Education is one of the BEST industries for work-life balance right now!
A new survey from CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job site, has revealed that 97.1% of education professionals believe that work-life balance is important, with the sector emerging as one of the best for work-life balance. The survey investigated how 1,200 workers in various industries across the UK felt about their work-life balance and whether it affected their career decisions. The results revealed that the education sector was one of the top industries for work-life balance right now. The full list includes: Marketing (82.4%) Finance (81.6%) Legal (77.8%) IT (65.3%) Education (61.7%) Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, comments: “Achieving a reasonable work-life balance nowadays is certainly challenging, especially if your employer is piling on the pressure and technology is enabling you to work from anywhere, at any time. While it may prove difficult to obtain a good work-life balance, these results from the education sector show that it’s possible. So if you suffer from poor balance, consider what you can do to make it work: whether it’s approaching your boss about flexible working, or making a conscious effort to leave work on time.” With more education professionals looking to achieve a strong work-life balance, it’s not surprising that 95.7% said they’d be more likely to work for a company which encouraged this balance. In fact, over half (59.6%) claimed that they’ve left a job due to a poor work-life balance, with this being most predominant in the following industries: Legal (66.7%) Catering (61.1%) Social Care (62.2%) Education (59.6%) Hospitality (59.5%) Biggins concludes: “Having a poor work-life balance is simply not sustainable. Even if you love your job, it will impact your ability to do it well and eventually something will have to give. It’s worth sitting down and taking the time to find an employer who’ll add a bit of wellbeing to your life! After all, we spend a large portion of our time at work and it’s a business’ responsibility to do right by their employees.” Kick-start your job hunt with CV-Library and browse over 195,000 live vacancies today!
Resetting the education system to ensure digital literacy
Caroline Kennard, international business development director at Encyclopaedia Britannica, discusses the technical revolution and how schools can prepare by increasing digital literacy… Parliament has recently launched an inquiry into the education system and its standards in what they have termed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. This inquiry focuses on the suitability of the current school curriculum with the increased use of technology in all aspects of life, including in the classroom and in the workforce. With the vast increase in the use of technology in all stages of life, students and teachers are facing a dilemma: how do they comprehensively develop digital literacy skills while also feeling engaged with the course materials. Responding to this challenge, the next way of curriculum being explored shifts the focus in the classroom from a more rigid formulaic exam route to a more creative curriculum that provides greater opportunities for engagement and the enrichment of learning. This need for an education that teaches reflection, critical thinking, and questioning is becoming more apparent, particularly as the importance of digital literacy grows alongside the digital and tech-centric workforce of the future. Additionally, despite the skills gap in the workforce, employers continue to have an expectation that the employees already possess the necessary skills to live, work, and succeed in a digital society. Further, this expectation relies on educators preparing pupils for life after schooling by making sure digital literacy is engraved throughout their course work. Responding to this deficit, education technology providers have recognised the necessity of ensuring digital literacy of students and have started to develop products that empower teachers and students in developing these skills. In particular, tools that help students filter our misinformation can be extremely beneficial for their overall learning, but also allows them to improve their ability to filter out less credible sources. The internet is arguably the most frequently used dataset by students and effectively leveraging education technology resources of this nature, identifies unique relationships and produces valuable insights that provide deeper context and connections. This ability to ensure the accuracy of information limits students’ use of untrustworthy knowledge-sources and protects them from online manipulation. Shifting the learning frameworks to focus on the substance of learning will allow students’ digital literacy skills to be developed more effectively. Instilling critical thinking skills, an awareness of the necessary standards of behavior expected in online environments, and an understanding of the shared social issues created by digital technologies, is not only best-practice, it is a prerequisite for ensuring the next generation are well-equipped to tackle the workforce of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. See Encyclopaedia Britannica to help improve digital literacy.
CLA and Kyocera introduce new app to simplify copyright
The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) has partnered with KYOCERA Document Solutions UK to create a new app that collects information about school copying, thereby reducing the burden of administration for schools. ‘CopyScanPublications’ is a free app that can be installed on the school copiers and scanners to collect the copying data that is required by CLA to make royalty payments to authors, visual artists and publishers. The app captures copying done by staff of any articles, chapters or other extracts from publications that they use for teaching. Currently, although the process works it is largely manual and can be time-consuming for school staff who are asked to fill forms and provide separate copies for CLA. This takes time and often leads to incomplete returns or important details missed through human error or time pressures. The KYOCERA app will reduce the inconvenience and administration time taken in providing this information. CLA will be able to capture accurate real-time data on the copying made in schools and school staff will be able to make copies and scans as normal. Kevin Gohil, Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Transformation Officer at the Copyright Licensing Agency said: “Our mission is to simplify copyright for content users such as schools and colleges and to make sure that copyright owners receive fair payment when their work is copied or re-used. A big part of this is making it easier for our customers to tell us what they are copying so we can make more accurate payments to the copyright owners – the authors, visual artists and publishers. We asked KYOCERA to use their expertise to help develop the technology to digitise the capturing of the copying information we need. The end result is an innovation that streamlines the process for us, school staff and the copyright owners.” Rod Tonna-Barthet, Chief Executive Officer at KYOCERA Document Solutions UK commented: “With nothing else like this app on the market today, our devices now offer a more complete solution to schools. While KYOCERA is best known for print, everything we do focuses on improving document workflow. This project combined our talent for innovation with our company ethos of doing the right thing. “According to the National Education Union one of the main reasons teachers leave the profession is because of the burden of paperwork they have to do. Our app is genuinely making a difference in cutting that burden down, helping teachers to spend more time doing what they do best: teach.” More information on CopyScanPublications be found here: kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk
Bett 2019: BenQ to demonstrate how collaborative technology is reinventing education
BenQ UK, the internationally renowned provider of digital lifestyle devices, will showcase its latest classroom-ready collaboration solutions at Bett 2019 (23 – 26 January 2019) at the ExCeL London on stand B180. BenQ will showcase its extended range of flagship products for the education market including new Mainstream and Premium Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs). These new IFPs are optimised with a flexible user interface, multi-account management system and EZWrite annotation software to bring a truly collaborative learning experience into classrooms. The enhanced IFP panels also feature InstaQShare software, which is designed for seamless wireless presentation and collaboration. It allows for smooth streaming of both visual and audio files, plus users can mirror content from mobile devices and invite up to 16 participants. The Premium IFP range also supports multi-touch capability up to 20 points, allowing more students to participate in discussion and engage in group activities. BenQ ensures classrooms embrace innovation without compromising student’s health and the team will demonstrate its IFP features that create a healthy learning environment for students. For a comfortable viewing experience, the BenQ IFP’s automatically activate Flicker-Free, Anti-Glare and Low Blue Light features by detecting the movement of users close to the screen. However, the BenQ Premium panels are also equipped with a Germ-Resistant Screen which is powered by a multi-layer coating of a non-toxic enduring nano, ionic silver agent that kills germs accumulating on screen surfaces, even after thorough cleaning or long periods of use. The BenQ Premium panels also incorporate an air-quality sensor to help monitor CO2 concentration levels in classrooms and remind teachers to adopt necessary mechanisms to keep students highly productive during class. On the show floor, BenQ will host presentation sessions throughout Bett 2019, with education product advocates. The speakers will share their knowledge of BenQ’s latest interactive classroom-ready collaboration solutions and provide live case studies of their experiences using the products in the classroom. Visitors are also invited to join BenQ on stand B180 for a drink every day during Bett 2019 or drop by the stand to take advantage of refreshments, charging points and meeting tables. See the Bett 2019 website for more details on BenQ
Learnit aims to ‘change the conversation in education’
Here, our editor Victoria Galligan speaks to the Learnit team to find out the background behind the new-for-2019 show and what educators can expect to see… How did the team come together? The Learnit team consists of Anil Aggarwal, an American tech-entrepreneur and investor, and Katy Fryatt, a Cambridge University graduate and a millennial parent. They met whilst developing the world’s most important events for fintech and retail innovation: Money20/20 and Shoptalk. Learnit aims to be “world-changing” – how does it hope to do this? Learnit is doing two really important things. Firstly, it’s uniting the entire global learning community – from government and educator leaders to startups, investors, tech companies and heads of talent and training within employers. We’re talking about learning, not just education. Secondly, we’re leading an intellectual conversation about the current and future state of learning. Our 100+ speakers will talk about how we can revolutionise education, and ultimately change the world. All speakers are chosen on merit, not ‘pay-to play’ and range from Andreas Schleicher at the OECD, to the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, to the Head Master of Eton and to Euan Blair, who’s set out to build an outstanding alternative to university. Learnit itself is a venture-backed startup with $1million in funding. We’re building Learnit very differently to any other event. What makes Learnit stand out from other events? Learnit is bringing together the right people in an environment that is conducive to accelerated change. To do that we’ve focused on developing a groundbreaking agenda and thoughtfully curated networking program that will bring senior-level decision makers to learn and build the partnerships needed to make meaningful progress. We offer educator and government leaders free tickets and up to £750 for their travel. What are the main issues within education which you feel need changing the most? Education has remained largely unchanged for decades, and is now disconnecting from the real world in increasingly material ways. Children of every age go to school, are taught a government-prescribed curriculum, are tested and retested and then enter The Real World. And while The Real World has changed, and continues to change exponentially, education hasn’t. Making learning relevant is one of the greatest challenges facing education today. We’re changing the conversation. The speaker line up is unparalleled. Learnit’s 2019 agenda focuses on important, timely themes including Equality & Access to Education, The Future of Work, Educating Generation Alpha, The Business of Education, Learning Spaces in 2025, Impactful & Scalable Learning Innovations and Artificial Intelligence in Education. To book tickets for the event, which takes place January 24-25, see the Learnit website here.
GDPR two months on: best-practice tips to help the education sector achieve compliance
Nigel Peers, Security & Risk Management Consultant at NW Security Group, looks at the lay of the land since the GDPR enforcement, discussing how schools can gain & maintain compliance… With months of speculation behind us regarding the many complexities and intricate details of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the conversation has now shifted from raising awareness of the practicalities of its implementation, to giving actionable advice that will help schools, colleges and universities achieve and maintain compliance. It’s been almost two months since the May 25th deadline passed, and while the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has given reassurances that it isn’t going to start immediately handing out large fines to every school that remains non-compliant, it is important that facilities can show a desire to adhere to the regulation to protect staff and students’ data. That is because breaches within the sector are continuing to soar. In 2017 data breaches rose an astounding 103% compared to the previous year – schools, colleges and universities must do all they can to not become the next statistic. The concern is only exacerbated by the recent finding that only 16% of educational institutions currently realise they’ve fallen foul of a data breach. This begs the question; do they have the internal awareness to identify what a breach is? Improved training is clearly paramount. In our conversations with schools post-GDPR, two queries are commonly raised regarding how the new legislation will impact schools, colleges and universities. Firstly: ‘do we have a lawful basis for storing data?’; and secondly: ‘should we appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO)?’. As the guardians of confidential and private information regarding both students and staff, it is important that facilities quickly get up to speed on how the legislation may affect them. These are our top tips to help navigate the journey to compliance: What is a lawful basis for storing data? The first question educational institutions have been pondering is: what is a lawful basis for storing data and do we have it? When it comes to data collection and storage, all institutions must have a lawful basis to record Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Anything that can identify an individual is classed as PII, whether that be physical or cyber, so schools, colleges and universities must take a close look at the data being stored and ensure they do have the right to do so. A lawful basis includes contractual uses, compliance with legal obligations, and the interest of the data subject – such as safeguarding welfare. It is also important to keep in mind that PII stored for marketing purposes, such as e-mail marketing databases, can only be stored with the consent of the data owner, which must be given freely and kept up-to-date. To achieve compliance, the lawful basis for processing data should also be identified and documented within a school by updating its privacy policy and notices. Undertaking such an audit might sound like a daunting prospect but doing so will clean up databases and ensure consent to store and process PII is gained going forward. This is important as it has been our experience that, while many institutions believe they are protecting PII and have effective policies in place, these haven’t been documented adequately, leading to non-compliance. Do I need to appoint a DPO? The second area of uncertainty among many educational facilities is whether it’s necessary to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). This has been a grey area for many educational institutions, as the GDPR states a DPO must be appointed by all public authorities and any organisation carrying out systematic monitoring of individuals on a large scale. It’s open to interpretation whether schools and academies fit these criteria, but the need for somebody to take responsibility for data protection is clear. This is because our recent survey found that 70% of respondents didn’t think they could evidence that the correct procedures were in place if they fell victim to a breach. Furthermore, over half (51%) of those responsible for the administration of an access control system were found to be not trained in data protection. Best practice would be to appoint somebody to take responsibility for ensuring compliance, but the issue for many is then who to appoint, as a DPO must have the right skills and experience. This can present quite a challenge for many schools, because guidance states that the position cannot be filled by someone with a conflict of interest, ruling out those who work within the school in a senior management role or closely with the data being stored or processed. Perhaps that is why our report found that 22% of respondents already outsource their DPO to an external expert. This is a logical solution and one that we would recommend – as such it’s a figure we expect to rise. It’s important to highlight that there is still time to get it right. GDPR compliance may seem like a regulatory burden, but it has given the education sector a great opportunity to ensure their security procedures are fit for purpose, and the PII of staff and students won’t end up in the wrong hands. Expert GDPR support is available from qualified practitioners who can help you every step of the way as you overhaul your data protection practices. For information on the security consultancy and training services we can provide, visit: nwsystemsgroup.com Nigel Peers, a qualified Data Protection Practitioner with full teacher training status, brings vast strategic security expertise as a previous co-founder of a successful workplace compliance training company, responsible for security site surveys, vulnerability assessments and Security Industry Authority (SIA) training courses. Working in close partnership with board and trustee-level stakeholders, Nigel is responsible for helping organisations understand the latest regulations and ensure risks, threats and vulnerabilities are correctly identified. Through strategic planning support, Nigel optimises security solution delivery from mitigation to implementation, risk and incident management to business continuity and recovery. About NW Security Group Established in 2004, NW Security Group provides
Serving up school food buying efficiencies
Daniel Ball, director of Wax Digital spending management solutions, discusses efficient and cost-saving approaches to school food buying… Purchasing for school catering is never an easy task. Under pressure to feed hungry mouths a range of nutritionally-balanced meals on a daily basis, while at the same time accommodating government standards and compliance with food safety guidelines, there’s a lot to consider when planning menus for a new term and placing orders with the supply chain. And then of course, there’s the small matter of trying to meet all the above criteria on tighter than ever budgets. Many schools benefit already from the bulk buying efficiencies of collaborative procurement. This approach sees many academy trust procurement teams looking after the catering needs of a number of schools and tasked with menu planning and ordering for two or more thousands of children per day. Sustainability is also becoming increasingly important to schools, and catering teams are being asked for locally sourced produce from suppliers who use minimal packaging to deliver their produce. Working within strict budgetary guidelines and under pressure to meet nutrition, sustainability and other government standards, it’s essential that school food buyers have the right ingredients in place for quick, cost effective procurement. Here are my top three suggestions for easing school food buying challenges: 1. Simplifying ordering processes Schools need quick and efficient ordering processes. However, having to place orders with a variety of suppliers who meet cost, sustainability, dietary and government standard criteria can be a tricky process to manage. To do this, schools need fast access to this supplier information and certifications to prove that they are compliant. The quickest and most effective way to place orders with suppliers that meet your criteria is via an electronic purchasing system that is integrated with the food supply chain’s ordering channels. Schools can choose to place orders with specific suppliers that meet their criteria; orders are quick and immediate; and a clear and detailed record of what’s ordered can be maintained. 2. Make budgeting and menu planning easy Menu planning and ingredient costing software tools can help caterers to budget more effectively by giving them immediate access to an up-to-date view of all food purchasing activity and allowing them to cost and plan menus in advance of placing an order. And as these tools can be integrated into an electronic procurement system it enables food buyers to effectively manage all purchases and payments for the new menus aswell as plan for budgets in advance. 3. Pre-agree school food pricing with suppliers Lots of different factors can have an impact on the cost of food including bad weather, exchange rate volatility, inflation or a poor harvest forcing suppliers to increase their costs. However, it is possible for school food buyers to pre-agree prices for key ingredients and produce in advance with key suppliers. Pre-agreed pricing structures, together with any current supplier discounts and promotions, can be automatically applied within today’s food and drink purchasing systems, as well as terms and processes for emergency last minute ordering. To make procurement efficiencies and ensure catering needs are effectively met, it could be time to review all your school food buying processes and systems in order to secure better buying outcomes. After all, school catering teams are busy enough, so alleviating ordering and stock control pressures leaves them free to do what they do best – serving up healthy, nutritious meals that meet cost, nutritional and sustainable agendas. For more information on school food buying and other budgeting advice, see Wax Digital
How Mammoth Memory can boost brain power among GCSE students
Mammoth Memory, the GCSE revision aid website, has been launched recently to help boost brain power among teens. Here, illustrator Kate Ulloa-James explains why students are able to remember more effectively when they can picture their subject… What is Mammoth Memory and how does it help GCSE students? Can you give an example? Mammoth Memory is a completely free education website that specialises in helping students memorise key points for their GCSE exams. Our fabulously fun images and mnemonic stimulus help the brain embed information for those visual learners who sometimes stumble when faced with traditional methods of revision. Here is one of our favourite examples: Think of the periodic table. All of those elements and their often seemingly unrelated one or two-letter abbreviations. Can you bring to mind the chemical symbol for tin or iron? Perhaps not yet, but check out our mnemonics and you’ll never forget them again. Every time you see a tin, just think of that slimy snail crawling out and the association between tin and snail (Sn) will be locked in your mind for evermore. Equally, just look at those hairy feet doing the ironing. Creating that memorable link between iron and feet will help solidify that Fe is the chemical symbol for iron! How did the concept come about, where did Mammoth Memory begin? Leading educationalists recommend that “students should be taught how to remember as well as what to remember”. With this in mind, Mammoth Memory was founded two and a half years ago, but the idea had been alive long before! Dean Hammond, our Director, came up with this concept decades ago after having struggled himself as a student when it came to memorising information for exams. He came across some diverse memory techniques that changed his life and ever since, he has made it his Mammoth Mission to pass this methodology onto others! Is Mammoth Memory used in lessons or as a revision tool? The website has been designed so that it can be used for both independent learning as well as in a classroom with a teacher. We have had many teachers excited about using this with their students to help them with some of the trickier content in their curriculum. What subjects does Mammoth Memory cover? Are you planning to add more? We are currently focusing on building our content for Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English. History and Religious Studies will follow swiftly after, as our small team works hard to build up our content. We see this as an ongoing project that keeps expanding with more subjects in the future so who knows where it may take us! What is the cost to the school and pupils? Do students need to pay to subscribe? There is absolutely no cost. This website is completely free and accessible to anyone and everyone, which is very important to us! See Mammoth Memory’s website here.
How will GDPR affect schools? UCL data expert tells heads how to prepare
UCL’s Nathan Lea tells our editor Victoria Galligan about how the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have an impact on schools and what can be done to prepare for the new regime, which comes into force on May 25th… How will GDPR affect the way primary and secondary schools use data overall? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) places a far greater emphasis on transparency with data subjects and indeed their guardians around how data is used. It is likely that schools will need to make their uses of data clearer to parents and guardians, who will be able to ask questions and seek clarifications according to updated and new provisions enshrined in the rights for the individual component of the GDPR. The legal bases upon which data is processed are also being modernised, but where a school is processing data pursuant to an established purpose enshrined in law, it is unlikely to change much, though the new legal bases have been developed to support existing and proposed data use more clearly. It would be important for schools to think about how the six legal bases and additional provisions for special category data (including that related to health and biometrics) will relate to their purposes, but they must be very clear on purpose – why and how you’re collecting and using the data. Where the purpose is unclear, it will need to be clarified or amended to bring it into line with GDPR. Schools in particular should pay particular attention to age at which parental consent for data processing is likely to change. Currently it looks as though the age will be 13 years old across the UK, however they should take extra care in how they interpret it, engage with students and parents, and proceed on their legal team’s and Data Protection Officer’s (DPO) advice. In short, provided schools are clear on purposes for data use, the legal bases for these, are transparent about their processing and are able to be accountable for the processing and protection of data, they should find that their uses will be supported and may not need to change very much. For any new uses they are planning, they will need to perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office’s recommendations. What measures should staff be taking to ensure they comply with GDPR in schools? It is important to take any training that their school is providing for them, and these should be mandatory courses. If staff are unclear, they should seek advice from their data protection officers – it is likely that schools will either have one or share one with other schools in the area. If anyone is unsure, they should seek clarification about what they are expected to do when it comes to data handling and use – it’s important to think about how they currently handle data, for example checking work emails on mobile devices – it is likely these policies will need to be updated and that new policies will be available. But in general, greater care in the handling of data and liaison with the DPO with regards training and good and/or required practice will be vital to ensure compliance. Is the introduction of GDPR in schools going to be a costly process? The biggest “cost” will likely be culture change fuelled by a greater need for awareness about what data is being handled and how. Safe handling of data will need to be much more of a priority and whilst the fines for improper use will be higher, the reputational cost will be even more if something goes wrong where it might have been avoided. Furthermore, certain breaches need to be reported to the ICO within 72 hours of discovery, so schools will need to make sure they have an information risk, security and management process in place, key to which of course is their Data Protection Officer and IT management groups. However this is an important opportunity for schools to really think about what data they are processing, how they are doing so, whether they need to and how they can do it safely. Do heads need to hire data experts to ensure they meet GDPR in schools? It will be very hard to declare that GDPR compliance is being met from day one as nobody knows what that looks like in practice and will not for some time as mistakes are made and cases are pursued by the Information Commissioner or courts. It would not hurt to hire experts to help give an indication of where schools need to improve their data handling processes, but it will be important to provide awareness raising training and education to all staff so that they are clearer on what good practice looks like. Schools should have the required officers in place, including an appropriate DPO. But the decision about hiring a data expert should reside with the head, their IT management groups and their data protection officer. Can schools still use old data (pre-GDPR) for marketing and fundraising purposes? It would depend on the basis upon which the data was originally collected and if it were clear to the data subject that their data would be used in the way that it is proposed moving forward. Schools should look at the legal bases and make sure that they meet the consent requirements for handling contact data: were the purposes clearly identified? Was the consent a positive action and freely given? For example, did the school ask people to tick a box to say they had consented to having their contact details used for marketing or fundraising purposes? Or if people had to untick a box or were told that the data would be used and did not give them a choice in the matter, this is unlikely to meet the test for consent that GDPR now requires). Schools should seek advice from their DPO, legal teams about this point in particular and