52 | INSIGHT | INDUSTRY
T
he development of cloud computing technology holds great potential for schools, colleges
and universities to save costs on their IT infrastructure. Many schools historically have built their own platforms to deliver IT infrastructure, but now cloud technology off ers an alternative model. “Cloud technology is delivered by service providers to institutions that wish to buy IT infrastructure, or IT applications. The aim is to drive down total costs of ownership and allow them to move quicker in the market and accelerate transformation, while at the same time maintaining security,” explained Martin Butler, manager of education research at Cisco UK. Cloud computing is still in its relative
infancy, yet Butler says an increasing number of schools and colleges are moving towards the technology. “It is already being used over the web for certain mandated school functions, such as reporting for the Department for Education. The cloud is also in widespread use for some other functions, such as pupil school records and virtual learning environments (VLEs). We are also starting to see things like technologies to enable collaboration technology being adopted from the cloud, as well as management in the cloud.”
Online lessons This openness to technological innovation and new methods is also being mirrored in the classroom. Lead learning technologist at Weston College, Amy Palmer, has played a leading role in the introduction of online lessons in some departments. “We're using Adobe Captivate to create online lessons. The lessons are created slide-by-slide, and then when the content is published it creates a fl ash fi le. That fl ash fi le is then uploaded as school content onto Moodle, which is our VLE – that’s how the students complete the lessons,” she outlined. With the education sector moving
increasingly towards online learning, Palmer believes it's vital for the college to keep pace. “What we’ve produced is easy to use and doesn’t take long to get through, so it keeps the user’s at ention,” she said. “We're one of the fi rst colleges to bring this innovation into FE. We piloted
“I think academies and free
schools, which are non-established schools and are looking to
diff erentiate themselves, will drive the adoption of new technologies.” Martin Butler, Cisco
ABOVE: Schools and colleges can access a variety of applications via cloud
it with functional skills, as so many students take that exam we thought it would be a good one to start with. We've also off ered it to all the other faculties in the college – and hairdressing are very keen to start using it in lessons.” This is far from the common
perception of schools and colleges as very traditional institutions unwilling to embrace change. There may once have been some truth in this image, but Butler says schools' and colleges' at itude to IT
has shifted, driven in part by political change. “I think IT used to be seen as a cost to schools. However, the advent of academies and free schools has seen them at the forefront of new technology adoption to improve the student experience and diff erentiate themselves,” he said. For its part, Weston College sees virtual learning primarily as a tool to help students and enhance their learning. “There was seen to be a gap between home learning and in-college learning, and this kind of bridges that gap. The VLE can be accessed anywhere and the lessons can be completed anywhere,” explained Palmer. “If students feel like doing some English
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