Newsletter No.60
If you want a consultancy visit to discuss any aspect of ICT, remember every Lifeline school has a one hour consultancy visit included in the subscription so it won't cost you anything.
J2Webby
How will technology support the curriculum in the 21st Century? There can be little doubt that the Internet will be at the heart of 21st Century technology. Even more importantly, mobile technology is becoming even more prevalent.
j2e (Just2Easy) has been one of the most forward thinking online educational applications for almost 5 years now. While VLEs have attempted to provide everything (including the kitchen sink), the j2e programmers (the people who wrote Textease) have concentrated on 'keeping it simple' while still harnessing the power of the Internet.
Their latest offering is j2webby - a simplified version of Wordpress. This provides a simple website where children's work can be published with 2 clicks (1 when the pupil sends the work to the website and the 2nd when a teacher approves it for publication).
Teachers can add pages with just 1 click - no need for moderation - ideal for publishing spelling lists or homework.
And the best bit is that it is free! Support is charged at £99 per annum (discounts for Lifeline Schools) but see 'Value Pack Plus' below.
To see a simple example click here.
Just2Easy Value Pack Plus.
The full list of Just2Easy Applications can be found here.
With j2Webby support these would normally cost £644 per annum (£544 for a small school under 120 pupils). The Value Pack plus prices are £599 or £499 for small schools, but this additionally provides you with a half day's introductory training.
However Lifeline subscribers get a further 15% discount bringing the prices down to £509.15 or £424.15.
These are annual subscriptions but the wealth and variety of applications makes it a very attractive proposition.
If you have already signed up for any of the Just2Easy applications for this year then it will be possible to switch to the Value Pack Plus by simply paying the difference in price.
5 year server warranty
For a limited time Fujitsu are offering a 'free' warranty upgrade to 5 years on all of their servers. If you are thinking of replacing your server then this offer will save at least £150 from the standard price as well as giving you extra life on the server.
How will technology support the curriculum in the 21st Century? There can be little doubt that the Internet will be at the heart of 21st Century technology. Even more importantly, mobile technology is becoming even more prevalent.
j2e (Just2Easy) has been one of the most forward thinking online educational applications for almost 5 years now. While VLEs have attempted to provide everything (including the kitchen sink), the j2e programmers (the people who wrote Textease) have concentrated on 'keeping it simple' while still harnessing the power of the Internet.
Their latest offering is j2webby - a simplified version of Wordpress. This provides a simple website where children's work can be published with 2 clicks (1 when the pupil sends the work to the website and the 2nd when a teacher approves it for publication).
Teachers can add pages with just 1 click - no need for moderation - ideal for publishing spelling lists or homework.
And the best bit is that it is free! Support is charged at £99 per annum (discounts for Lifeline Schools) but see 'Value Pack Plus' below.
To see a simple example click here.
Just2Easy Value Pack Plus.
The full list of Just2Easy Applications can be found here.
With j2Webby support these would normally cost £644 per annum (£544 for a small school under 120 pupils). The Value Pack plus prices are £599 or £499 for small schools, but this additionally provides you with a half day's introductory training.
However Lifeline subscribers get a further 15% discount bringing the prices down to £509.15 or £424.15.
These are annual subscriptions but the wealth and variety of applications makes it a very attractive proposition.
If you have already signed up for any of the Just2Easy applications for this year then it will be possible to switch to the Value Pack Plus by simply paying the difference in price.
5 year server warranty
For a limited time Fujitsu are offering a 'free' warranty upgrade to 5 years on all of their servers. If you are thinking of replacing your server then this offer will save at least £150 from the standard price as well as giving you extra life on the server.
Supporting the Curriculum in the 21st Century
Technology is forever changing and as a consequence the way it can be used to support teaching and learning.
On 1st November (pm) we are putting on a workshop that will look at how new hardware and software (see J2Webby above) can change, and hopefully improve, how the curriculum is delivered.
If you are interested in attending this workshop please fill in the form here to book 1 or 2 places.
The venue is The Lady St Mary First School in Wareham and the workshop is free to Lifeline subscribers.
Special Offer PCs
Given the current financial situation it is always nice to find a bargain. Fujitsu are in the process of changing the models of their desktop PCs. For the last few years the standard PC has been the Esprimo E3521. This is no longer available but there are some Esprimo E5731 computers (better specification than E3521) still available for the same price that the E3521s were.
A single Esprimo E5731 with DualCore processor, 2gb of memory and a 320gb hard drive with Windows 7 Pro and 1 year on-site warranty costs just £328. Five will cost £318 each and ten cost £313 each. This offer is only while stocks last. A warranty extension to 3 years on site costs £20 per computer.
Dropbox
Have you ever gone to do some work on a file and then realised that you don't have it because it is either at school or at home. If so then Dropbox could be the answer. When setup on 2 or more computers at different locations it will synchonise files that are saved in the Dropbox.
As the files are stored on the Dropbox website it is also possible to access them at any computer by logging into your Dropbox account. The service is free for up to 2gb of storage. Up to 50gb of storage costs $99 a year.
However as it not encrypted it would be unwise to use it for sensitive information or pupil data.
Electranet
For all networking, wireless networking, electrical work, whiteboard and projector installation, and benching we will in future be using Electranet Solutions. We can guarantee an excellent standard of work at very competitive prices.
Contact us for further information.
