woody

What can you do??? Other than keep stressing to them the need to lock their workstations. If you can get the support of SMT and ask them to stress that this could be a diciplinary issue if data is compromized as a result of lax security by a member of staff, then you are better placed to deal with it. I check who's logged in regularly with AB Tutor control. If a staff account is still active and it's obvious they are not around, I lock the workstation, then 'politely' remind them. Education is the name of the game. With regard to them using their laptop for the IWB as well as sims, they can freeze the image on the projector if they need to leave something up on the board, but many staff like the pupils to see their register being marked. This gives the pupils a reminder that their attendance and punctuality is being monitored constantly. Or, in some rooms we have given staff who prefer it a seperate fixed PC for Sims, and they can use their laptop for the IWB. At the end of the day, especially if you have a laptop, there is no excuse for leaving sims logged in unattended. You can shut the lid to lock the laptop. Equally, it takes a second to do Ctrl-Alt-Del and Enter on a workstation. If it was their wallet or purse on the desk, I'm sure they would take a second to leave it secure even if a fight was going on outside.

We kept our networks seperate until we needed to run SIMS in the classroom. Thought about using trust domain and other options as mentioned on here, but then realised that at the end of the day, the biggest security flaw was staff leaving their PCs logged in in the classroom. Long gone were the days when you could keep SIMS in the office. So we have one big domain for everyone, and we keep the permissions as tight as possible. And we shoot staff who leave themselves logged on. Saves on admin time since you only have to manage the one domain.

We have used Securus to do this. You can upload your own AUP to server and force everyone to Accept otherwise they are logged out. We don't have it running at the moment, but it does work well. A little slow on older PCs though which are slow to log on to begin with.

Well I am certainly up for it. I have been searching the web for an ip camera I can't find a 'mini' one that could be fit inside the box. Any ideas?

AB tutor will cost you £150 and you can install the client on sa many PCs as you want. Will let you do more than shut down - also view/control/manage pcs. http://www.abconsulting.com

Typical IT technician Job description that. Asking you to do EVERY thing they can possibly think of and more. If you put all that into time, you would need 3 times as many hours in the day. Imagine giving a teacher a job description with the corresponding amount of work load involved, they would go ape. You really need to document the time you spend on these tasks. Present it with a written letter showing your concerns to your line manager, then if they still want you to keep up with your timetable, you let everything else drop. Don't put in any more time than you are required to. They will soon get the point when you start turning down staff who have a problem with their interactive white board so that they can't teach!!!

In a previous job around 9 or 10 years ago now, I managed a small network of Apple Macs, around 70-80 desktops. We had an apple server and it took minutes to lock down the network, set up user areas etc etc. This meant I had a lot of time on my hands and I used to give class support. I even went as far as to set work and take lessons in the presence of a supply teacher. Yes, other minor computer stuff was going on in other departments but it took up very little of my time. Yes, those were the days....... Times have changed. Year upon year, schools have wanted to do more and more things with ICT, complex things. Wireless networks, video conferencing, remote learning, web design, online tests, video editing, musical composition, the list goes on. Yes, some of these things have been done for decades now, but not on such a grand scale, and not with the same degree of professional hardware and software. All of this requires, knowledge, skill and most of all TIME. What's more, the quantity of ICT hardware has increased 10 fold. So that is where our time goes. I would love to get back in the classroom again. I'm not saying I want to be a teacher, I wouldn't like the resonsibilty. Our school is being OFSTEDed this week and the teachers are pulling their hair out. But a light involvement can give much enjoyment - you get to see first hand your hard work when the kids benefit from the network resources. I just don't get the time. Another thing that has come to the fore in this discussion is classroom management. In my previous job, the ICT Co-ordinator was in full control not just of his own lesson, but the whole department. That was his character. He was controlling over me too. I used to hate it. But when you looked at his lessons, the pupils worked. In most cases there was silence. Internet was a privilege. If you were caught playing games, you were punished. The pupils knew what was expected of them and they conformed. The odd rebel would be removed from the room but these where few. Pupils who disrupted other lessons never disrupted an ICT lesson. And it worked. Good GCSE results proved that. And so classroom control is everything. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying I could do it. I'm just saying that many of the new teachers that come through today aren't able to cope with modern day pressures of teaching. The focus has moved from 'Discicpline then teach' to 'Teach then dicipline if you need to' but this rarely works because once your class is disrupted, it's disrupted and very difficult to get back on track. In my current job, pupils are allowed on the internet when they like, the noise levels are usually too loud to concentrate, pupils listen to their mp3s, and the teaching staff resort to only teaching those who want to learn, while leaving the rebels to break computers at the back of the class. It's heart breaking, but it happens all the time, and we spend lots of time fixing the stuff they break. So I agree with others on this topic. Teaching staff do need to get a grip on their lessons with the full support of SMT. Discipline has to be restored to the classroom and then good teaching practises can resume.

Yep, why not.

We used CSE for our installation of 41 IP cameras, some of which were Axis, others which were Sirrus. (We have been their main case study for CCTV) We worked closely with CSE to get them to use some decent software, as they were offering a very limited package by Sirrus at the time. They eventually came up with DiscoverE which I don't think is as well written as Milestone, but offers the same features for a lot less cost. I found CSE to be very flexible, the lads who installed the system were good, neat and efficient. I would highly recommend them - the good thing about IP networks is that you can sorce all the cameras / equipment yourslef and see whether the company are ripping you off. Whoever installs the system whether it is you or someone else will have to cable up to each camera, so it's not too much of a problem to wack in a few Switches and keep them seperate from your data network. Make sure you use POE as this will save you a lot of extra cabling. However, don't use individual POE convertors like CSE did with us. We had to have a seperate power socket for each camera at the switch locations. This is a pain and generates a lot of heat. You can get POE switches with it all built in - just make sure they are giving out the correct voltage. The only other thing to consider is the positioning of your cameras. Correct positioning will contribute more to the image quality than will the quality of the camera itself. Lighting will have the most effect on image quality. Too much or too little light could render the image beyond recognition. Don't expect to identify faces or incidents from far off unless you have a PTZ. We didn't go for a PTZ outside because we wanted to cover the whole grounds / car park constantly, but a PTZ is handy for those 'As you need a close up' moments where something is going on and you want to take control and zoom in. Hope this is useful information. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for your advise on this guys. I will check how much it will cost to upgrade and probably do it over half term.

Thanks ChrisH. Do you upgrade the schema before of after the upgrades?

Ok, so I've been reading about what R2 can do with file restrictions and printer management, so I want to take a closer look. I have looked back through previous threads but I seem to have a mixed picture of the route to take to upgrade from 2003 R1. If I get the correct version ie. Volume License enterprise edition of R2, can I do a straight upgrade from what I have now? There was some mention of having to upgrade the schema before doing the install??? We have 3 2003 r1 servers. I would like to upgrade them all, but is there a particular process or is it just stick the cd in each server and away you go? How long would it take, and do you recommend waiting for a holiday to do it? Thanks

How do I set these to test then? Probably better to PM me rather than tell the whole CLEO community

LOL - You can't be serious? We use CPC. http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?sku=SA01882

I have tried putting the proxy for our CLEO proxy here in Cumbria into the torrc file and I still can't get through. That's a very good thing.

Looking at the other threads on how to ban exe files from usb drives etc (thanks for pointer Geoff), I will be trying Trust-No-EXE. http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/trust-no-exe/trust-no-exe.htm

Look here: http://www.edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=45&highlight=securus

I'm concerned about this. How can you stop EXEs from running in My Documents and USB drives? GPO?

Personally, I wouldn't use a USB modem at all if possible. USB was never meant for networking and these things use the dial-up interface to connect. Much better to use one with a network port IMHO. Something like this would be better: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/48449/rb/21903191259 or http://www.ebuyer.com/product/90977/product_info/rb/21903237434 Or see what you can pick up on ebay.

We are still waiting for our installation of 8 IWBs - should have been started on the 21st August!!! THe projectors and boards have turned up but no one to install them. Even the headteacher has had it out with them but no progress so far. We haven't payed them a penny yet, so we will certainly be asking for compensation before they get payed. They have installed boards for us in the past (consistently cheaper than anyone else) and they have been fairly punctual, so something has gone horribly wrong this time. Great company for buying PCs but if you want them to install anything, then it's time to re-think.

Not necessarily. All ISPs that are cheapish and have 'Unlimited Downloads' work by an FUP (Fair Usage Policy) which means they will limit your download speed at peak times (basically when you are at work or in bed) I'm not sure if that will affect streaming, you would have to ask. Make shure you read the terms and conditions and the FUP before you sign a contract. Even those who have Capped services may run an FUP although usually not as strict as those with 'Unlimited Downloads' Can you get Bulldog where you are, they are pretty good.

I have just received this pricing doc from SIMS. It has the option of a Dell Axim x30 on it for £200, but I can't find that on the dell website. Is it discontinued as far as dell are concerned? I presume it will be wireless. Anyway, doc attached. css_costs.doc

The field is BIG and I don't know how much wireless coverage I'll get. I suppose I should test it first with a PDA we already have.

Yes, we have some HP PDAs here, but trying to get one with Pocket PC 2003 on it and wifi under £200 is proving impossible. I don't want a fully featured PDA, just a basic one with those requirements.

Has anyone looked at this? - it is just released. We want a few PDAs for PE staff to take out onto the field. Rest of staff register with laptops. The pricing is £200 license for each PDA running it(up to 10) and an annual maintenence fee of £200 (again for upto 10) Oh, and if you want them to install it and offer training, it will set you back £1050 per day. There are installation instructions available so I think it is worth it to have a go myself first. I am trying to find some PDAs that are basic, run Pocket PC 2003 and have wifi. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be greatful.