen’s to partition them off.) At the end of the exam students leave the workstations logged in. Post exam we can run a report which will list which users have logged onto which stations. If anyone has logged out and back in with another username then this will be easily seen and seeing as though we know who was sat where. If a student chooses to try to cheat I would see it no differently from if they chose to cheat in any other exam, were not letting them accidently start the internet or run other applications, but as ever staff will have to be vigilant the computer can’t protect against everything. We could potentially make this room a little more tightly controlled by changing the way these systems are initially configured but this would then mean this room could not be used for normal teaching during the exam period and a couple of days either side, and I do not see that it offers massive benefits.

I've been reading through lots of things regarding copyright and ERA, DRM, Online Storage, Offsite Storage etc. as i'm looking to offer staff some guidence on what is possible and what isn't under law at present. On occasions I feel i'm being asked to commit criminal acts by unsuspecting members of staff which i'm quite rightly refusing. Though until recently I didn't know about the ERA licence which does help with quite a lot of stuff. This is my quick broad understanding..... (And feel free to correct as it all looks like a right mess to me.) 1. Use of Full british free to air tv broadcasts is permitted under ERA licence as long as you have one. As well as storage on a network device with the correct labelling at the front of the recording. As long as everything happens on the same site. (You can't access the files offsite on a VLE from home for example) 2. As long as you have correct licence you can watch original copies of bought DVD's and Videos on one site. The copying of these in entirety is forbidden without the copyright owners permission. 3. With correct licencing you can play music, watch films, worship as long as it's for educational purposes etc. 4. No mention is made anywhere with regard to foreign language TV for languages teaching. Would law's in France be appropriate? But then again were not in france so it's law doesn't apply? But then again someone will own the copyright and British distribution rights? I presume it's the same as DVD's unless you can get their permission you can't. I can't see any mention of the uses of short clips from off air recordings (As long as we didn't redit them or split soundtrack) or dvd's to explained at any point. Does anyone have anything that would be relevant. The copyrightlawlearn.pdf from jisclegal seems to suggest a fair dealing defence may be appropriate for extracts of DVD's and Videos. "The CDPA provides for ‘fair dealing’ defences, which allow individuals to make single copy extracts from various media, including digital format, for research or private study" Is a short clip copied from Pride and Predjudice (with appropriate labelling, where it's from and that it's for educational use only) by a history teacher to explain a point and attached to schools internal network going to raise any eyebrows? I'm in agreement with previous posters that some sort of section with regard to licencing / video / copying would be great if sysops could manage it.

A bit short notice as i've just found this website, looks like it might be quite useful. (Closing date is friday so probably just email applications) If you're interested click on the link below for more details, with full details and application form availble at the bottom of the page. WGSF Employment - Website J