A connected learning community

TES 1997

If you want to make the school a community learning resource, technology holds a key. A report just published tells how over the last year or so, Highdown School in Berkshire have been the centre of a project where they used the Internet to connect their school network to the community. As well as offering learning resources and information, as a number of schools are already on the Internet, they've helped some 50 parents and teachers from beginners upwards, to connect their homes to them too.

It needed money to begin the magic so with the support of Microsoft, Telecential - a cable company and others they turned their fleet of 85 computers from a Technical Schools Initiative grant into 85 computers plumbed into a fast line to the Internet. Its the sort of line you rarely find outside businesses and universities and allows the normally slow and tedious surfing of the Internet to happen at speed.

Here in what Microsoft calls a connected learning community the parents can call in to the school and exchange mail electronically with the teachers, check homework assignments, look up school resources, or surf the Internet at large - though with dubious areas screened off. They formed project groups to look for materials on special needs and subject topics. Even at this early stage they say they are better tuned into what their children at doing at school - some families even told how they'd spend evenings sat around the computer instead of the television. Surprisingly, despite the lack of human contact using email, the fact that parents could write to teachers more easily led many to feel they were in partnership with school.

Also from home, the teachers could answer their mail, post minutes and go surfing for materials they might adapt for lessons. Not everyone was enamoured with the idea of working evenings - one teacher called it a double-edged sword while others, not directly involved in the trial had their worries about opening up the lines from parents. How they will feel when they set up an discussion group - essentially an invitation to grouch to governors, will be worth watching.

Inevitably, the pupils were enthused. They could use IT to structure their work and produce better offerings than usual. In several subjects, teachers prepared teaching materials and worksheet templates which pupils would work through on the network or Intranet - a local edition of the Internet. They could click their way to facts and activities about volcanoes, hydrology or whatever.

Pupils seem to have relished the taste of live, up-to date information from the Internet. Teachers have been encouraged by the enviable facilities to change tack and use more resource based learning. Rather than an Internet project, they've found themselves in something more like a curriculum development project. As deputy head Chris Poole says, "Teachers are always looking for ways to improve what they do in and around the classroom.".

As Reading Council considers plans to wire all their schools to the Internet, Chris Poole feels that their success is repeatable, adding that "if you give teachers IT they will embrace it - all schools could benefit in this way if they are bold enough". The Highdown experience, where the number of IT experts has grown from a few to nearly twenty in a short time, is a germ of proof. 

Encouragingly for schools elsewhere, some of the benefits here would come from lesser technology. For example, they too can use IT, build Internet sites and school Intranets - indeed Microsoft is now giving away a disc full of tools to use. We can also usefully learn from Highdown's stories where limits to funding meant that a few novices were given computers but not enough support to use them - but this is nothing new.

They are now looking at their resources and super speedy connection, as a future source of revenue for the school - ideas such as offering training, and selling subscriptions to the Internet are being looked at.

The Highdown Project is part of the government Education Departments Superhighways Initiative and was supported by Microsoft, ICL, Digital, Superscape, Telecential cable and Kodak. A detailed evaluation of the project is being prepared by Lancaster University, for publication later this year. 

Highdown school is at www.highdown.berks.sch.uk

Footnote

Microsoft is offering schools a free kit of software that enables them to build an Intranet using their own PC networks. Their Communications Tools for Schools is aimed at network manager rather than novices and includes a ready made Internet pages with timetables, class lists, and subject pages Included also is MS FrontPage - that allows them to edit and manage the system as well as other tools - such as WebWhacker which captures Internet pages on disc and WebPrinter ((a surprisingly usual)) booklet printing program. Other programs such as NetMeeting and CUSeeMe, allow a networked computer with a camera to work like a video-phone. Many on the tools run on Microsoft's other version of Windows, called Windows NT and this is included, some also work on Apple systems. Microsoft can be contacted on 0345 002000

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