Incorporating autism into lessons via VR technology
Bilikis Banire is a Ph.D student in computer science and engineering at Qatar Foundation member Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She is currently leading Qatar Foundation’s innovative project to non-invasively measure the attention spans of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Q&A on autism research using VR technology 1. Why are attention spans important? What issues arise when teachers fail to recognise signs that children with autism need a break or are frustrated, for example? The ability to pay attention directly influences how an individual acquires skills and when children aren’t able to pay attention it can be a clear sign that they may react negatively to certain tasks. When teachers fail to recognise this, it makes it extremely difficult to identify which learning materials can be productive and increases the likelihood of the child becoming frustrated. This can result in either poor or no assimilation of content and lead to the child refusing to learn in subsequent sessions. Understanding attention spans is central to improving learning experiences for children with ASD. Children with ASD typically have shorter attention spans than other children, and their learning pace can be different. To be successful, teaching methods must recognise and be tailored to these nuanced differences. 2. You’ve been working on a virtual reality-based project to explore attentions spans further. Why virtual reality? The essence of virtual reality is to mimic real-life scenarios and it can be a very useful tool for evaluating responses based on mock environments. The core advantage of the technology is that if we encounter any issues, it has little or no impact on the user compared to a real environment. Virtual reality is also particularly well-suited to those with autism, as they often prefer three-dimensional formats to traditional learning modes. Turning to virtual, perception-driven experiences to develop our attention test allowed us to navigate real world problems in the comfort of an implied setting. 3. Could you outline the virtual reality which will help teachers to understand the needs of pupils with autism? Working with Texas A&M University in Qatar, we developed a mixed reality attention test for children that can be viewed on a 3D or conventional monitor. The children who took part were expected to pay attention to random letters and click the keyboard when a particular letter appears. Their scores were used to evaluate their attention level. While taking the test in our preliminary study, the children were monitored with a webcam so we could analyse their facial expressions in a non-obtrusive way. From this, we identified 4 facial expressions and movements that give a clear indication of the subject paying attention: brow raise, lip suck, lip press, and mouth open. The raw data collected from this is fed into an algorithm used to design a model to predict and monitor attention. Once complete, teachers will be able to use the model to inform their own teaching practices. With the right equipment, they could also use the same method to receive individual results, specific to each student. 4. How will the VR work in day-to-day teaching – is there a camera/monitor needed, for example? Our study can aid in the design of technology and learning programmes for children with ASD. It could also be possible for teachers to conduct the study when beginning to work with a new student with ASD, to learn more about what works best for them. They would need a webcam, eye tracking device and a 3D or conventional screen to run the test, as well as the application software. 5. How can the VR help students to work more independently? The test is designed to increase students’ awareness of their attention spans, as much as the teacher’s awareness. Changes in facial expression and eye-tracking can trigger a warning that alerts students when they are distracted, encouraging them to refocus on the task at hand. This will help them to learn more independently in both the short and long term. 6. What are the next steps for the project? Another common metric of measuring attention is task performance. One of the next steps for our project is to analyse the data we have on facial expressions and see if it correlates directly with task performance. We’ll also be doing more work on the model we’re developing to identify when children with ASD best pay attention based on machine learning algorithms. 7. Is there scope for the VR to be rolled out into the home or workplace, to help adults with autism focus on a task? At the moment, we’re focusing on children with ASD based on a VR simulated classroom. Further studies will consider more specifically how we can help children to focus both at home and in physical classrooms. We also hope to conduct future research into assisting adults with ASD in the workplace. For more information on Qatar Foundation, see qf.org.qa
Top 5 iPad teaching tips
Craig Smith, Education Sales Manager UK & Ireland, Jamf, has some pointers for using the iPad when teaching to ensure the effectiveness of the technology’s use… Technology is becoming an integral part of the classroom, for students and teachers. However, a recent survey found that 37% of teachers want to use technology in the classroom, but aren’t sure how to do so. Crucially, the success of iPad devices and other classroom technology begins with teachers. To empower teachers, schools must offer training and provide a strong technology foundation to build off of. Here are five top tips for teachers to get the most out of the iPad: 1. Keep students focused: Integrate Apple’s Classroom to iPad devices so teachers can manage classes effectively and guide students’ attention by adjusting access to learning apps such as GeoGebra or Tynker. Taking this a step further, with a mobile device management (MDM) solution like Jamf Pro, teachers can grant access to native Apple apps on students’ devices or block others to refocus students on learning. 2. Manage your classroom: Apple’s Schoolwork app is a great tool for teachers. Schoolwork turns the iPad into a powerful teaching assistant, designed for teachers to create and tailor assignments for students according to their unique needs, track progress of those assignments and collaborate with students in real time. 3. Configure automatic updates: Coupled with an MDM solution, teachers and students can get the best out of Apple software updates on their iPad devices from Day 1 and benefit from new user functionality and security updates. It also gives teachers the autonomy to determine when they’d like to upgrade software through a self-service portal. 4. Organise classes more effectively: Create managed Apple IDs on the iPad with Apple School Manager, ensuring the student roster is always current with up-to-date student information. This prevents duplicate work and helps organise classes through integration with the school’s Student Information System (SIS). 5. Facilitate communication with students and parents: Provide real-time comments or audio feedback for students with Apple’s Classroom on the iPad. Through implementing a MDM solution, teachers can also access a variety of school-approved apps which can be used to share update on students’ progress with parents and enable parents to see their child’s updates at home. The primary goal of implementing iPad devices is to enrich the learning experience for both teachers and students, in and outside of the classroom. With the right MDM solution, schools can fully reap the benefits of mobile technology initiatives and further students’ learning, while minimising admin for teachers.
How edtech creates edgeless learning
Paul Westmore, IT Director at the University of Plymouth, explains how a single sign-on digital learning environment has helped the institution create an edgeless edtech learning experience for its 20,000+ students… Plymouth’s ambitious digital strategy describes our goal of becoming an edgeless university – our vision that students and staff can experience university entirely digitally if they want to. In order to achieve this vision, we decided we had to replace our existing module-focused virtual learning environment (VLE) with something more dynamic and flexible: something that was mobile-first, housing a range of resources and systems all behind a single sign-on. The new digital learning environment (DLE) would become an online hub where students and staff could access all content such as lectures and course materials, submit work, receive results, and interact with each other through one online system. We have a large student body with ever-changing wants and needs. The University of Plymouth is home to more than 20,000 students and almost 3,000 staff. A further 17,000 students are studying for a Plymouth degree at partner institutions in the UK and around the world, making Plymouth the UK’s 15th largest university. As such, we wanted to create a learning environment that was the sum of all the components that go into Plymouth’s student experience. We asked CoSector – University of London to implement and support the hosting of Moodle, a traditional VLE based platform. However, one of the constraints of Moodle is that ordinarily documents cannot be shared with different programmes so CoSector – University of London set up a bespoke solution where the documents are held in a different system, creating one learning asset which is shared between multiple programmes. Year-long edtech rollout pays off During a year-long project, we rolled out the DLE across multiple sites. Today, Plymouth’s DLE brings together a number of systems integrated through Moodle as the hub. The new functions included timetable information, coursework submission, e-assessments, quizzes and ‘minimum module information’ consisting of details of each module, electronic reading lists, past exam papers, forums and wikis – all to help students make more informed decisions about their learning journeys. Single sign-on technology provides easy integration and movement between systems such as Talis Aspire (reading lists), PebblePad (ePortfolio), Panopto (content/lecture capture), Turnitin (originality checking), in addition to a range of excellent tools including formative and summative testing, submission and feedback. A subscription to LinkedIn Learning provides a wealth of online video-based courses for staff and students to enhance their courses or develop their own skills. The uptake and use of the system have been unprecedented. Around 13,500 students access the DLE on a daily basis and 90% of the Mobile with Plymouth App usage is now related to teaching and learning activities. Usage of the DLE continues to grow year on year and in 2018 serviced 6,000 module sites, hosted 1,200 formative quizzes, contained nearly 30,000 embedded learning resources and supported over 8,000 eSubmissions. Students accessed over 25,000 hours of captured lecture content, viewed over 170,000 LinkedIn Learning videos and generated over 350,000 originality reports via Turnitin. Following the integration of the new system, we received a very positive response to the National Student Survey (NSS). Some of the student feedback included; “The DLE is a fantastic and easy to use resource…” and “Resources available in the library and DLE are great, with a good range of books, articles, online seminars, etc.” The centrality of having a single-integrated user experience has been really crucial to the success of the project. The University of Plymouth’s DLE has now become a portal into the teaching and learning community of the University.
Changing attitudes to edtech
Siemens UK Schools and Education Manager, Brenda Yearsley, on changing attitudes to edtech through providing meaningful e-learning tools… Many parents, teachers and carers are worried that smartphone and tablet use is blocking their children’s career prospects…. what if the use of technology is actually a gateway to life-long learning? I would say that the methodology of engagement with young people is as important as the content; the world of work is forever changing and we need to showcase how we use fun, practical technology in industry, whether this is digital twinning, virtual or augmented reality. Augmented reality in education changes the way students and employees learn, enabling the user to be fully immersed and able to interact and enhance their study in a novel and safe environment. The free Ingenious Engineering App is a great way to engage students and help them to learn more about inventions and innovations in engineering. It is a new resource from Siemens Education, whose aim is to bring science, technology, engineering and maths education to life in the classroom and to excite children about the STEM subjects. Edtech resources for ages 12+ Developed to support design and technology for students aged 12+ the resources comprise the App which can be downloaded from the Google Play and App Store, a poster which launches the augmented reality animation and a comprehensive lesson plan and supporting worksheets for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4. The App allows students to explore automation, electrification and digitalisation on individuals, society as well and the environment; there’s a CT scanner to see inside the human body, a rollercoaster, wind turbines and a driverless car. Teachers or students just need a smartphone and the ingenuity poster to bring to life the technological aspect of learning to life; the Siemens’ AR app can be used as stand-alone but can be used just as easily in collaboration with full lesson plans and interactive ‘tools’ for full authenticity, creativity and realism. There is also free design and engineering software, activities, games and challenges for students available too. They can be found here: Student edtech resources Teacher edtech resources
How edtech innovation is improving education
Pauric Surlis, Frameworks Relationship Manager KYOCERA Document Solutions UK, on the Government’s recent £10million investment in edtech. Anyone working in the education sector will be acutely aware of the pressure on teachers to provide high-quality learning, support and care to all students, with an ever-increasing administrative burden making it harder to deliver an engaging learning experience. Whether supporting GCSE pupils with exam preparation or guiding older students through the university application process, education staff need access to the best tools and technologies to minimise the amount of time they spend on administrative tasks. It was encouraging to see recently that the UK government is investing up to £10 million in edtech, as it clearly reflects a recognition of the important role that innovation can play in improving the learning experience for both teachers and students. However, this investment needs to focus on improving the underlying processes to reduce paperwork and enable teachers to devote more of their attention to their students. Easing teacher workload through edtech There is a clear need for the intelligent implementation of technology to reduce the amount of time spent on tedious, time-consuming processes which are adding such a significant workload to teachers, on top of their teaching hours. A 2018 survey from the National Education Union found that increases in teacher workloads are “harming the profession and therefore the education of our children”. In addition, 61% of teachers reported spending over 3 hours a day on tasks that do not involve teaching, including marking coursework, homework or tests, copying and scanning research documents and filling out documentation. Although these processes are necessary, they significantly reduce the time that teachers can spend preparing their lessons and supporting students. A prime example of a time-consuming process overdue for transformation through new technology is the copyright process. Currently, many teachers are required to manually fill out forms whenever they copy or scan copyrighted material that is then sent to the Copyright Licensing Agency, in what is a lengthy and tedious process. However, there are now apps which can digitally transform this process, ensuring that the necessary data goes straight to CLA. This is the kind of innovative technology that needs to be applied to a whole range of administrative processes to free up teachers’ time and help them focus on teaching. The key to the success of these initiatives is to remember that the technologies should not be overly complicated, they need to be intuitive, easy to use and support teachers to do what they do best: give a great learning experience to students. This approach could fundamentally raise standards across the sector and help to equip the UK education system for a brighter digital future. For more information on edtech and document solutions, see KYOCERA Document Solutions UK.
Lessonvu from ONVU Learning – evidence-informed EdTech
From concept to operational in schools, action-based research and evidence-informed practice has been, and always will be, at the heart of the Lessonvu 360-degree video recording and sharing system, DNA and developments. It’s a cliché but Lessonvu in all aspects is truly, “from teachers, with teachers and for teachers”. But that headline is the only thing about Lessonvu that is a cliché, everything in the technology, workflow and use of the Lessonvu system for teacher professional development has been well considered using first hand insight from partner school teachers and other published experts. Andrew Goff, Founding Director of ONVU Learning explains more… EdTech built on teacher user experience The ONVU Learning team behind Lessonvu are constantly haunted by me bringing up the phrase PRISME which stands for Problem, Research, Ideas, Solution, Make and Evaluate: The design cycle. At the bedrock of any good product is this design cycle and we are constantly running through this with Lessonvu looking to enhance and refine all aspects built first hand on teacher user experience. When I was a Design and Technology teacher I used to drum PRISME into my DT students over their project portfolios, and especially the Evaluation section where they used to potentially lose the most marks, and this is how we are now at ONVU Learning; constantly evaluating and considering every aspect so that it supports teachers to achieve their objectives. We won’t get everything right but as our school customers will already witness, we listen, innovate, evaluate and improve Lessonvu to fit teacher and schools needs as fast as possible; exactly what our teacher users are trying to do with their own teaching, in using the Lessonvu system for lesson review, reflection and professional development. Also, we don’t just talk the walk and design and develop Lessonvu, we actually use it ourselves to coach real teachers in real classrooms remotely. Dr. Sean Warren is our own well experienced teacher coach and he uses the Lessonvu system on a daily basis to remotely coach teachers in the UK and now also in India. His work in coaching teachers is based on his and other published academic research and therefore the Lessonvu technology is always under review from him and developments feed back into the development cycle; from niggles that we smooth out to “how abouts” that we look at building into our development sprints. Applying EdTech at the right time Referring to Martin George’s recent article (tes.com) there is one thing about EdTech that I’d like to clear up from the off; “EdTech is not a golden bullet and is only as good as the teachers that apply it as a part of their teaching arsenal at the right time and aligned to students learning needs in front of them.” EdTech can get a bad name and reputation because of misplaced high expectations. I’m a big enthusiast for EdTech I know that over my career as a teacher and as a businessman leading EdTech businesses I’ve maybe got too enthusiastic at times and got carried away with what can be achieved with EdTech. But even with some of the more outlandish aspects that I’ve been involved in have had research layers. Referring back to when I lead PlayStation’s Education Strategy into schools we carried out projects with PlayStation 4s and a software title called Little Big Planet which involved ‘Sack Boy’ navigating gaming levels that the students themselves had created. Research was carried out by Don Passey from Lancaster University and his team and a research paper of the findings published for teachers to build upon. I can understand Sir Kevan Collins’s comments about “wonder and snake oil”. When I was a teacher striving to do the best for my students daily, it was easy to be taken in by marketing headlines that promised help in achieving your aspirations for them. But in defence of the EdTech sector I don’t think that there are many snake oil merchants left – and if there are then I would hope that now-discerning teachers would spot them and quickly rule them outas we would all want. Back to the crux of this debate about the evidence-informed development of EdTech: Lessonvu has been continuously developed with academic research in mind. For example, the Hawthorn Effect; in the context of schools this is when either other teachers or technology is noticeably present in the classroom and changes the environment. The students act differently as there are potentially two or three adults in the room and the teacher leading the lesson does a teaching performance on what they think that the observers want to see in order to “check their boxes,” as opposed to responding and interacting with their class and their learning needs as they normally would. “At the beginning of the Lessonvu journey I remember observing a young maths teacher in Wolverhampton. Normally he would have had some banter with the students about football results as they entered his classroom and through that engaged and checked the students in for learning. However, when being physically observed by senior leaders in the back of the classroom they acted as they thought a “model teacher should” and which resulted in the students quizzically looking at the teacher and wondering where their normal Maths teacher that they loved had gone. What a waste of everyone’s time! Out of the above experience and many others, Lessonvu is as discreet as possible. Students and teachers forget that the cameras are in the ceiling within a day or so and therefore normal teaching and interactions are recorded meaning that teachers can reflect on real teaching and be curious on real moments that if developed could have positive outcomes on teaching and learning. A powerful tool in more ways than one Recently it hit home to me very personally how powerful the Lessonvu system is for teachers and EdTech or other resource manufacturers when I was testing them out in one of our new school customers classrooms. I logged into an anonymous room numbered Lessonvu system to discover that it was a DT lab: To me a fond place with lots of great teaching memories. As a DT teacher you immediately remember the noises that mean one of the students is not holding a piece of material low enough in a vice, or the smells of plastic that has maybe been overheated before it is formed. But for me this was a very
The next generation of school apps
92% of UK adults aged 25-44 own a smartphone and are used to having information at their fingertips. Schools that embrace this trend have engaged parents and higher performing students, but there is a huge difference between an app and a good app. The new generation of school apps truly are school gateways, ready to deal with the challenges schools face. Schools have adopted several systems to communicate a range of information with parents. Parents love having the information, but soon become frustrated and confused about which gateway to use, pushing schools to provide everything in one place. New generation gateways focus on all-in-one solutions and are ever evolving. For example, Schoolcomms offers text and email communication, but also offer reporting, achievement and behaviours, attendance management, payments and an online facility for booking and managing clubs – to mention a few key areas. We spoke to Mark Haddleton, ICT Coordinator and Support Manager at St Thomas à Becket: “The all-in-one School Gateway app eliminates the need for separate systems for parents to have to remember passwords for; every bit of the information they need is there on their phone in one place.” Most schools have a text and email service and many already have online payments. What most solutions are lacking, is the ability to engage parents in their child’s learning. A system that caters for that, undoubtedly caters for everything else. Packages that allow you to add functionality as your current contracts expire help bring everything into one school gateway, bit by bit, without the stress associated with consolidation. A gateway is an investment that pays dividends in pupil performance and long-term savings as Mark Haddleton found: “I have started to think of Schoolcomms as free, because as well as saving on costly text messaging to parents, we also managed to identify many extra Pupil Premium qualifying families through parents taking the in-app test, which has brought quite a sum of money into school” By investing in technology, you are giving parents the tools to be fully engaged in their child’s learning. Simply having an app is not enough. The new generation of school gateways are here, with more functionality for staff and parents. And if knowledge is power a good school gateway doesn’t just engage parents, it empowers them. To find out more about Schoolcomms call 0333 332 7147 or visit www.schoolcomms.com
Why cybersecurity needs to be a priority for the education sector
Adrian Jones, CEO at Swivel Secure Education institutions need to make cybersecurity a priority. Despite the sector facing major challenges such as a lack of staffing and a lack of funding and resources, cyber attacks are no less frequent or less severe in education. In fact, they seem to be gaining ground in prevalence year-on-year as instances of breaches in schools and higher education are widely reported. In recent years we’ve seen news of ransom attacks causing financial damage – like that on the University of Calgary where the institution allegedly handed over $20k to cybercriminals, and malware attacks causing mass disruption – similar to the disruption which, apparently, caused the Minnesota School District to shut down for a day while IT professionals rebuilt the system. The more worrying breaches are where student safety is compromised. Educational institutions are entrusted to safeguard their students, many of whom are minors, but a weak cybersecurity infrastructure can put them at risk. This was made all too clear when the CCTV in several schools in Blackpool was allegedly breached, and the footage reportedly live-streamed on the internet. It’s an unfortunate fact that, while cybersecurity in education is necessary to protect against financial loss and prevent disruption, it’s also crucial to protect students from harm. Which is why the sector needs to do everything it can to ensure their applications and systems are protected, and work to overcome any challenges. In this article, we’ll look at the current state of cybersecurity in education. We’ll discuss the most common reasons for attack, the highest threats and the main challenges facing the sector to help you understand why cybersecurity needs to be a priority, and how you can make it a priority for your educational institute. Why education is a target for cybercrime There are four key reasons why Education is a target for cybercriminals. With Education venues varying in size, purpose, and stature, the motives for attack can vary too. For example, what might be a common threat for world-renowned Universities/Colleges might not be an issue for schools or school districts. So, institutions need to evaluate the risk and understand what data is vulnerable to unauthorised access. DDoS attacks – Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS attacks are a common type of attack on all levels of Education venue. This is where the attacker’s motive is to cause widespread disruption to the institute’s network, having a negative effect on productivity. This can be a relatively easy attack for amateur cybercriminals to carry out, especially if the target network is poorly protected. There have been instances of students or teachers successfully carrying out a DDoS attack, with motives ranging from simply wanting a day off, to protesting the way a complaint was handled. Data theft – This is another attack affecting all levels of education because all institutions hold student and staff data, including sensitive details like names and addresses. This type of information can be valuable to cybercriminals for several reasons, whether they plan to sell the information to a third party or use it as a bargaining tool and extort money. The concerning aspect of this type of attack is that hackers can go unnoticed for long periods of time. As was the case at Berkeley, where at least 160,000 medical records were allegedly stolen from University computers over a number of months. Financial gain – Another motive for hackers carrying out an attack on an education institution is for financial gain. This might not be as high a risk for public schools, but with private institutions and Universities/Colleges handling a large number of student fees, they’re a prime target for cybercriminals. Today, it’s usual for students or parents to pay fees via an online portal, often transferring large sums of money to cover a whole term or year of tuition. Without proper protection or preparation on the part of education institutions, this presents a weak spot for cybercriminals to intercept. Espionage – The fourth reason why education is a target for cybercrime is espionage. In the case of higher education institutes like Universities/Colleges, they’re often centres for research and hold valuable intellectual property. Universities/Colleges need to be suitably protected, as it’s thought that scientific, engineering and medical research by UK Universities has been previously compromised by hackers, and with plenty of time and money to fund them professionals are often at the helm of these attacks. With these four motives in mind, the way in which hackers carry out an attack on Education networks can further help us understand how to protect them. How education is targeted JISC’s 2018 Cybersecurity Posture Survey questioned IT professionals within further and higher education. They were asked to name the top cyber threats facing their institutions, and the top three answers give us insight into the most common ways Education networks are breached. Phishing – Phishing scams often take the form of an email or instant message and are designed to trick the user into trusting the source in a fraudulent attempt to access their credentials – whether that’s sensitive student data or confidential research. This type of attack is highlighted as the top threat facing higher education venues, suggesting hackers regularly target the sector using the method. Ransomware/Malware – Also in the top three cyber threats highlighted by the report, ransomware and malware attacks prevent users from accessing the network or files and cause disruption. More advanced forms of this threat can see attackers hold files to ransom. Ransomware or malware typically infects devices using a trojan, a file or attachment disguised to look legitimate. However, some ransomware (like the WannaCry attack) have been shown to travel between devices without user interaction. Lack of awareness – The third threat listed by professionals in both further and higher education is a lack of awareness or accidents. This could be on the part of staff or students who aren’t sufficiently trained to practice good cyber hygiene or accidentally compromise the network. Despite taking on different appearances,
Schools and colleges must act now to ensure their it systems are effective
EFFECTIVE IT technology has never been more important to the education sector – and now is the time to invest in systems. That’s according to specialist Fifteen Group which is seeing an increasing number of schools and colleges turn to its experts for support. The business believes that at a time of increasing pressure on education leaders from inside and outside the classroom, schools and colleges need to act now to ensure their IT systems are working to the same high standards they expect of teachers and students. Add to that the ever-changing data security threats and greater demands on staff time and IT Support Team Leader Paul Williams says the services offered by companies like Fifteen Group can provide a lifeline in more ways than one. Paul said: “There has never been a more important time for education providers to review their IT infrastructure and the role it plays in their overall aims. Not only can access to the right technology enable schools and their students to achieve their full potential, the right IT support can free up valuable teaching time.Whether it be making sure systems are running at their peak, or ensuring data is fully protected, we at Fifteen Group do what we do best, so teachers can concentrate on what they do best. And with many education centres feeling the funding pinch, it pays to ensure systems are well maintained and working at optimum levels.” Fifteen Group offers a range of services that can be tailored to the needs of individual schools. These can include engineer visits, remote and on-site support, anti-virus software provision and server monitoring. Paul added: “We have extensive knowledge and experience of not only installing equipment into schools and colleges but also of what these establishments demand from their IT and communications systems. And because we can put together a bespoke package of support, it leaves schools in control of their costs.” Jared Eccles, chief executive of The Moorlands Primary Federation, said: “We have commissioned Fifteen Group for IT support on several occasions. Their team are professional in demeanour, skilled and knowledgeable in practice. In this rapidly changing sector, it is reassuring to know there is an organisation such as Fifteen Group we can contact to solve our small or large IT issues that might otherwise cause our company loss in business. We would recommend their services unreservedly.” Paul believes that while schools and colleges are having to look closely at funding issues, technology is an area where they can find value for money – with the right guidance. He added: “January 2020 will see the end of support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 operating systems. These systems are still heavily used by a lot of educational establishments and will leave them vulnerable. Schools should be asking whether their next solution is value for money, what the total cost of ownership will be and whether the solution will meet the needs of the organization should it grow or join a multi-academy trust. As a Microsoft Partner, we are constantly up to date with the latest offerings. We also have a wealth of knowledge of other technologies offered by players such as Apple and Google and would be able to talk the customer through the pros and cons of each solution on offer.” For more information about IT technology please visit https://www.fifteengroup.co.uk