May 2007

Newsletter No.38

Want to Blog?
We are able to offer a limited number of schools the opportunity to explore the educational benefits of web logging (blogging) for a year free of charge. There will also be a 1 day training session at no cost to the school.

To apply for the opportunity to try out blogging free for a year please fill in the form found by clicking here.

We are hoping to hold the training sessions in late June or early July so if you are interested please reply as soon as possible.

Find out more about blogging here and here.


Just 2 Easy
Some schools have taken up the opportunity to try Just 2 Easy free for a year - if you haven't then it is still not too late to register.

To register go to www.j2e.com and click on 'register'. If you put 'Lexicon' as the sales code you will not be charged.

If you would like help setting up j2e and/or some training then please click here.

A number of changes have been made to Just 2 Easy over the past few weeks. Most importantly, files produced by pupils are only viewable by other users from the same school unless they are approved by a teacher. It is also easier to share files between selected users making collaborative work much easier.


Zoho
Another interesting online site is zoho. This provides a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program. It is free to register.

You can import existing documents from Microsoft Office and Open Office as well as HTML files.

Anti-Virus in Dorset
For the last few years Dorset LEA have supplied their schools with Sophos Anti-Virus. The contract expires at the end of July and is not being renewed. Instead Dorset are providing NOD32.

NOD32 appears to update itself even when no one is logged on to a computer so unlike Sophos it does not slow down the computer immediately after a user has logged on.

We have a system for removing Sophos remotely (we do not have to go to every computer as long as they are switched on) and NOD32 can be installed on machines from the server. The one major drawback is that once NOD has been installed the computer has to be re-started before anyone can logon.

It would therefore seem sensible to schedule the change for an afternoon so that all the computers can be re-started at the end of the school day.

All Dorset schools will need to make the change before the end of term. Please phone Jan on 01202 657252 to book a time.

The Sophos licence covered the use by staff on their home computers. The NOD32 licence does not. Dorset LEA suggest that the free version of AVG is installed on these computers.

Hardware Prices
We are able to provide Fujitsu-Siemens computers at a slightly cheaper price (thanks to everyone who has bought through us).

The Esprimo E5615 with Athlon 64
3500 processor, 512MB of memory,
DVD, 80GB hard drive and Windows
XP Pro is currently available for
£327 for 1, £317 each for 3 and
£314 each for 5 with further
discounts for larger volumes.

Colour Laser Printers - special price while stocks last

Summer Edition