SCHOOL ICT NEWS BULLETIN No 128 - 27/06/2008

Published by Children’s Services

YouTube and Teacher Tube

We have had a number of reports from network managers that teaching staff wish to use YouTube videos in teaching but are unable to due to filtering restrictions. Due to some of the content on YouTube it would not be appropriate to permit access, however many of the more educationally valuable videos can also be found on Teacher Tube. Content on Teacher Tube is moderated and explicit content not permitted. The site is available for all schools at http://www.teachertube.com/.

Author: Jay Zelos

Espresso Content Club

In addition to the Norfolk bulk purchase of the Espresso Primary service, Norfolk County Council has negotiated access to Content Club Archive for all Norfolk Primary and SEN schools. For information about the Espresso Primary service, please refer to the Espresso welcome pack recently sent to your school by post.

Additonal Information about the Espresso Content Club is available from the A-Z on our website.

Author: Mark Carway

Photocopier Suppliers

If you are contacted by a photocopier business described as NCS-Toshiba or similar please note that it has no connection with our Norfolk County Services Ltd (NCS) company nor is it ESPO approved for the supply of photocopier products and services to Norfolk schools.

Please be aware that the financial packages being offered by any supplier to settle existing photocopier contracts may be expensive and in our view should not be entered into without taking advice.

Any funds offered by any third party to you to help settle an existing contract may well be incorporated into a replacement contract and you should treat such offers with caution.

Please contact Leah Fletcher at ICT Solutions on 01603 475605 before signing any contract. Leah will benchmark any quotes you receive to help you decide on the best value solution for the school.

Author: Jay Zelos

Alternative Internet Connections

We have been contacted recently about the impact to schools of installing a second Internet link as a backup or for hosted services. The Code of Connection that all NSIX connected Norfolk schools are required to adhere to, explicitly forbids this in section 3.4.

3.4 Alternative external ISP services are not permitted to be connected to the school’s network since such connection may allow BT’s security systems to be bypassed

Due to the nature of the information passing over both the Norfolk–wide broadband network and school network it is essential that a high level of security is maintained. It is vitally important that sensitive data covered under the data protection act (such as pupil data) is kept in a tightly controlled environment. By connecting a second link to a school network a potentially insecure route into the wider network is established that could compromise security for all schools. Any school connecting a second Internet link is risking disconnection from the broadband network, and if found to be the root cause of any incident, may be required to cover the cleanup costs.

We fully realise that Internet connectivity is becoming ever more important to the running of a successful school, and are working on ways of ensuring that services can be maintained even in the event of a critical failure. We hope to have options for schools in the near future.

If a school feels a second link is required for a particular service, please contact ICT Solutions and we will endeavour to find ways of delivering it across the existing Broadband connection or offer alternative arrangements.

Author: Jay Zelos

Civil Works at Schools

Could schools contact the ICT Solutions service desk in advance of any planned civil works that may affect power to the school or otherwise cause disconnection from the Norfolk broadband network. This is so that ICT Solutions and BT can both disable remote monitoring and alarm systems for the duration of the (planned) outage.

Author: Jay Zelos

New Generic Email Service

You will by now be aware that we are moving all schools generic email accounts from the existing RM EasyMail Plus service to a managed Microsoft Exchange 2007 Unified Communications Centre solution. The decision to migrate to this service was as a result of detailed feedback from you about what you expect and need from email.

We will publish an updated rollout schedule at http://www.eficts.norfolk.gov.uk/nsix/emailmigration/Rollout_Email_Schedule.aspx shortly.

This schedule is being revised again and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause. Email is a business critical tool and together with our service provider BT, we want to ensure that your migration goes as smoothly as possible. We have made changes to the configuration of SPAM and Anti–Phishing filters to ensure that they are optimised for schools and we are confident that the service will offer many benefits and advantages. However, we prefer to take a cautious approach at the initial stages of rollout and together with BT we will be closely monitoring and reviewing the service. We appreciate the feedback already received from our pilot schools and we encourage your school’s feedback via the ICT Solutions website and online Self Service when you are live with the service.

Author: Jay Zelos