ict matters july 2011

A sociAl mediA minefield The risks to teachers of using Facebook

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july 2011 / ISSUE 11TAking school Technology To The nexT level

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ProjEcT Forward Projection technology as an affordable classroom pick-me-up

VIdEo STarSchool saves thousands through video conferencing

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CONTENTS

Recent news surrounding the possibility that mobile phones and wireless internet could be bad for your health has sent ICT managers across the land into a spin.

On the one hand, an EU committee has said phones and wifi should be restricted in schools because they pose a health risk to children, but on the other hand, research has shown that pupils who have access to mobile apps for learning do better in school. What to do?

It’s a tough one. Do you prioritise your pupils’ health based on reports from the World Health Organisation that say mobile phones could cause cancer, or do you go with the statistics that say mobile phones are no bad thing when it comes to learning. Health or learning; learning or health. While this seems like a rather black and white decision to make, it’s not that simple. Say it is true that mobile phones and wireless internet are possible carcinogens. Is that going to stop anyone using mobile phones in their day-to-day lives? Not likely – at least not for a while. While banning them from your school for health reasons at this point could be jumping the gun a little, it’s no bad thing to keep tabs on what is done to address the issue. For that, watch this space.

In this issue, we bring you the usual updates on ICT in education, with case studies on the importance of video conferencing in the classroom and technology on parental communication. We also bring you a Focus On projectors and print services. Finally, we conclude with a legal-themed Techno Geek on the implications of teachers and schools on social media sites like Facebook. It’s a big world out there, but if anything, technology is making it smaller every day.

EDITOR

UPDATE 47 ICT NEWSThe latest updates and developments in school technology

IN PRACTICE 50 CASE STUDY Video starEngayne Primary School saves £4,500 a year using video conferencing

FOCUS ON 56 PROJECTORS Project forwardProjection technology as an affordable classroom pick-me-up

60 MPSManaged print services Getting the most out of your printing

HELP DESK 64 TECHNO GEEK Teachers and social media – a safeguarding minefield

CONTACT USintelligent media solutionssuite 223, business design centre52 upper street, london, N1 0QHtel 020 7288 6833fax 020 7288 6834email [email protected] www.intelligentmedia.co.uk

Follow Education Executive on Twitter at Twitter.com/edexecPrinted in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk

UPDATE HELP DESKFOCUS ONIN PRACTICE

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ICT NEWS & ANALYSIS

Dartmouth Academy is launching a scheme to allow every one of its pupils to access the computer equipment they need.

The all-through college teamed up with the e-Learning Foundation to give all 511 of its students the opportunity to have their own personal laptop, netbook or tablet computer – depending on their educational needs.

The school will allocate around £40,000 a year to buy the equipment, with parents opting to buy it for their children by giving £18 a month to the school.

The equipment will be insured and maintained by the academy and upgraded as the pupils’ education needs progress, but pupils can still keep the equipment when they leave school.

Principal Nick Hindmarsh said: “This system will back up the investment we have already made in technology and will help our pupils and students achieve their full potential.

“These changes not only give them new learning experiences, but also inspire them to look for information, and guide their own learning.

“We are here to facilitate their learning and help them develop. To do this we are determined to use a variety of tools and techniques, and technology is a big part of that.”

Business manager Simon Rushton put together the bid for e-Learning Foundation funding and said: “This is a scheme which has seen great success elsewhere in the country, and we believe it will make a massive difference to the learning experience of our students – £18 a month is equivalent to a month’s Sky subscription, half a tank of petrol, or just 60p a day. This brings the newest technology within the grasp of all our students.”

The academy recently announced it was handing out £16,000 worth of iPods to GCSE students to help them study for their exams.

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SCHOOL RECEIvES ICT INvESTmENTRushey Mead Secondary School in Leicester, will benefit from major ICT investment.

The school, which is undergoing a £16m rebuild under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, is undertaking a £2.5m five-year contract that will provide a bespoke ICT managed service to support the wide ranging educational needs of Rushey Mead.

Headteacher Carolyn Robson said: “Staff and students at the school are excited at the prospect of moving into their new BSF building in the summer of 2012.

“With the ever-increasing use of new ICT by young people it is critical that the school environment reflects and adapts to the many technologies available.”

47

Considering all the budgetary constraints that they are under, schools are determined not to pay a penny more for their ICT equipment than they have to

Philip White, CEO of Syscap, suggests the Japanese disaster could have a knock-on effect on school ICT purchases

They said...


DigitAl resources boost Achievement

lAptop plAns scrAppeDPlans to provide children in Wales with free laptops has been scrapped after it emerged that every new machine was costing more than £700 to supply.

The Welsh government was accused of “frittering money away” on a policy destined to fail at a time when school funding is scarce.

Wales Online revealed that £662,364 had been spent on free laptops since the scheme’s launch in March last year, but only 943 of the 1,200 computers promised had been bought.

“It was clear when the scheme was introduced that it did not represent value for money from the education budget and could have been better spent improving facilities in schools,” said Shadow Education Minister Angela Burns.

“At a time when the school funding gap is widening, teacher numbers are falling and educational standards are in

decline, ministers should be prioritising vital funds at the frontline rather than frittering money away on free laptops.

“Scrapping the scheme before it’s even been evaluated suggests

Labour ministers now agree that this was an ill-advised and wasteful

scheme made to appease their nationalist coalition partners.”

David Evans, Wales secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the

announcement came as little surprise. “The idea of giving a laptop to every child is an

example of something that was good in theory but, without the resources to see it through, was

always going to fail,” he said.

New research has shown that early use of a digital resource, when embedded into the school’s long-term plan, is associated with higher achievement in Key Stage 2 SATs.

The independent study, conducted by senior research fellow at Lancaster University Dr Don Passey, found that the use of a high quality digital resource creates a wider and deeper learning experience, which can impact on understanding and achievement when used over a period of time with children.

Although frequency of the use of a digital resource is likely to be important for some learners, it is the pattern of usage over time that is associated with higher end and longer term results.

With the government removing ring-fenced funding for technology in education, this research works to highlight the important role that technology plays in primary schools.

The study consisted of in-depth teacher interviews, questionnaires and usage data from over 330 UK schools using a primary resource.

Passey said: “Resources often support certain areas of learning better than others. The width of learning aspects covered by a resource enables teachers and learners to engage more widely and in different ways with those resources.”

48


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50

Engayne Primary School saves thousands of pounds a year using video conferencing technology. Julia Dennison spoke to headteacher suzanne ship to find out more

The video star

school Engayne Primary SchoolType Mixed community school, ages 5-11 local auThoriTy London Borough of Haveringpupils 592

As school budgets are put under the cosh, there are ways to use technology to soften the financial blow. One such way is by using videoconferencing (VC)

technology – both for teaching pupils and training staff. Substituting a more expensive face-to-face meeting in favour of an exchange over a webcam can save a school thousands in travel costs and staff time, and can be well worth the investment.

Engayne Primary School in the London Borough of Havering, for example, has saved over £4,500 a year in continuing professional development (CPD) costs, including travel and supply cover, by videoconferencing.

As a London lead school for the National Outstanding Primary Schools’ School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) programme, Engayne works with Nottingham University and five other regional representative schools from Yorkshire, the Midlands, the northeast, northwest and southwest of England to support the work of SCITT in their regions. As a consortium of around 50 schools, the SCITT programme oversees the training of around 100 staff between

the schools every year. Engayne’s participation requires it to hold a number of management board and lead mentor meetings, which incur considerable travel and supply cover costs.

A number of years ago, it was decided videoconferencing technology would be installed at the six representative schools in a bid to save this money. Since using video links to hold 11 of these meetings a year for the last three years, the return on the technological investment video conferencing required has been calculated at 30% (see table) – not to mention the carbon footprint avoided from saving over 2,700 travel miles annually and benefit to the pupils from saving 66 hours of teaching time per year.

“It is not only the financial benefits of VC that make this technology value for money; time is very precious to any headteacher and using VC saves me 48 hours a year, or approximately six school days, which I can spend with my pupils and staff,” comments Engayne headteacher Suzanne Ship, who sits on the management board of the SCITT programme as the head rep for London and the southeast. “There’s much more impact on the development of teachers

“It is not only the financial benefits of VC that make this technology value for money; time is very precious to any headteacher and using VC saves me 48 hours a year, or approximately six school days, which I can spend with my pupils and staff”


if they’re seeing, for example, an art specialist teach in a different school,” she adds.

The VC technology also comes in handy for pupil lessons, facilitating the children’s access to celebrated authors and other VIPs, as well as fellow schoolchildren in Australia and even scientists at NASA, all of which would hardly have seemed possible in person.

Indeed, Engayne’s passion for using videoconferencing for training and pupil lessons has gained the school recognition throughout the web as a leader in videoconferencing on blogs like Video Conferencing for Learning (vc4learning.blogspot.com/) and even earned it a national award at the 2010 Schools Videoconference Awards where judges cited an “excellent variety of examples of how you use videoconferencing across their school and the future planning of the use of the technology with both staff and pupils” as the reason for the win.

VC technology need not be too pricy, says Ship; even just a web cam and computer can be a good start to putting schools in touch over the web.

51

Total savings (travel, hotel and supply cover) = £4,511Total investment (average cost of VC hardware) = £3,500Annual cost saving ROI = 30% With thanks to vc4learning.blogspot.com

Meeting

x3 a year

x3 a year

x5 a year

x11 a year

Head reps

Lead mentor

Headteacher project meeting

756

756

1260

2,772 miles

252 milesreturn travel to Nottingham

£483

£483

£805

£1,771

Return rail fare at £161 (peak travel)

£180

£180

£300

£660

Hotel cost (average £60 per night)

18 hours

18 hours

30 hours

66 hours

Time forreturn travel at six hours

£540

£540

£1,000

£2,080

Cover feeat average£180 per day

VC’s ROI for Engayne Primary School (Sept 2010 – July 2011)

“It doesn’t have to be very expensive, and certainly it negates the costs of trips and teacher time out of school,” she says. “If you think about the cost of an author trip – videoconferencing is certainly cheaper.”

Ship’s advice to other schools thinking about investing in videoconferencing is to consider mobile technology that can be moved

throughout the school. “Then it will be used,” she says. A robust internet connection and IT system are also essential.

The more schools that use videoconferencing, the easier it will be for schools to connect. “[Connecting through videoconferencing] has already grown,” says Ship. “It’s so much easier than when we first started – what with all

the firewalls there used to be – now when I videoconference with all my colleagues throughout the country we go through the Janet network, the call is booked and my colleagues appear on the screen, whereas before we spent ages trying to get all the schools through. I’m sure in the future it will be much easier still as there are more and more resources becoming available for videoconferencing.”


52

MLS stand. He was particularly impressed by the way it could be incorporated into a school’s learning platform.

“The decision was made to purchase the software in 2010 and it couldn’t have come soon enough,” he comments. MLS also allowed him to spread the cost of the new software over three years, which also helped the school budget.

Thankfully, the system was also easy to set up, something that made school librarian Michelle Burn’s life easier. “The

conversion of our data was straightforward,” she says of the process. “We uploaded the file at the end of the school day, as per Micro Librarian instructions on their web pages, and emailed it to them. We received the converted file back by lunchtime the next school day, which we uploaded to

the server and were ready to go, with all students, loans, reservations etc. working within minutes.”

Burn has since added to the system even further. “Since having successfully used the software for several months, we then proceeded to add all the set texts from the English department and are looking into loading media and photography equipment, so that all items a student borrows from the school are on one database.”

A good lookParsons initially installed a non-Silverlight version of Eclipse.net, which worked well but didn’t quite have the modern look and feel he was after. After contacting the MLS helpdesk, he was upgraded to the latest version and is very happy with the results.

On the system, each student gets their own library profile


The best way to promote literacy at secondary school level is to get pupils engaged with reading. For Charlie Parsons, ELE manager at the Corsham School, the key to this engagement was joining his school’s library system with its virtual learning environment. ICT Matters finds out more

Joining forces

Charlie Parsons is a great ambassador for and advocate of virtual learning environments. When he started working at the Corsham School in September 2007 as electronic learning environment (ELE) manager, his first task was to implement a new learning platform across the

school, upgrade the school’s website and improve how the whole school used electronic learning facilities in general.

A virtual learning platform like the one at Corsham is crucial to getting the 1,400 pupils at this mixed 11-18 comprehensive in Wiltshire on the road to success, helping to secure the school an outstanding Ofsted report in 2009 and last year’s highest A-level student progress indicator in any state-funded, mixed comprehensive in Britain (1059.6). “It has been a massive success improving communication across the school, engaging students in new technology and enabling us to achieve a 24/7 learning reality,” Parsons says of Corsham’s ELE, which fits well alongside its creative ethos and two specialisms in the visual arts and maths and computing.

Once the ELE was up and running, Parsons decided to investigate what other opportunities there were for integrating services into the learning platform. At the time, his existing library software was out-of-date and uninspiring, so he had the plan to upgrade it to something more engaging.

By the booksThis solution came from a visit to the BETT show in 2009, where he was impressed with the versatility of a library software system called Eclipse.net, which he saw demonstrated at the

“It makes using the library so much more fun and engaging inside the school and at home”

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pages, which integrate with the school’s website and ELE and helps them engage with Corsham’s library in a dynamic manner. “The student page has a much more modern, widget-driven feel on a super glossy black background,” Parsons describes. For the first time students are able to manage their books online, write reviews, watch authors talking about their books through a ‘meet the author’ function and teachers can set homework using the library software. Other impressive features include a reviewing function; new arrivals displayed using Silverlight animation; a sliding puzzle game that lets the children play around with the cover of the book of the week.

All in all, Parsons is delighted with the results: “It makes using the library so much more fun and engaging inside the school and at home.” And he’s not the only one. “I have used this software with my Year 7 class and they absolutely loved it,” says a teacher. “They were very keen to show me the reviews they’d written for homework and were also keen to read one another’s reviews. I think this is an excellent tool that encourages independent reading and enhances learning.” With Parsons’s enthusiasm for pupil engagement through ICT and a library system with the school’s ELE, Corsham is in a good position to gain even greater momentum in the future.

FAST FACTSSchool: The Corsham SchoolType: Mixed 11-18 comprehensiveLA: WiltshireSpecialisms: Visual arts and maths and computingPupils: 1,400, 270 of which are in the sixth formELE manager: Charlie ParsonsBackground: Before working at Corsham, Parsons worked for Avon and Somerset Constabulary as an ICT trainer specialising in intelligence analysis

for more information:mLStel: 0161 449 9357email: [email protected]: www.microlib.co.uk

54 UPDATE HELP DESKFOCUS ONIN PRACTICE

A FLATRATE FOR EFFICIENT PRINTINg

With the current squeeze on public sector spending, education budgets are coming under intense pressure and expenditure on technology is inevitably subject to intense scrutiny. Schools have increasingly limited resources, so they are constantly finding new ways of making the most of them.

One method for driving cost savings, operational efficiencies and enhanced creativity is through smart printing. A recent report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that education could benefit more than other UK sectors from more efficient printing, with potential annual savings of up to £245m – equivalent to 9,800 new graduate teachers.

Sir William Stanier Community School, a secondary school in Crewe, has historically used a mix of printers from different vendors together with a complex blend of different consumable types. At the same time, it had little control over colour printing and little visibility of costs or output volumes.

Reliability was often an issue and ensuring high quality service and supply was difficult. Managing the printing resource efficiently was a constant challenge not least because of the requirement to use multiple sources for billing, consumables and IT support.

The school realised it needed to exert tighter control over its printing and decided to standardise on one brand and turned to OKI and its Flatrate for Education printing package.

The school was impressed with the quality of the OKI printers, the professionalism of the OKI team and the potential benefits of the Flatrate scheme.

OKI has now set the school up on the programme, which is customised to focus on aggregate printing across all printers rather than working out amounts set for each individual device. The vendor has also since supplied the school with 60 C500 range

Sir William Stanier Community School in Crewe has benefited from improving print facilities thanks to the OKI Flatrate printing programme. We find out how they did it

VENDOR CASE STUDY

55UPDATE HELP DESKFOCUS ONIN PRACTICE

A4 LED printers, which are installed in classrooms and offices across the site, together with five C800 A3 LED printers, which are being used principally in design and technology lessons.

SAvINg mONEy AND REDUCINg wASTE“Migrating to this new approach has allowed us to gain tighter control over our print budget and achieve more convenient, hassle-free management of our whole printing plan,” says Phil Hall, network manager at the school.

With OKI Flatrate for Education, the school’s payments are based on an estimated monthly output for a set monthly charge over 36 months, inclusive of a fixed number of both colour and mono pages. OKI has provided clear prices for additional pages, giving the school predictable budgeting and cost control – and complete peace of mind.

As a scheme member, the school also qualifies for two months printing (July and August) completely payment free. In total, it estimates the new approach is enabling Sir William Stanier Community School to save 25% of its annual printing costs, with the additional benefit that the school no longer has to worry about running out of consumables.

“With Flatrate, we can order these on next day delivery,” adds Hall. “It is a really quick process. We simply visit the OKI Flatrate website and select the printer serial number and the consumables required. We can also log calls for support there and have total confidence that we will get a priority call back from OKI’s UK-based technical support team.

“The Flatrate scheme has also given us much greater visibility into our printing,” he continues. “For the first time, we can now review the overall number of A3 and A4 pages printed and the

departmental split. This allows us to pinpoint areas where volumes are high and address them proactively.”

OKI has delivered further benefits to Sir William Stanier Community School by assisting in the configuration of the printers to drive additional savings. Devices are set to print in mono as standard, allowing the school to reduce unnecessary colour printing but enabling it to use colour when required. The printers are also set to duplex as a default option, allowing the school to make further cost savings while cutting paper wastage by up to 50% at a stroke.

OKI further helps the school to minimise the environmental impact of its printing by providing it with two free collection boxes and liners and then arranging for the collection of used consumables on next day pickup. The installation of the OKI printers also drives enhanced productivity at the school. The fast print speeds available with the OKI devices help teachers to overcome the end-of-class printing rush and ensure that pupils no longer need to delay the start of the next lesson, waiting for work to appear.

A NEw PERSPECTIvEUsing OKI printers and signing up for the Flatrate for Education scheme has changed the school’s entire outlook on printing. Previously it considered it as an expensive necessity that was difficult to manage and control.

Thanks to the efforts of OKI itself, it regards printing more as a cost-effective enabler, inspiring pupils to produce high-quality work and driving the productivity of teachers though rapid print-outs tailored to their needs while delivering value for money and a significant reduction in costs.

“The new approach is enabling it to save 25% of its annual printing costs, with the additional benefit that the school no longer has to worry about running out of consumables”

UPDATE HELP DESKIN PRACTICE FOCUS ON56

Gone are the days of acetate sheets, hand scrawled annotations and eye-straining illumination – modern projectors can provide interactive, three-dimensional presentations and displays and have the power to transform the learning experience and deliver an engaging and exciting

learning experience.One of the hottest topics around projectors in schools at the moment is 3D

technology, with manufacturers rushing to bring the latest innovations to market. While this technology has proved hugely popular in the world of entertainment, it is still in its infancy in the education environment. “It is widely accepted that it will contribute in some way to the classroom of the future,” suggests Neil Hartigan of NEC Display Solutions.

The application of 3D projection may have the potential to be a major asset in education, but Richard Griffin from Canon believes the technology available at present is not yet suited to the classroom. “3D televisions, for example, are often too small for every day classrooms and require expensive active shutter glasses,” he explains. “While the projectors themselves can be relatively affordable, the glasses can cost as much as £100 each. If the glasses are lost or damaged, this can turn into a sizeable cost.”

Another feature that schools are increasingly looking for is short-throw capability. Recent innovations in projectors enable them to be mounted ever closer to the

Projectors can help teachers to

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UPDATE HELP DESKIN PRACTICE FOCUS ON 57

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screen, resulting in ‘ultra-short-throw’, the fastest growing sector in the education market, which can project an image from less than half a metre away, resulting in excellent flexibility of usage. “An ultra-short-throw projector can accommodate different sized classrooms and even differing ceiling heights so no longer is a classroom too small for a projector,” says Graeme Davidson from Epson.

The close proximity to the screen means that presentations can be delivered without teachers or learners being disturbed by people walking in front of the image. There are also significant health and safety implications too. “The class or teacher won’t be ‘blinded’ by the light of a standard projector,” explains Griffin. “For this reason there was a recommendation from Becta several years ago that projectors should not exceed a certain level of brightness – 1,500 lumens – which was totally inappropriate for most classroom environments. Short-throw projection technology means you can now get the brightness a classroom demands in an easy-to-use and compact solution.”

Interactivity is another area for evolution in projectors. “Interactivity allows teachers and students to interact with content on nearly any flat surface, which means no additional expensive equipment,” explains Paola Ferri from Dell.

PLANNING AHEADIt is important to plan for the future developments in the projector market and how the demands of their use will develop within individual schools. “As schools are under increasing pressure from budget cuts, they need to choose a projector that will be worth the investment long-term. In addition to looking at the initial cost price of the projector, schools should consider ease of installation and use, environmental impact and product warranty,” suggests Davidson.

By considering the installation and application of projectors, schools can ensure they deliver flexible and effective working environments. “With class sizes higher than ever, it is necessary to maximise the space available in often

cramped classrooms for children to freely move about to gain access to the whiteboard,” says Hartigan. “By mounting a projector close to the wall, you not only free up space in the classroom but remove the danger of bright light damaging sensitive young eyes. Furthermore, by mounting the projector on a height adjustable whiteboard stand, you will ensure inclusion of all students without limitation due to size or wheelchair use.”

Another key consideration is the total cost of ownership of these devices. The initial cost of a projector is obviously important, but that is only part of the overall picture. “More often than not, the lifetime maintenance cost of a projector exceeds the purchase cost, as the price of replacement lamps is so high,” explains Nieve Cavanagh from Casio Projectors. “Almost all projectors use a light source with a maximum life expectancy of just a few thousand hours. If your projector is in constant use, and perhaps being moved from classroom to classroom and left on for hours at a time, replacing lamps every three to six months eventually puts a strain on tight ICT budgets.”

The latest laser and LED technology give projectors a much longer life span, with around 20,000 hours of constant use. “This totally removes the need to buy replacement lamps, and also lightens maintenance and administration workloads,” adds Cavanagh.

As far as possible, schools should look to future-proof their investments, and

Griffin suggests choosing the best resolution that can be afforded with the latest connector types, such as dvi or hdmi, as this will support the other technology that will be purchased in the coming years. “If HD capability is important or going to become important for a particular school, then a full HD projector rather than a HD capable projector may be a better solution for the longer term,” he says.

GOING FURTHER Projectors do not just have to be considered as standalone devices within the classroom; there are much wider applications they can be used for. A fully networkable projector including wireless will allow connectivity with mobile devices such as tablet PCs and PDAs,” says Hartigan. “The projector should be able to select and view data from each of the computers in the classroom allowing work from pupils to be shared with the class, enhancing the teaching and learning process.” The network can also be used to control the projector such as turning it off at certain times of day and performing diagnostic tasks for lamps or filters.

There is also a demand for projectors in other areas of the school, outside of the classroom. “Projectors can be used nearly anywhere you want to share information,” says Ferri. “Projectors can be used in a main lobby to project digital content for informational purposes or as part of the décor; libraries can use projectors to project content in study rooms; cafeterias can project multimedia for entertainment or announcements.” They could also be installed in the gym to allow the space to be used in a multifunctional way. With such versatile and useful applications for projectors, it is well worth considering how your school can make the most of this technology.

“By mounting a projector close to the wall, you not only free up space in the classroom but remove the danger of bright light damaging sensitive young eyes”

DID YOU KNOW…Becta used to advise schools to avoid projectors that exceeded 1,500 lumens. Modern short-throw and ultra-short-throw devices mean this is no longer necessary


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LEAVE IT TOTHE EXPERTSPrinters provide a vital resource in schools, but they are often overlooked, with staff frequently lacking knowledge or skills to get the most out of these machines. Matthew Jane considers how managed print services could help schools get more from their machines

Most schools are blessed with staff who have a wide range of skills and are experts in their chosen

fields. However, one area where there can often be a lack of knowledge is in printing, an essential function in the smooth running of a school, but often overlooked, which could lead to inefficiencies and increased running costs. Increasingly, schools are employing a managed print service (MPS) in a bid to achieve a more effective printing fleet by outsourcing their print management to experts and

employing a bespoke package of printers and consumables.

There are considerable savings to be made through employing an MPS. Peter Silcock from Epson suggests it could save schools up to 35% across hardware, consumables and service. “In addition, it can reduce initial outlay costs as the cost of the hardware, toner and service and support can be spread across the life of contract,” he adds.

Schools are well-placed to utilise an MPS to achieve lower running costs, reduced total cost of ownership and better fleet efficiency through a

centralised budget. “Ultimately, this will result in cost efficiency through consistent financial budgeting and reduced downtime,” explains Jamie Mackenzie from Samsung.

By allowing the management of printing to be a more proactive process, schools can ensure they get the most out of their equipment, not just from a cost efficiency perspective, but by expanding the services they offer. “An MPS strategy can help a school improve functions such as scanning, printing and copying facilities, which continue to support both staff and students,” says Nikki Richardson from Canon. “By looking beyond this to the workflow within the school, MPS can also help to identify improvements that can be made to streamline processes and offer an improved service to students and staff. This could include improving student record and enrolment management processes to creating improved facilities to produce lesson plans, worksheets, assignments or coursework.”

MANAGING COSTSWith so many uncertainties in school budgeting at the moment, schools will be eager for any project that offers relatively stable figures. “With an MPS, schools will have predictable capital costs through periodic lease payments; this enables consistent budgeting and removes the need for standalone ad-hoc purchases, which can have a significant impact on a budget it required suddenly,” says Mackenzie. “Managed print services also take care of running costs such as toner and maintenance; therefore schools will save money that otherwise might have been wasted on over-purchasing of consumables.”

Depending on the level of service a school chooses, there could even be a protective element to a deal. “You need


to have an idea of what you are printing to make sure that agreement, which could be long-term, is cost-effective,” explains Russell Dyas from Impero Software Solutions. “However, the long-term nature of agreements could work for the school as consumables prices continue to rise.”

It is important that suppliers conduct a thorough print audit before a school signs up to an agreement in order to ascertain the level of service required. “Many suppliers offer flexible pricing models to be able to offer each customer the model that best fits its immediate as well as longer-term requirements,” says Richardson. “For successful MPS strategy, continual improvement and optimisation of service is necessary at all levels, and with this in place long-term reduction can be made in six key areas: print per page costs, paper wastage, electricity consumption, carbon emissions, noise levels and support calls.”

There is even scope for schools to market their printing solutions to local business as a way of raising funds. “Going beyond just print and providing a complete printing solution and reprographics suite can also give a school a competitive edge and can even provide a service to local business to generate additional revenue,” explains Richardson.

FULLY SUPPORTEDAnother advantage of an MPS is that schools have a good support network and are able to access technical assistance in the event of a problem. Rob Brown from OKI Printing Solutions says this will allow school staff to focus on their core duties rather than trying to fix a faulty printer. “This will be either on the phone or via a website, where a school can log its issues

and someone will either call back or be sent out to fix the problem,” he explains.

There is support for administrative staff as well, given that managed systems can ensure toner is delivered and processed in a more structured and consolidated manner, meaning staff do not have to worry about sending multiple orders. “This just-in-time delivery of toner means a school does not have money tied up in additional unused toner stock and does not have to find the space to store this extra stock either,” says Silcock.

There are green benefits that can be derived from MPS too. “Environmentally -conscious MPS providers can further help schools to minimise the environmental impact of their printing by providing them with boxes and liners and then arranging

for the collection of used consumable on next-day pickup,” says Brown.

Providers can also help ensure the machines are set up correctly to achieve the best environmental and financial returns. Devices can be set to print in mono as standard, allowing a school to reduce unnecessary colour printing, but enabling it to use colour when required,” explains Brown. “The printers can also be

set up to print double-sided as a default option, allowing the school to make further cost savings while cutting paper wastage by up to 50%.”

It is also worth considering the

additional system that can run alongside an MPS, such as a print management solution. “This allows you to manage the actual prints using systems such as printer credits,” suggests Dyas. “If your staff and students are still printing a large amount of printouts each month then you will continue to use large amounts of consumables, even with a managed print service.”

While a managed print service may not be required by all schools, for those with an extensive fleet of machines it could prove a sensible move. By removing the administrative, technical and financial demands that print ownership brings with it, schools could be free to enjoy their printing without worrying about the equipment or costs.

“Managed print services also take care of running costs such as toner and maintenance, therefore schools will save money that otherwise might have been wasted on over-purchasing of consumables”

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Techno Geek stands aside to let legal expert Chris Cook guide you through how teachers should use social media

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Teachers and the social media minefield

The arrival of social media has greatly increased our ability to communicate with others, although there are particular issues facing schools that must be considered from a teacher/pupils perspective. There is now a much greater scope of opportunity for teachers and children to engage outside of the traditional working day.

Schools must recognise that social media may also expose teachers and children to significant risks. Children are more vulnerable to abuse, which in a social media environment is much harder to prevent bearing in mind the people responsible for protecting a child may not be aware of it, even though it is occurring within the home.

Social interfacing provides a medium for children to be groomed in an environment where the perpetrator is essentially invisible. The risks could include strangers masquerading as minors, but also the more common occurrence of abusive behaviour from fellow pupils. Exploitation of children might worsen, as children tend to explore their curiosities more than adults would, leading to the possibility of an unsuspecting student disseminating information about themselves including phone numbers and addresses.

There are not just risks from third parties. Schools and teachers need to be mindful of maintaining professional boundaries with pupils. The generally informal nature of social media as a method of communication could result in a degree of familiarity that could distort the student-teacher relationship. In turn, pupils could start regarding their teachers as friends as opposed to role models, increasing the chance of inappropriate dialogue and, in extreme situations, career-threatening allegations.

It is apperent that schools need to have in place clear and comprehensive policies for dealing with usage of social media. It unfortunately remains common for schools to have outdated policies that are too vague to be of any assistance to the school in managing problems that arise from issues such as

Safeguarding steps for social media use:

• Separate personal and professional profiles• Avoid making students/relatives contacts• Place contacts into different groups and set

permissions accordingly• Set appropriate privacy settings (if in doubt

ensure that privacy settings are maximised)• Always maintain professional standards• Avoid posting any information that breaches

principles of confidentiality• Obtain permission from pupils and parents

before posting information or photos• Ensure that contacts do not post any

offensive information/photographs.

professional boundaries breaches and abusive behaviour in a social media environment.

It is particularly important to ensure that such policies make it clear that teachers are required to maintain standards both inside and outside of the school environment and that they adhere to their duties of confidentiality and the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. While teachers themselves are at risk, schools are also open to legal proceedings from parents and pupils alike under the principle of vicarious liability.

Training of staff is also crucial – a policy can only be effective if staff understand its implications. Once the policy has been introduced and staff adequately trained, it must be properly policed. Teachers should be encouraged to report any concerns regarding the use of social media to afford the school the opportunity for the school to do something about it.

Parents have an active role to play in the policing of the policy and should also be encouraged to liaise with the school to report any concerns they have regarding their children’s safety. This is particularly important owing to the fact that the majority of a child’s social media usage takes place outside of school hours.

Chris Cook is a lawyer with SA Law

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