There is a new level of transparancy at Norfolk County Council as the ICT service provider, ICT Solutions is being joined up with the corporate technology unit.  The details of how this will be done, by when and who is involved have all been publicised on the web.  Documents such as the PID (don't you just love a bit of project jargon ), the way schools will be involved (Stakeholder engagement strategy) and other details are all publicly available.  Norfolk might be making the most of a new era, where there is no sign of new capital investement in ICT from national sources, but also more freedom.

Schools on the whole seem to be increasingly positive when reporting on some of the services they receive.  Yet pressure on budgets and the arrival of technologies that can make us more efficient might just be some of the incentives to rethink technology provision in education.  The real incentive ought to be our ambition to do right by the young people we serve.

With a strong vision of how LEARNING should at the heart of it and pupils who are supported to increasingly take responsibility for their learning, there is much chance that 21st century ideas drive the kinds of technology we want to have in Norfolk.

A lot will depend on schools, but early signs are promising, with 50% of responses to the survey on ICT Requirements for schools coming from young people, there is every chance that their voice will be heard.  Teachers and senior leaders will be given opportunities to get involved directly.  The workshops coming up next week are one of those.  Hopefully many will be involved and driven by their own vision of how Technology should impact on learning and not just by efficiencies.

After the hiccup of BSF being cancelled, work is now underway to build a single ICT service for schools and the County Council.  The schools' service is up for a redesign to make sure it is in line with our ambitions to have world class ICT for Norfolk's learners.

The questionnaire on what kinds of requirements schools have to deliver 21st century learning has just been published. 

Click here to start the questionnaire.

Some hopefully useful snippets on e-learning this week:

Word on the grapevine is that there is a new project in Norfolk to redesign ICT services for schools.  Schools should be able to find out tomorrow from ICT Solutions' ebulletin or MI Sheet on Oct 29th.  There is likely to be quite a lot of consultation with schools - we'll keep you posted.

The Guardian is running a competition for Classroom Innovation Awards.  More details on their website.

There is a new report from Becta outlining what cloud computing is all about and how it is relevant to schools.

ICT Mark Special offer - Attention small schools in England! (from Naace)

Limited funding is still available for small schools in England who are applying for ICT Mark accreditation and will be allocated on a first come first served basis! Successful schools will receive a £200 discount from their final invoice. To qualify for this fabulous offer – the school must have less than 100 pupils. 34 lucky schools have gained benefit from the Small Schools Initiative so far! To find out more please contact ictmark@naace.co.uk.

 

There are some useful links on the latest Futurelab Newsletter

Follow us on Twitter: @sebgasse, @norfolkteachers

	Digital literacy and innovation handbooks now re-available Three of our previously out-of-print publications are now available online at futurelab.magcloud.com. A printed copy can be ordered for a small fee or an electronic version can be downloaded to an iPad free of charge. A pdf copy and further information about the handbooks can also be found on our website. Further information...
	Thinking guides Thinking guides can support independent and group research projects with frameworks for thinking, planning and enquiry. Now available to purchase from Futurelab are a set of ready-made, interactive thinking guides. Print them, edit them or use them as inspiration to make your own! Further information...

 

Offer to E2BN Schools   Do your colleagues need to know more about E2BN Online Learning Resources? Twilight and INSET sessions introducing E2BN resources such as The Gallery, Making The News2, Myths and Legends, Cookit and DiscoveryBox Could you use some help using E2BN Online Learning Resources in the classroom? E2BN Master classes – An E2BN E-Learning Consultant in your classroom working with you and your pupils to get the most from an E2BN online Learning Resource. Try running a News Day with Making The News 2 or develop story writing skills with Myths and Legends. Contact our E-Learning Consultants to find out more. Barbara@e2bn.org or Carol@e2bn.org

CEOP button for web browsers

I found this on IT4L, a blog by Steve Beard

Special offer - Attention Small Schools in England!

Limited funding is still available for small schools in England who are applying for ICT Mark accreditation and will be allocated on a first come first served basis! Successful schools will receive a £200 discount from their final invoice. To qualify for this fabulous offer – the school must have less than 100 pupils. 31 lucky schools have gained benefit from the Small Schools Initiative so far! To find out more please contact ictmark@naace.co.uk.

Now that we are rolling out the use of Gmail as part of the NSIX (Norfolk Schools Internet Exchange) provision, we need to turn our attention to updating curriculum content to take advantage of the new features.  We are also very keen to ensure that we bring the concepts right up to date.  Whilst we may have been teaching mail merge letters to ensure pupils know how to be efficient in their use of ICT, this is no longer the most efficient way to communicate.  The concept remains the same, but we now communicate mostly via email rather than printed letter.  There is a great tutorial by Mark Wagner showing just how to do this.  It may take a little while before pupils have got their contact list populated, but a separate lesson on this may provide the right starting point.

Most of us start a new academic year with good intentions, a bit like the personal targets we set ourselves on New Year's Eve.  Often this might include a learning target e.g. this year I'm going to get to grips with ICT.  Now there are a couple of new resources for the well motivated, which might just suit your lifestyle and provide a low cost option for professional development.  The ICT subject association NAACE has supported the creation of free online ICT CPD courses for teachers and practitioners.  You will find courses for primary and secondary phases and useful guides on things like assessing ICT against National Curriculum Levels.  The second resource to take notw of is VITAL.  This has been created by e-skills UK and the Open University specifically to support ICT CPD in all of England and is supported by the Department for Education.  There are face to face training events, online courses as well as blended learning opportunities to choose from and many are  provided by established institutions in our area.

www.ictcpd4free.co.uk

www.vital.ac.uk

Head teachers and chairs of governors have today received the Norfolk e-learning strategy 2010-14 as part of the e-courier.  The document outlines the vision for Norfolk developed by schools and the local authority and prioritises a shift in pegagogy as well as technical provision.  It also includes an entitlement for our young people.  Please find the full copy online.