GrumbleDook

The internal IPs are linked to particular services and so if you don't use those ranges, or NAT to different ranges, then you can have issues. This was the case under the previous contract as well, but is now more relevant due to trying to keep some consistency of approach between connectivity provider and services provider(s). If you take the 'unmanaged' line then you effectively have an allocated lot that you need to surface at the firewall you host within your school and then you can do what you want inside. If you are providing technical support services to schools connected via emPSN and/or using emPSN services then you should be able to get direct access to this advice from emPSN and suppliers on the emPSN framework ... just make sure the schools inform the relevant folk that you are an authorised technical contact. If you are looking to pick up new business from schools, including those buying from (or likely to buy from) the emPSN framework then I am sure a call to emPSN to get advice would be possible.

I didn't really want to push on age as I didn't want the conversation to be around issue to do with agism. It is a factor thought, especially considering some respondents have talked about joining the IT profession after returning to work after breaks to concentrate on raising families.

This is something that interests me a lot ... originally I left the forces and only took a tech job in a school as a stop gap as it was always intended that I would be a house-husband ... my experience of working with young children was behind this, but we both felt happy with it. Things happened and I took on more work ... starting a family happened later and later ... and next thing we know I have become manglement and earn more than my wife. It then made sense to swap things around ... and that is how things still stand. Given half a chance I would give it all up or simply go part-time so that I could spend more time with the little one ... but I have a feeling that if we were in that financial position I would be fighting my wife over that honour ... and we do feel it would be a privilege and honour to be able to do this as a job. Parenthood is precious to us ... but we know that we *have* to be more pragmatic about it and get frustrated when it is always the mother who is expected to take leave. We definitely felt that was the presumption as we went through the adoption process ... even from the approval and placement panels. My wife is swapping schools when she returns from leave (part of our relocation too) so this is made a little less painful, but she found that some schools were a little cagey about her joining them due to us being new to parenthood ... so I don't think this is limited to IT in schools.

I have to admit to having heated arguments with folk in RL about believing in meritocracy, and some of the fiercest ones have been with those striving for equal status for females ... who have actually been pushing for positive discrimination against males to allow more females into key roles ... I can understand why something needs to be done to force the change of status quo, but is this really the right way? Oh ... and thanks for those who have added their details too. Keep them coming folks.

Resurrecting a thread ... could folk who have contributed here also add something to http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/109125-jobs-girls-encouraging-girls-consider-qualifications-careers.html ? Many thanks

Resurrecting a thread ... could folk who have contributed here also add something to http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/109125-jobs-girls-encouraging-girls-consider-qualifications-careers.html ? Many thanks

This one I believe ... Female Techs - EduGeek.net If someone could post in there to this thread it would be appreciated. There are a number of other threads such as http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/76151-female-technicians.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/70774-ladies-what-route-did-any-you-take-get-into.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/2977-why-girl-thing.html

Many thanks for the responses so far and for the PMs ... Keep them coming.

As part of EduGeek's activities at Education Innovation : the leading event for learning technology : Manchester, 8/9 March we are taking part in the debate around women in IT. I will be joining the debate chaired by Chair: Julia Dennison (editor, Education Executive) along with Sue Nieland (E-Skills) / Genevieve Smith-Nunes (Sussex Downs College) / Helen Wollaston (WISE/UKRC) / Hannah Jones (Connected Learning). As part of this I would like to ask a few questions of our female members and even have a quick chat with some of you about your experiences of working in IT. How long have you been working in IT? Is this your first, second, third, etc career? What other jobs / roles have you done previously? How many interviews did it take to get your first job in IT? Have you ever felt that being female is a help or a hindrance to gaining a job in IT? If you were considering IT (or other engineering / programming careers) whilst at school what support did you receive? If any of the above is difficult to answer publicly feel free to PM me and it will be treated in complete confidence. If you are happy for me to quote you during the debate please let me know. As someone who believes in meritocracy it is an interesting debate to take part in.

I would also suggest they look at S4PL - Space for Personalised Learning for a good framework for the process of designing a new educational building ...

One of the projects I am involved with has taken an empty warehouse and convert it into a space to test out 3 large classrooms and a corridor ... and one of the sponsors (Echofon) suggested that instead of using all their acoustic kit to make the whole hall perfect we should do a 1/3 with good audio dampening, 1/3 with moderate and 1/3 with none, to allow schools to see the difference it can make and why it is worth investing in. A wonderful idea and shows the importance of acoustics.

I would also look at Broadcaster Desktop School Radio Station for some more ideas too ... including education training

What do people think about whether to have a single integrated device or two devices to look at firewall and filtering. There seem to be a range of views on the site (and in this thread) and it seems to be a personal thing ... I have my own opinion but wondering about what others feel and why.

A bit dated now (due to changes of search selections within browsers on phones, etc) but still worth a read. The Return of Google! | GrumbleDook Thinks

I did spend a month without Google and found that it is possible (apart when people thrust some things in your face that you have no control over such as using Google maps on their webpage). In the end I worked out what I could easily do without and what was too much effort to try to avoid. You can do similar for most firms out there.

*NB Declaration of Interest - I Am a FITS Trainer and have been involved with supporting in during its Becta days and sat on the advisory group for The FITS Foundation* FITS as a framework to help your school with managing, deploying, supporting and choosing the right technology for the school (whether to keep the school running or as tools to meet the curriculum needs) is pretty spot on ... most with a background of service management will say it is common sense, and it is easier to explain to SLT than ITIL is. If you haven't delved into ITIL (or other service management models) or PRINCE2 (or other project management models) in the past then it is also a good grounding which will help you develop. As an investment to get better jobs, I would say that it can be when backed up by the relevant demonstration of application. Personally I think pretty much all certification works best that way anyway when job hunting. There are historic materials around for FITS 1.5 if you want to do a bit of self-study but there are some significant differences in FITS 2 (in the same way there are in ITIL v2 and v3) and there are a number of use around who have either done the courses (including the advanced / manager course) or are trainers. If you are asking would it pay off in your existing school ... then yes it can do, but you need buy-in from your SLT. They need to recognise that it can bring significant improvements to the school, as well as cost savings. IIRC The FITS Foundation do have some case studies around this, and I have copies of some of the old ones from Becta days if needed. I know that Trevor at The FITS Foundation can also run an SLT based awareness session to a group of schools the help them understand the benefit. FITS is still recognised by the DfE within their procurements for IT based services as the IT Support and Management standard within Education. The downside ... the course, due to it now only being a 2 day course with minimal pre-study, is NCF level 3 (it used to be level 4) via SQA. It still makes it very useful and transferable, but you also need to do the Advanced course (level 4) to transfer any credits. Any transfer on credits is a case by case basis by most universities (including Open University). You might also find that some of the roles and activities you come across in the course (inc financial management, etc) are taken already by others within your school and the politics involved in having to manage this is a very personal thing, so it is not covered by the course. The course also does not cover staff management, including supporting the development of your staff ... but it is only a 2 day course ... you can't expect everything in there (and there are plenty of other courses out there which cover this, including via the ILM). If you do have any other questions then feel free to PM me.

CCTV is a spin off from Data Protection in most cases. You have to consider CCTV when writing your DP and FoI policies.

Please remember that termination is not simply unplugging a cable. Some RBCs / LAs will have factored this cost in during the period of the contract and so no cost is apparent to schools directly, but the cost is still there. The costs as described are perfectly reasonable and comparable to other similar terminations. Refusal to pay will probably mean that the funds have to be sourced from somewhere else in the LA, meaning it cuts into money available for other services. Even if you are an academy, you are taking money away from services used by your families.

Thanks to the above suggestions and comment, and thanks for the emails and DMs and FB messages ... been able to put a good group of quotes together and highlight some fun discussions. Best of luck to the others in the category.

Got a few good threads with threads with feedback but was wondering if a few members would mention a thread they found particularly helpful and why.

Done!!!

Duck, followed by a Drum Duet from Messrs EduTech and Grumbledook ... and I was heavily impressed by @DR_LUV22K not being phased by a tiger turning up at 11.30 on a friday night ... but from what I heard he has handled far stranger things!

Dancing rodentia ... Hope all are happy and well.

*sigh* ... muttermumbledraftblogpostsandnothavingaschedulingmethodlikewordpressmuttermumble ...

It felt very strange on Thursday whilst down at BETT ... I was nervous, excited, pensive and lots of other things which generally mean I was not too sure how to feel. I had been put forward for an award and was waiting to hear about being shortlisted. (taken from Naace: Naace Impact Awards 2013) I was put forward for the following award And have been shortlisted against the following. I am amazed that a) I was initially nominated by someone who I respect for the amount of work he has done to enthuse his school, his fellow teachers, the education community and folk in general ... and b) that folk are seeing the benefits you get from keeping technical folk involved, the impact that we can have on learning and also that we are thoroughly nice and helpful. As far as I am concerned, this shortlisting could have gone to numerous members of EduGeek (and it deserves too) and I am pretty sure that most of the above are members / lurkers anyway. Good luck to all involved (and in the other categories as well) and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the NAACE conference.