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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 8:23 AM

Northgate acquiring Anite?

Northgate Information Solutions has agreed to acquire Anite Public Sector Holdings Limited , which incorporates Anite ’s local government and secure information systems businesses, for a total cash consideration of £54.3 million payable at completion...
Posted by AlanDay
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Monday, August 04, 2008 5:54 PM

Stuff that's caught my eye! - 040808

RM Gets Fingers into school biometrics market - RM's acquisition of Orchard Partners Ltd T/A Easy Trace . MP's report back from Internet's dark side . MPs have called on the government to install a YouTube Czar to oversee user-generated content...
Posted by AlanDay
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008 7:22 PM

Stuff that's caught my eye - 220708

OFSTED says tests narrow learning Students bring kit worth £6K School design labelled 'mediocre' e-learning 2.0 -= the need for a real 2.0 VLE Corporate social networks are a waste of money Richard Stallman: Free software and beyond Top 5 platforms...
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Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:31 PM

Harnessing Technology:Next Generation Learning - New Strategy in a nutshell!

I thought that I would try to summarise the key features of the revised and updated e-strategy Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning ; a sort of ' Reduced Shakespeare Company ' version for those who don't have time to read the document...
Posted by AlanDay
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Sunday, June 15, 2008 9:05 PM

Stuff that's caught my eye! Summary 150608

New Video demos radical Firefox Mobile Four nations appeal against Microsoft OOXML standard Encyclopaedia Britannica dips toe in Wiki waters Gamers not misfits after all Home Affairs Committee Report - Surveillance Society? Secret printer ID codes may...
Posted by AlanDay
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Friday, June 13, 2008 6:38 PM

Display Energy Certificates - Go one better?

On reading the recent e-bulletin item on Kent Trust Web (Formerly Clusterweb) I note with interest that from the 1st October schools are meant to display a certificate that shows the energy usage per square metre. This means that every school with more...
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, June 07, 2008 7:28 PM

Stuff that's caught my eye! Summary 070608

Assessing the Impact of the Commercial World on Children's Wellbeing - A Call for Evidence (Interested parties version) Millions must be on vetting list - More than one in four adults in England will have to register with child protection authorities...
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, May 24, 2008 3:26 PM

Build Your Playspace

Merlin John pointed me at this kids consultation and my daughter thought it was cool! You get to build a play park whilst giving your views on playspaces. What a great way of getting kids opinions!
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, May 17, 2008 7:23 AM

Behind the Screen

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published one of the most informative insights into the online world of children and young people. Take time to read it. Behind the Screen: The hidden life of youth online A headline summary of the report...
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Saturday, May 17, 2008 6:55 AM

Managing ICT - Value for Money

The Dept. for children, schools and families (DCSF) has published guidance for schools on the strategic management of ICT. The information can be found on their Standards website in the Value for Money (VfM) section . Advice includes: I CT Development...
Posted by AlanDay
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:25 PM

Freedom of Information ... mechanised?

MySociety , the charity that runs the TheyWorkForYou.com website has come up an interesting idea. They have already set up a site called foi.mysociety.org to initiate and track freedom of information (FOI) requests to Government from members of the public...
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, February 02, 2008 8:13 AM

Microsoft reveals how to avoid forced IE7 upgrade

Microsoft has released instructions for network administrators who want to avoid a forced upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer, version 7, due to occur on February 12. How considerate ... for those who know its coming!
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Monday, November 19, 2007 5:39 PM

Global Village? ... meet your neighbours!

Sometimes an online experience can be so poignant that I am lost for words. One of these was when the US Holocaust Museum used Google Earth to show the destruction of villages in Darfur.The latest is by French Photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand who aims...
Posted by AlanDay
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Friday, October 26, 2007 11:42 AM

"Piggybacking" school wi-fi theft - pair cautioned in Maidstone!

In this weeks Kent Messenger (Maidstone Edition) there is a story about wi-fi bandwidth theft from a school ... "Piggy Backing", more formally known as 'dishonestly obtaining an electronic communication service" is an increasing problem, especially as...
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Thursday, October 25, 2007 8:24 PM

i-whiteboards - the benefits are clear?

Following outstanding claims for the effectiveness of interactive whiteboards in a recent Becta research report and highlighted by my colleagues on their Blog , I read the full report . Its very thorough, and offers some interesting conclusions if you...
Posted by AlanDay | 1 comment(s)
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007 3:03 PM

Microsoft referred to Office of Fair Trading

Hot on the heels of the EU fine , It would appear Microsoft are now facing pressure in the UK from Becta. The issues of the EU decision were complex, and arguably the act of forcing Microsoft to hand over its Intellectual property to competitors is highly...
Posted by AlanDay | 2 comment(s)
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Friday, October 12, 2007 11:40 AM

Politics similar to education? Surely Not?

David Cameron’s speech at the Google Zeitgeist Conference in San Francisco offered interesting parallels with education. In it he suggests that the impact of technology is that politicians need to “... let go of power”, and speaks of a people taking more...
Posted by AlanDay | 2 comment(s)
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Saturday, October 06, 2007 11:06 PM

Digital Inclusion Report

A recent report by UK Online Centres , " Understanding digital inclusion " on digital inclusion makes the following observations. • Despite developments in technology the uptake of ICT has largely plateaued. • Access to ICT is not enough – a proportion...
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, October 06, 2007 10:44 PM

Family Learning Week? Get Online Day?

I have the feeling that I'm not the only one that hasn't heard about Get Online Day on 12th October aimed at attracting families who do not use the web. So, how is this opportunity being promoted if I have a child and haven't heard about it through anything...
Posted by AlanDay | 1 comment(s)
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Saturday, October 06, 2007 9:51 PM

Broadband Report - Stats and stuff!

The Office of National Statistics have redeemed themselves after my recent post on their education productivity calculation. The recent Internet 2007 Report summarises some fascinating trends, and shows an explosion of Internet use against a back-drop...
Posted by AlanDay
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Saturday, October 06, 2007 9:38 PM

Kent ... to get the fastest broadband in the UK!

Virgin Media cable customers in Folkestone have been trialing 50Mb home broadband ... the fastest in the UK! Ashford have started a trial that will last until the end of December, with Dover dates to be confirmed. The eventual cost of the service will...
Posted by AlanDay
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Sunday, September 23, 2007 6:35 PM

End of Terms

I was just musing about anacronous terms after the previous post, and here's an open question: We all know the differences between the following? ... right? Learning Platform (LP) e-learning platform Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Managed Learning...
Posted by AlanDay
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Sunday, September 23, 2007 5:17 PM

The Mark of e-Maturity (say what?!!)

Those who manage to keep up with the ebb and flow of excruciating terminology and policy will know that the Self Review Framework (which from a branding point of view doesn't really say whats in the tin!) is based on a concept called e-maturity, itself...
Posted by AlanDay
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Sunday, September 23, 2007 3:26 PM

What are we measuring? UK Education Productivity ... ?

I loved this article from the BBC news . Apparently the Office for National Statistics measures the productivity or value for money of UK education by dividing cash inputs by GCSE results! Apparently, on this basis, productivity fell 0.7% each year between...
Posted by AlanDay | 1 comment(s)
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Thursday, September 20, 2007 10:51 AM

Assessment? Welcome to Flatworld!

Taking a previous post, “… what are we measuring ?” I believe there is a fundamental problem in how to measure the positive benefits of technology. Whatever new and exciting creative media might be dreamed up in a web 2.0 world, educators and exam boards...
Posted by AlanDay | 3 comment(s)
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007 7:16 PM

This life V Second Life - some thoughts!

This week I enjoyed an 'innovations session' as part of an inset day at a secondary school in Gravesham. The gathered teachers, fresh from their Summer break were presented with an excellent ' reduced shakespeare ' history lesson on the world wide web...
Posted by AlanDay
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Sunday, September 02, 2007 9:16 AM

Wi-Fi? Pathology V Psychology

There is an interesting article in the TES this week that explores recent research by University of Essex. The research by Prof. Elaine Fox involved volunteers who are convinced they are sensitive to wi-fi. Interestingly the research concludes that the...
Posted by AlanDay | 1 comment(s)
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Tuesday, July 03, 2007 5:31 PM

What do Kent KS3 students do online? ... and for how long?

We have been beavering away to compile survey data returned from e-safety courses run by Rebecca Chapman and Alison Gaunt during this academic year. There is a lot of detail still to be extracted, but this should provide an overview: As you can see from...
Posted by AlanDay | 2 comment(s)
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Thursday, April 26, 2007 9:55 AM

Kent TV Station Welcomes Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof has made his home in Kent for more than 20 years Bob Geldof has announced he is joining with Kent County Council to launch the authority's new internet TV service. The singer and activist's company, Ten Alps, will run the broadband service...
Posted by AlanDay | 1 comment(s)
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Thursday, April 19, 2007 6:31 AM

Kent TV - 21st Century Council

Kent is launching a video on demand Kent TV station, which should be up and running in September. The service will carry news, documentaries and prgrammes on council services and issues, and according to Peter Gilroy KCC Chief Executive , would benefit...
Posted by AlanDay
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