I think that hits the nail right on the head John.
At the moment our two amalgamated schools has just moved into a new site where we have both wired and wireless access. The balance as we install and set up equipment is critical. The older laptops with fading batteries are to be ‘hard wired’ to the network in clusters to extend their life, while new laptops will remain wireless. This I feel gives us a ‘balance’ to prevent learning being hindered by technology.
As you mentioned earier…We should harness the technology not let technology harness the children’s learning.
Flexibilty is the keyword!

You make some reasonable points here. So that I don’t have to quote the email, here’s the gist of one part you didn’t get but in the words of BECTA . Non-technical people should skip the next 2 para’s as they’re accurate but rather dull.

Wired networks have become the industry standard due to their superior data rates, low-cost and high degree of stability, with wired networks ubiquitous in education as the fundamental technology underlying LANs. Wired networks are therefore to be used as the main network in an institution.

Whilst the development of wireless networking technologies continues apace, it is not anticipated that this technology will replace the existing wired networks entirely. Therefore, wireless networks need to be seen as giving flexibility to an institution’s switched 802.3 standards-based wired network.

It’s great that you feel so passionately about the technology - you’re from the US industry right? Wireless here in the UK is going from strength to strength and is part of a blended solution in schools. You understandably presumed that I was saying ‘just be wireless’ - not so.

I and many others in the UK education sphere would join me in whole-heartedly disagreeing with your view that wireless is a ‘temporary solution’. I struggle to see how providing a teacher with the flexibility to seat their children in whatever groups or chairs near whatever resources should be a temporary solution. I don’t see that one at all. Indeed, a wireless network can give access to areas that may be hard to cable e.g. school study / sports halls, science labs etc.

As a country, the Government here push harder and harder for schools to harness the technology instead of being harnessed by the technology, wireless is becoming more and more critical to enable more children to access learning.

In the UK we now have entire cities coming online with Council provided broadband wireless clouds that offer inclusive access for those lucky enough to have a mobile device to access it. I say ‘mobile device’ because sticking to laptops and desktops is just too narrow these days. Now, there’s no waiting about for someone to come and unlock the IT room to begin learning - more young people can now start engage in their learning at anytime and from anywhere - thanks to wireless they’ve got more control.

So for me I’d say the challenge is about achieving a solution that balances what’s manageable for the school’s budget/techs against what offers the greatest flexibility, reliability and performance for learning.

So get ready for the rollercoaster!

I know it will be hard as started a PGCE Secondary MFL 3 years ago and found that hard. NOw have more of a purpose though and am looking forward to the challenge after years of working in marketing and PR.

Lynn

PS - This blog demonstates the co-headship principles we hold dear, one starts a thought stream and the other adds in to it, constructing thoughts and ideas as we progress!!!

Coheadship Chatter

Hi Karen, Both heads carry the responsibilities as defined in the head teacher job descriptions. Our responsibilities are not divided formally … they are shared. In reality we carry some responsibilities together eg pupil progress… teaching and learning. There are others which one of us holds onto. Examples of this would be Lynn takes an overview of SEN whereas I am exploring issues around extended provision. There is nothing unusual about our staffing structure. In fact it is fairly traditional in its style However a whole staff culture, which supports the partnership, has been at the heart of this first year.

Efficient administrative support has been essential as have the effective communication systems. I think we would both add that the HT Discussion Room, SLT discussion room and Staff Discussion room set up on My Desktop are an absolute must!!!! … but beware they are addictive. Lynn guided this idea through, though I was a little sceptical…. it has proved to be fantastic!