Do you see ?

Anton and (to a much lesser degree) I are cyclists to work.

Now that’s dark on the way home, it’s scary how much cars don’t seem to see us.

 

Take the test:

Physical or Virtual ?

A Big question at the moment.

I realise that to say we are in a time of change is a shocking understatement – but current changes to the team, as well as an inevitably different budget situation next year, mean we must look at systems and solutions that help us mitigate our circumstances.

With this in mind – and following passionate championing from Paul – I have asked Paul, Andy and Stu H to look into the different options for our PC desktop infrastructure.

Two weeks ago, Paul set about doing a ‘proof of concept’ on using VDI as a solution – check out the video here:

 

Last Friday he showed what he had set up – and it was very impressive. I have asked Paul to run through a demo at this Friday’s team meeting.

Now, I appreciate that this needs very careful consideration – moving away from physical PCs is a big step, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We are still going to look at new PC units in case we still maintain that path – or a mixture of solutions.

VDI (and related technologies) are obviously not the panacea of all our shortcomings, but the benefits are clear to see – read here

Your thoughts or comments, as always, would be most welcome.

 

Technorati Tags: VDI,simon tonks,VMware

Weekly Update – w/c 11th May

Fordrough Update

The IT workshop is finally finished, and looks really good. Desk positions are decided, and Zaf has moved in – and is liking it. We now need to decide on the layout in the office, which I am currently working on with Phil Forrest.

Some new arrivals this week including a couple of curriculum managers – and then later in the week, the second group from MIS are moving.

Today Rob and I are starting the planning for what ILT is to go where, in the first instance. Our aim is to get to 70% of classrooms to be equipped – this is in line with the IT Strategy that sets out that we shall have 70% of each campus equipped.

SCCM

Stu and Paul returned last week from their SCCM admin training with some very good ideas on how to maximise its potential. Paul has made some startling calculations about potential money savings if we start automating the shutdown of PCs across the college. He, with Andy and Stu, have solved the wake-on-LAN situation which now means we can turn on the majority of our PCs… which is brilliant .

That capability would have been invaluable when we had the recent virus outbreak, as we would have been able to get the machines on to be able to scan, and to deploy fixes.

I am meeting with estates to look at how we can monitor current costs (no pun intended) – to then see what sort of savings we can make. Very exciting.

TrackIT

I am revisiting the new version of TrackIT – with a view to us upgrading in the summer. Once I have it installed and have had chance to have a play I will share with you all at a team gathering.

Skills Matrix

This is coming along very nicely now – and I think we shall be pretty close to the finished product on Friday… however, I do intend that we all get the chance to have a discussion before it is finally complete.

Budgets

Andy and Stu are currently working on the planning for the server and network requirements for Capital expenditure for next year and the year after – so if you see them huddled together with furrowed brows – this is the reason. Once they have their proposal, we shall share it with the team… a lot will depend on budget availability next year, which is why I have asked them to work out 3 possible ways forward.

Tidy Office

A couple of visits last week to HW – and I’m pleased to report that the office is still tidy… well done, please keep it up. Tech is a different story… a proverbial bombsite – but yesterday, John, Pete and Andy worked their magic, and it is now transformed:

 

Please ensure that we keep it that way.

Night out

Thursday 28th – straight after work… heading into town for a couple of beers and something to eat. For those that don’t know, the Brad is back, so we shall try and get him out – and maybe Andrew and Ben also. Would be great if everyone could come out – even if just for 1 drink.

All for now – have a great week. See you all Friday.

Weekly Update

Not too many years ago there were definite fluctuations in the workload throughout the year- all year we were busy, but at some periods we were really busy.

Those fluctuations seem to have levelled out now – now we are just really busy all of the time. This past 12-18 months seem to have been non-stop – I’m not complaining, it has been a really productive period, so much has been completed.

The idea of this weekly blog (yeah, I know I’ve made these commitments before, so don’t be surprised if this doesn’t last either)… the idea is to share with the team some of the projects happening.

 

Software Compliance

As I write this, I should have been zooming up the M1 with Stu H on our way to a 2 day training course on Phoenix Dashboard. This is the software that will allow us to manage our licences, and to match them up to the installs throughout the college. This training is the culmination of a 2 year long project to consolidate and rationalise our licensing situation – and for us to ensure we are compliant with licensing.

Initial stages of this project have been very reassuring – proving a very high level of compliance (apparently very unusual in these projects). Stu and I believe that once we have the training on how to use this software we will be (very easily) able to completely balance our installs with the licences owned.

Unfortunately, the training course started yesterday, and we had the wrong dates – DOH! – we will have to book onto the next one.

 

No more NEC

As you may have heard, NEC computers are pulling out of the European market this month – I know not why – so this leaves us looking for a new PC manufacturer. NEC have been a great PC, and coupled with the support we have from our reseller (Profile), and the warranty cover we have,  have been a very sound investment for the college. So with this in mind, we must be careful choosing our next model.

We are in the process of short listing 4 or 5 manufacturers, and to get some evaluation units in. Once I know more, I shall let you know.

 

Video Conferencing

Ever since the first webcam was made – 10+ years ago – I have been excited about the prospect of video conferencing… but (until now) have always been disappointed. The quality, or the functionality of VC software has always been a let down.

But now, things have changed.

I have just purchased a couple of units that will sit in the core of our network and allow staff to communicate using video. Initially it will be with a small pilot group, as well as with the meeting rooms around the college that we set up as conference rooms. We will be doing rooms at Technology, NWS, HW, and 2 at Fordrough.

Once complete, (in about a month) video conferences can be made on a one to one basis / a group to one bases / or many people together – from there own desks. Very Exciting. Check out this link for a very good video showing the capabilities – Click here

 

Survey

The small satisfaction survey is still running – and is still getting some very encouraging responses (take a look – Click here). David (Gibson) was kind enough to recognise these excellent responses, and sent a congratulatory note to all of the team. Well done all – keep it up.

 

LanSchool

Lanschool is a piece of software that allows a tutor in a class to have control over the student PCs in the classroom. Functionality includes: being able to restrict access to certain programs / to certain websites / take control of the PC / blank the screen / share any screen with the rest of the class …very empowering software.

We have installed this into the IT classrooms at TC, and it has proved very popular with teaching staff.

Our intention now is to roll it out across all the IT classrooms throughout the college over the summer.

 

Bike Club

The unofficial City College bike club has got off to a great start this year, with loads of rides happened already. If anyone else wants to join in, then you are all welcome. Usual venues are Lickey Hills, Sutton Park or Clent Hills… but occasionally we get away to more exotic destinations – like last months trip to Wales Click Here for the photos.

 

More next week folks

The Bike is back out

It’s still only February – but the bike is out early this year.

Last year I only managed to cycle to work a handful of times… but this year I have a new plan !

Like many, the impending move to Fordrough has me thinking about how to get there.

Biking all the way from home is a bit far – 15 miles, which is a bit too much for me (twice a day)… so, I have hatched a cunning (Baldrick) type plan… I leave my bike at a mates house in Shirley – I then drive (or ride my scooter there) and hop on my bike for the remaining 7 miles – excellent.

Did it today, and feel fantastic – great to do some exercise before work… in fact, great to do some exercise full stop – following the knee op, I have been a bit sedentary.

Let’s see if it continues.

 

Technorati Tags: simon tonks,bike,fordrough

Smart solutions

 

A busy day yesterday.

Rob and I were off to visit the HQ of SMART – the manufacturers of the interactive whiteboards we use within the college.

The idea of the trip was to see the other technologies they have to offer, with a view to kitting out Fordrough.

We saw their standard boards – including the one pictured on the left – but we also saw much more:

 

The Airliner

This enables students to get involved on the SMARTboard whilst still sitting in the chairs… a portable device that lets anyone control what is annotated onto the board – very smart.

 

 

Senteo

  A classroom voting system – OK nothing new here (we already have them) – but this one links in really nicely with the Smartboard software (Notepad).

 

Sympodium

 

Duplicates the SMartboard functioanlity to a handy tablet – ideal for a lecture room and boardroom – both of which we shall have a Fordrough.

 

 

Document camera

 

 

 

Again – not particularly ground breaking, but the fact it all links into their software (which we have on every smartboard PC means it is really user friendly.

 

 

We also saw some of their software solutions – all of which we possibilities for the teaching areas of Fordrough.

One of the great things from the day was that they agreed to provide us with units on trial so we can work with curriculums to find the right solutions for their areas.

Watch this space.

 

Technorati Tags: simon tonks,SMART,fordrough,ILT,e-learning

Do you know your GPO from your AD

Bit of a kop out from me today… but in honor of my commitmnet to blog every day – it has to be a short one today.

Check out the UK FE blog from Microsoft (which is a really good technology blog for FE)…. good post from the other day – especially as we are looking into Certification within the team…

http://blogs.msdn.com/ukfe/archive/2009/02/09/do-you-know-your-gpo-from-your-ad.aspx

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Good day yesterday

John and I had a meeting with the Education sector manager from Polycom. He was incredibly helpful, and offered some really good suggestions for improving our Video Conferencing infrastructure.

His suggestions will enable us to implement video conferencing into several meeting rooms – as well as onto managers desks.

Travel across the city is a real issue for staff, and if we can utilise technology to reduce this travel, and save time, it has to be a bonus.

Later, Rob Jones and I had a walk round the new campus – now that it has been handed over. We were joined by Anthony, to look at the technology to implement.

We discussed digital signage, video conferencing, ILT (smartboards etc) PCs, laptops – and a whole load of other stuff.

It is going to be a great campus – one the college should be very proud of.

Phil Forrest has done a wonderful job to project manage such a huge build – and to have it delivered on time. Well done Phil.

 

 

Technorati Tags: fordrough,polycom,city college,simon tonks

ILT Installs

Next week (half term) will see the completion of the current stage of ILT installs. This set of installs brings the total number of classrooms to 110 rooms. Still to be done in this phase are a 3 rooms at Handsworth campus, and 2 rooms at Muath.

The next stage sees the kitting out of the new Fordrough campus – being handed over to us today. Rob Jones and I are having a meeting there tomorrow to look at possibilities for the teaching areas in terms of ILT.

The next stage (over Easter) focuses on other campuses, and our experience at Fordrough will help us with this.

The college has invested a great deal on money into ILT installs in the past couple of years, and now with Rob’s team supporting the  use of these things are improving all the time… if you’re a tutor who would like training or advice on how best to use the smart boards, contact Rob Jones

Technorati Tags: ILT,Fordrough,e-Learning,City College

Samsung NC10 – Fordrough ?

When Rob and I were at the BETT show in January, one of the interesting bits of kit we saw were the (plethora of) Netbooks. These have exploded onto the market in the past 12 months, and every major manufacturer (and some minor ones) are in on the act.

One of the more impressive ones we saw was the Samsung NC10. Great build quality – excellent (near full size) keyboard – impressive battery life (c 6hours)  – amongst others.

We really think these are something that we could introduce for student use in the classroom – so I have had one on trial to setup and play with.

First impressions are very good – this is a very smart unit, that could offer great flexibility in ILT in the classroom.

Rob is going to test it further, and introduce it to Curriculum managers when we are discussing the ILT needs at Fordrough… perhaps if we trial them successfully, we can look at making them available at other campuses.

Technorati Tags: Samsung NC10,netbook,fordrough,ILT,City College