“Is ICT narrowing the digital divide? Well I’d say a big yes to that. It just extends the range of what you can do with your teaching. And wi-fi is absolutely marvellous. From the teachers’ point of view you can go into any area of this school with your laptop and instantly link with the internet and the network. The children have wireless laptops so we can move from place to place within the school.” So says Anne Byron-Hehir, nursery teacher and designated ICT Innovator at Ravensbury Community School in Clayton, East Manchester where for the past five years a coalition of local partners has created a communications infrastructure that has the potential to transform the lives of local people.
Already, children are accessing school work and learning materials from home and using wi-fi-enabled laptops in the classroom. From Primary Level onwards pupils are taught ICT skills that they can use across the curriculum. Residents are communicating wirelessly and browsing the internet from as little as £6 per month.
In recent years wireless technology has been used successfully in a number of education and community ventures. What’s particularly impressive in East Manchester, however, is the scale and appropriateness of the project. Andy McBeath, director of Eastserve, the online services company responsible for wireless installation, explains.
“One of the things we found in this area was that a large number of people didn’t use fixed telephone lines and NTL largely only cabled up to the borders of East Manchester. So there wasn’t much option to get internet access, let alone broadband, in this area.” Following an open tendering process, the winner, Gaia Technologies came forward with a wireless solution.
Beam me up
Wireless broadband is beamed from the top of tower blocks and, where required, additional nodes are installed. An aerial is attached to the chimney pot of each house or dwelling and then connected to the back of the customer’s computer. Eastserve deliver four tariffs, bronze, silver, gold and platinum at monthly rates of £6, £10 £16 and £20 and these deliver speeds of 250k, 500k, 1Mb and 2Mb. (In non-technical terms, bronze is faster than a dial-up modem connection, platinum is, er whoosh!)
Residents were initially offered internet access coupled with a complete package of printer, monitor, keyboard, mouse and computer with Windows ME operating system (since upgraded to XP Home) for either £200 or a recycled PC for £30; interestingly, most opted for the more expensive option. The entry level package is more than adequate for anyone who wants to use the internet for activities such as browsing, online purchasing and email.
Eastserve’s operation reflects the financial and social constraints under which many people in the area live. Users can pay for the service by cash or through the local Credit Union and are not tied to a fixed contract.
Changing times
Alan Massey, a resident of Clayton, East Manchester, has been involved in the scheme since its inception. Formerly a fireman, he retrained as a DTP/graphic designer. These skills have been put to use in the community in the production of resident association newsletters and – as one of a team of designated “community champions” – in offering local people technical help.
“In those days, if you stood in a bar and mentioned computers, they thought you were an alien. I’m absolutely certain that education in this area has jumped dramatically since then. And whatever increase you see in the schools it’s probably double that in the home. If we hadn’t rolled the computers out with the internet connection it would have been a flop in comparison to the way it went.”
At the same time, the East Manchester Education Action Zone was introducing wireless technology into schools. Enid Bell, Networked Learning and Strategy Manager recalls that Wi-Fi was established in East Manchester schools by 2001. “.Wireless broadband has given everyone a much more flexible infrastructure; it works extremely well especially when coupled with laptops and whiteboards.””
That’s precisely the paradigm they’re using at Ravensbury Community School in Clayton. Built less than three years ago, this primary has interactive whiteboards in nearly every classroom and 60 wireless laptops (funded by the e-Learning Foundation). “Wherever we are, we can access material on the network and then use it on the interactive whiteboard” says deputy head Carol Hargreaves. “It’s like opening up a whole new bank of resources.”
Strengthening home/school links
Presently, the staff are looking at ways of developing the home/school learning connection through a school website that incorporates an intranet. This will allow parents and children to go online and access learning materials.
Strengthening home/schools links is also high on the agenda of the New East Manchester Education Team. Director Steve Edwards suggests that, “we’ve not fully tapped into the potential of parents or opened up schools sufficiently as yet. This will be the significant next stage, using Learning Gateway and Microsoft Class Server.”
Both Eastserve and the New East Manchester Education Team believe the symbiosis between community and school can only benefit local children. “Children in this area” says Andy “are growing up with computers. Computing, whether at home or in school is part of their lives and with each passing year they will be interacting more – whether online with their friends or with their schools.
Scaleability
“Critical parts of our initiative” says Steve, “can be replicated. Basically our model is scalable.”
Sustainabllity East Manchester, generally, has benefited from regional, national and European investment. Both Andy and Steve are aware of the need for long term planning and stability. Steve:”we’ve always tried to encourage schools to plan for the future; that’s not always the easiest thing to get across. The initial pump priming has to be mainstreamed into financial planning cycles.
Group Support East Serve and The New East Manchester Education Team (NEMET) were quick to recognise the value of mentors within their schemes. East Serve uses “community champions” to give technical help in the community. NEMET has appointed an “ICT Innovator” in each of their schools – to dramatic effect. “When we got this funding and put in all the equipment it sat there in schools initially unused until we got the Innovator Network up and running” Enid Bell
Leadership It’s clearly an enormous incentive when leaders such as Steve, Enid and Andy have a strong commitment to improving the local community. Within schools, leadership is crucial. “This needn’t be”, Enid maintains, “head teacher leadership, though it often is. Once you show a head teacher the benefits of technology and they’re switched on they will encourge their staff. Quite often though, we have to start with the teacher and work up.”
Bridge Building establishing healthy school/community links is a vital part of creating an education infrastructure. There are many sources of financial support now available and schools seeking advice on fund-raising, tax exemption and all matters financial should contact the e-Learing Foundation.
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