shutdownplease

Reading the other posts I probably think im one of the few teachers here with a view on cloud computing. I hear a number of people talking about bandwidth concerns - yes this certainly is an issue but if one looks at how many bandwidth upgrades there have been for schools since 2000 and try and extrapolate that forward, by the time cloud computing is a lot wider in use and stable (middle of next decade?) the bandwidth may have caught up to support it. I know one has to be lucky working at schools with stable net connections, but if I look back at the last 5 years Ive had my gmail account, apart from pure loss of internet connection gmail has itself been 'down' far less then the school networks I have been working on. In other words local school networks in my own experience have a far higher failure rate then cloud services i have used. I will be advising my own SMT that for the next few years cloud computing is not a must have - the only possible service which should be considered is email through something like Google (and perhaps only as a cost cutting measure) I still feel though it should be a good idea to plan for the possible introduction of more cloud based services at school. I know as a teacher one thing which frustrates me is pupils who forgot to attach their latest version of their coursework to their emails when sending it back from home. Google docs type services or even virtual drives would help keep things a whole lot simpler. I agree with Dhicks that will probably start appearing is more stable combinations of online/offline methods of managing data - mini local clouds so to speak.

is schoolcomms allright? we are considering it as well as parentmail and finding it tough to decide between the two (only distinctions are a minor cost differance and sims integration)

many thanks to all of your responses so far - although this is anecdotal it has certainly helped me a lot in framing my own proposals for SMT

ah - so teachers at your school are inputting weekly data into it. thats good to know as im trying to convince SMT that it is useful for that

when you move it to a terminal services machine would that be the point at which a wider rollout would be intended?

Hi, Im interested in seeing what SIMS usage is like in the independent sector. Specifically: - Do you use it - if not why not and what do you use? - Who uses it at your school (Just SMT or do all teachers have access)? - Does it suit your needs in the school (ie are there too many features or is it all being used appropriately) other questions may crop up depending on the responses! thanks brian

I work at a catholic school but am anglican (Church of england) myself. The job description highlighted the catholic ethos and in the interview I was asked about my feelings on their catholic ethos. I just blathered for a few minutes on how much i respected the use of a guiding religous ethos and how applicable it was to a school situation. Smiles all around. Read up on the anglican church or better still find as many school as possible which are c of e and read their websites.

heh - forgot to mention i am after wysiwyg editors !

Hello, Im in the process of evaluating possible replacements to Microsoft Frontpage. I personally detest the program but I know it does the job. I would though like to see if there are any reasonable cheap but better options to it out there. I have a long list of possible editors (Hotdog etc) but the key thing I do not know is whether they work well in a school situation. Can anyone recommend any website editors which work well in their own school? We are not looking at Dreamweaver or Expression web as the software will be used primarily by year 7's and 8's and I don't need to pay that sort of licence fee for features which will never be used. thanks!

Google Maps API - Google Code might that be the solution?

and packages for school use as well - a vast amount of software would need to be rewritten not just for multiple touch but also to be viewed from multiple vantage points. with budgets and curriculum demands i dont see any school beyond perhaps wealthy primary schools implementing it for years to come.

i follow developments to do with microsoft surface but purely from the point of teaching it within lessons on user and device interfaces and future systems for the office and home. wouldnt mind playing with it though

nope - having sex after a cup of hot coffee is Grand theft auto's fault ...

i can import a sharepoint calender into outlook but its read only and not the direction you want to go will be very interested in hearing a solution to this

been hearing about this site from my network manager so thought i would go give it a go. im the head of IT at a small school in oxford - enjoy a good beer and take wonderful pleasure in seeing the english rugby and cricket teams lose - south africa all the way!