SOUTHEND ON SEA LOCAL EDUCATION AREA AUTHORITY ACHIEVES A ‘FIRST’ WITH
ITS NEW ICT SCHEME
A revolution is taking place in the classrooms of Southend on Sea and
the Local Education Authority has high hopes that it will spread right across
the country.
On 7th March 2000 the Government’s Minister for School Standards,
Estelle Morris, launched Southend on Sea as an Education Action Zone (EAZ).
Over the next few years the LEA will be able to invest one million
pounds in educational resources, much of which it intends to spend on information
technology.
Rosemary Morris at Southend on Sea LEA is adamant that her Borough’s
participation in this scheme will make a real difference to educational standards.
‘It is not simply enough to issue all our teachers and pupils
with computers and then sit back and wait for an improvement.
We have been give a real chance here to show just how the right approach
to investment in and the use of the right technology can boost our pupils
learning power.
There are currently 450 teachers within the Southend on Sea
EAZ and the LEA has already been able to issue each one with a portable Toshiba
Satellite personal computer (PC).
Each of these PCs will link into a wireless LAN network, providing
access to the vast educational resources of the Internet and communicational
links with organisations worldwide as well as local and national schools.
The LEA is also planning its own educational Intranet which will continue
to provide all its schools with online administrational services, email communications
and resource sharing facilities.
Southend LEA’s initiative is unique because of its scope and
size. Other schools and colleges
are already waking up to the flexibility a wireless LAN/portable PC IT infrastructure
offers educational establishments but no-one else has yet sought to deploy
such a system over an entire Borough.
Rosemary Morris has already proposed two-way dialogue with the
LEA’s chosen IT providers. This
is to ensure that manufacturers, such as Toshiba, are able to advise on paths
its Research & Development (R&D) arm will be taking.
In turn, this means that it can be briefed on the needs of the educational
sector and make more informed decisions when planning new developments.
Key to the success of the scheme will be teacher training, which
will take place with the emphasis on demonstrating where pro-active use of
computers in class can improve teaching and learning levels throughout the
curriculum.
‘People tend to view IT as IT and not as a method of delivery.
This is where we need to change people’s perception on a
fundamental level.’ Rosemary
Morris believes that the home loan scheme for the portable Toshiba Satellite
PCs will make a big difference in this area.
‘Eventually, every one of the pupils in our EAZ will be able
to hire a portable PC at a highly subsidised rate. This will enable parents to see, at first hand, what their
children are learning. They will
be able to participate in the learning process on an active level - at the
same time as being able to brush up on their IT skills too!’
Education Action Zones typically comprise between 15 and 25
primary, secondary and special schools, working in partnership with local
parents, Early Year Providers, businesses, the LEA, community organisation,
TEC(s), careers services, colleges, other statutory agencies (such a health
authorities, the youth service and the police) and others.
The ratio of primary schools to secondary falls at around 7 to 1.
Funding is a key issue of the scheme
with the Government providing £750,000 a year for 3-5 years.
£500,000 of this is guaranteed and up to £250,000 more is avilable
to match pound for pound funds the zone can raise from its business and other
partners. The total amount achievable
being £1m.
John Foxwell who works within the ICT unit at Southend LEA agrees
with Rosemary Morris that this investment should be used to make a real difference
for pupils in the area and has some very exciting plans to make this a reality.
‘Already we are the only authority to have implemented ICT suites
in EVERY school. From here we
plan to expand into a Wide Area Network (WAN) which will provide free Internet
access to every PC, if you look ahead to the home loan scheme we are setting
up this will mean every pupil in the Borough having free Internet access for
learning. We will also be installing
interactive wipe-boards and video conferencing facilities for each school.
History teachers will be able to download video clips from films relevant
to the period they are studying or from more recent news footage and english
teachers will be able to access clips from Shakespeare’s plays - every area
will benefit: drama, music, maths, science and not least of all IT.
Using the 60mb wireless system we will be installing all this information
will be shareable between all the Pcs in a classroom and lessons won’t be
disturbed because pupils have to be move from room to room in order to access
the computers.’
When Estelle Morris launched Southend on Sea as an Education
Action Zone she said ‘laptops will be the new way of teaching, learning and
doing administration’ adding ‘If Southend works, the government will spread
the word’ - the rest of the country is watching.
[Back]
