ERO swaps Notes mail system with Microsoft Exchange

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February 18, 2009

Applicants must be available to commence work by March 16, and complete work before June 30, 2009. The ERO's current email server consists of three Domino servers. One is in the Wellington corporate office and routes all ERO email, and holds the mail databases for users in the Wanganui, Napier, Wellington, corporate, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin offices. The second Domino server in Auckland holds the mail databases for users in the Auckland, Hamilton and Rotorua offices. The third server is the ERO web server that provides ERO webmail and also hosts the ERO website.

The project includes system design, install and integration of a high-availability Exchange 2007 solution into the existing Active Directory 2008-based ERO network, and the migration of approximately 250 Notes mail databases to Exchange, including the migration of personal contacts, calendars, groups, mail-in databases and bookable resources. Some configuration of the Outlook 2007 client may also be required. The provider should be able to provide an Exchange administrator, who can 'embed' in the ERO IT team for up to two months to support the Exchange environment prior to, during and after the 'go live' of the new system. The administrator should also assist the IT team with learning the day-to-day tasks associated with managing an Exchange / Outlook environment, including Outlook user support. Interested vendors should submit questions by February 23, and complete full responses by 12pm on February 27, 2009.

GEF to examine changing needs of students

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February 17, 2009

The seminar, entitled 'ICT, Past, Present and Future', will explore the expected major lifestyle changes of a student who left the school system in 2008, as well as the requirements of the education system in 2027 – when children who are born in 2009 will graduate. Dr Brown's presentation is part of the Global Education Forum (GEF), to be held under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. GEF is held in conjunction with Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS), the annual business to business supplies show for the education sector.

'The focus of the Global Education Forum is to create a platform for local and regional academic experts to meet and explore the latest educational solutions and technologies available to the region. We are delighted that Dr Brown is able to contribute to the GEF programme of regional and international educational experts,' said Sue Rothwell, Group Event Director of Fairs & Exhibitions, organisers of GESS and GEF. Dr Brown has been involved in educational computing for over 30 years and is Expert Consultant to Becta, the United Kingdom Government's education technology agency. A world respected expert in educational technology, Dr Brown has led the Government's 'ICT in schools' policy development in England and is currently leads a scientific programme examining how technology is likely to affect development of the education system. Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Global Education Forum and the Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions show will be held from March 10-12 at the Airport Expo Dubai.

Students can drag bogus colleges to consumer courts

Higher Education

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February 17, 2009

Students misled by educational institutes on affiliation and recognition awarded to their courses can drag them to consumer courts, the Supreme Court has said while asking a bogus dental college in Bihar to pay INR 22 lakh as combined compensation to 11 students. Holding that wrong claims by educational institutes amount to deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act, the court directed the Buddhist Mission Dental College and Hospital, Bihar, to pay INR 2 lakh each to 11 students who lost two academic years due its false claim. The dental college was pulled up for making false claims on affiliation to the Magadh University and recognition of its BDS (Bachelor of Dental Science) course by the Dental Council of India (DCI). The compensation of INR 2 lakh would be in addition to the INR 30,000 penalty imposed on it by the National Consumer Redressal Commission, the apex court said.

'We are of the opinion that the appellant institute by giving totally misleading and false advertisement clearly misled the respondents (students) that the institute is affiliated to the Magadh University and recognised by the Dental Council of India. The respondents have lost their two valuable academic years which would have tremendous impact on their future career,' a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and H S Bedi observed.

Technology Awards celebrated at school

K-12

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February 17, 2009

Students and teachers at a Watford school are celebrating picking up a national computing award. Knutsford Primary School, in Knutsford Avenue, was awarded the ICT Mark by the British Education Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) following an extensive assessment. It's a double success for the school who, in a recent Ofsted report, was also awarded 'outstanding' status. Deputy headteacher Kevin Sullivan said, 'We are delighted. ICT is something we have been working on for a long time. The award is a credit to the teaching that is taking place and the benefits it is bringing to our children.' The award recognises Knutsford's achievement in developing the use of ICT both in the administrative running of the school and across the curriculum.

Students were praised for their capability for using ICT in class and individual work. Year 6 students showed their ability to create their own websites, use podcasts and blogs. Becta's assessor Pat Williams wrote in the report, 'The strategic leadership, management and organisation of ICT at Knutsford School are outstanding. The general feeling from all the groups interviewed was that they are tremendously proud of their school and feel that it's way ahead of other schools in its use of technology for learning and teaching.'

Space ambition in IITs

Higher Education

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February 17, 2009

When Chandrayaan-I soared into space last October, so did the dreams of many young and aspiring IITians keen on a career with the Indian First results from Chandrayaan 1 Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Says a professor from IIT-Bombay's aerospace engineering department, 'Ever since Chandrayaan lifted off, space has become the magic word among students. They aspire to become rocket scientists and hope to play a role in taking India beyond the moon some day.' he added the fact that ISRO has planned a manned mission to the low earth orbit (Leo, 2000 km above earth) in 2014, a mission to Mars around 2020 and another to the moon is a great source of excitement. Two fourth year BTech aerospace students, Shashank Tamaskar and Kartavya Neema, are already doing a research project on interplanetary flight. Says Shashank, “Inspired by Chandrayaan-I, I am doing a study on a satellite's flight from Leo to the moon.” He started work on the project in August 2008, when Chandrayaan was being primed for its historic launch, and hopes to complete it in ayear.

After India tested its nuclear weapons at Pokhran on May 11 and 13 in 1998, the number of applications received by BARC's training school in Trombay increased manifold. Today, job openings at ISRO carry more lucrative packagesbecause a slew of projects is in the pipeline. The space buzz has infected IIT-Kanpur as well. S Kamle, head of the aerospace engineering department there, says, 'Now, there's a lot of excitement in our department about space, with students talking about rocketry and satellites.' They had been designing a rover for Chandrayaan-II, he adds, which is slated for launch in 2012. But during PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in November 2007, a decision was taken to carry a Russian rover and lander instead.

Teachers swap learning resources through European exchange

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February 17, 2009

School teachers across Europe can now swap learning resources with each other and collaborate in creating new ones, thanks to a new service launched by a consortium of European education ministries. Information technology makes it possible for children to learn in a more active and engaged way than conventional teaching methods. But good digital teaching materials are time-consuming and expensive to create, so many ministries of education have set up national repositories of resources that schools can use as they wish.

But why stop at national borders? If an animated simulation of an internal combustion engine is of value to schools in Norway, say, would it not also be useful to teachers in other countries? Small countries, in particular, could benefit from sharing resources with their neighbours. That is the thinking behind CALIBRATE, an EU-funded project to create a continent-wide swap shop for digital learning resources. It builds on CELEBRATE, an earlier project demonstrating that national repositories of learning resources could be 'federated' so that schools could offer and exchange resources across national borders. CELEBRATE ended in 2004, but so successful was it that the participating governments wanted to take it further. 'They wanted to move from a demonstration project to a service that we could actually launch for schools,' says Jim Ayre of Multimedia Ventures, a consultant to the European Schoolnet consortium which is coordinating the project. 'CALIBRATE provided an opportunity for us to do this.'

Students turn mentors for aspirants

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 17, 2009

Students from some of India's premier institutes such as IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K), IIM Lucknow (IIM-L), IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) and National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai have voluntarily undertaken to mentor hundreds of aspirants who cleared the written Common Admission Test (CAT) and IIT joint entrance examination (JEE) to cover the group discussion and personal interview, the final lap for a coveted IIM or IIT seat. The programme is a free, student-driven initiative and independent of the admission process but is backed by the administration of these institutes. The programme is managed through either the institute website or a separate purpose-built website that matches the profile of mentors and aspirants based on the background and discipline.

At IIM-C alone, about 200 students may act as mentors to over 1,000 aspirants this year. 'We have experience in facing the interview board and taking part in the group discussion,' said Rohan Mahajan, a student and representative of IIM-C's external relation cell. Aspirants need to register on the IIM-C website after which the mentors will contact with them. A supplementary website

Recommendation given for national education network rollout by REANNZ

Policy Matters

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February 17, 2009

A six-month trial of a national education network (NEN) with 20 schools has been deemed to be so successful that a recommendation has been made to roll it out to all schools. The Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand (REANNZ), which led the trial, also made the recommendation. It estimates that high-performance broadband can be delivered to every classroom in New Zealand for 'only' $150 million. Co-incidentally, that figure is exactly what the government has indicatively set aside to provide infrastructure to schools. It has already announced $34 million toward ICT infrastructure.

The trial was funded by the Ministry of Education, the Tertiary Education Commission and the National Library. Completed on December 15, it tested the architecture and explored the educational benefits. REANNZ chief executive Donald Clark says two reports into the trial show that it was a huge success. He explained that it proved the benefits of the open access NEN architecture and it allowed teachers to expose their students to the sorts of schools, techniques and experiences that will equip them to be the knowledge workers New Zealand requires to drive its future productivity.

School rebuilding programme hit by credit crunch

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digitalLEARNING Network

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February 17, 2009

The National Audit Office says councils are struggling to borrow money under the Private Finance Initiative to build schools fitted with new ICT. In a report on Building Schools for the Future (BSF), the programme to rebuild secondary schools and equip them with the latest technology, the NAO says that during 2008 problems in the banking sector reduced the money available to lend. Of the

Varsity Students Take Lectures Through Internet

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February 17, 2009

The inauguration of the International Information and Technology Resource Centre of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, in Abia State this weekend will set stage for students of the institution to take lectures from experts around the world through the Internet. Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ikenna Onyido, who disclosed this during a pre-convocation press briefing told that the National Universities Commission has accredited all the 29 programmes run by the school but expressed concern that space constraints would hamper the growth of the school. Apart from Computer Engineering which received interim accreditation, he said, the remaining 28 were fully accredited. According to Onyido who was briefing newsmen on plans for the third convocation of the university slated for tomorrow, the ICT centre, one of the seven newly completed projects since he assumed office three years ago, is equipped with more than 400 computer sets and a digitalised Video Conference Hall, from where students would be hooked to professors in foreign universities for lectures.

'From this hall, our students would take lectures from professors in the western countries. This is part of our efforts to make this university a Centre of Excellence,' said the vice chancellor. Other projects to be inaugurated are the Students Affairs Building; a 750-capacity Lecture Hall, a 1,200-capacity Lecture Theatre; the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology Complex, the College of Natural and Applied Science Annex and the Agribusiness and Financial Management Building. He said the projects were executed with government subventions, Education Tax Fund grants and internally generated revenue and that their commissioning would herald the convocation proper where over 45 graduates would receive Doctorate Degrees while more than 1,000 graduates would bag First Degrees.

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