Broadband Britain

Educating Broadband Britain

Tony Cox, Head of Public Sector at Kingston Communications dons his mortarboard and goes back to school to explore the role of broadband in education

The most technology-savvy people in Britain are arguably 'the kids'. Far from being technobrats, children readily embrace technology and could teach their teachers a thing or two about IT. Today's children play advanced computer games, use mobile phones, e-mail, text, and surf the Web as if it was second nature.

It's little wonder then, that the Government is keen to capitalise on this affinity with technology and ensure that the Internet becomes an intergral part of our education system. But how does the Internet fit into modern education as a learning tool and what challenges does it present for schools and telecoms service providers?

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Combining traditional teaching techniques with e-learning is revolutionising Britain's schools. Of course, the Internet provides a wealth of information from a plethora of sites which are valuable for research, but its value goes much deeper than that as an educational tool.

The Internet can bring education to life, get the students involved and appeal to their lifestyles. If the kids are used to computer games then traditional teaching will make them 'switch off', not get to the next level. Gone are the days of dusty chalkboards and dry textbooks. Online resources can add colour, movement and sound.

Schools with broadband services are able to benefit from a whole range of multi-media services, including videoconferencing and interactive video, transforming the possibility of the 'virtual' classroom into a reality. Teachers can collaborate with students electronically, and hold impromptu educational discussions through live network chat-rooms.

The ability to deliver streamed educational media and broadcast-quality video-on-demand, allows teachers to plug into interactive broadcasts at their own convenience and bring traditional subjects to life. The broadcasts can be streamed to individual PCs or projected onto a whiteboard for the whole class to see.

The Science Museum in London, NASA and the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Institute in Australia all have educational resources for videoconferencing in place. Imagine a physics lesson where the pupils can actually talk to a NASA expert about launching rockets into space or a French lesson where you can videoconference with fellow students in Paris. Doesn't that explain the laws of gravity in a more appealing way than the usual classroom 'experiments'?

The Internet can also provide a centralised source of information and become an integrated teaching aid for the national curriculum. Schemes such as the East Midlands Broadband Network provide students with access, via an Intranet with filtered Internet and e-mail access, to a secure and managed learning environment appropriate to their age and national curriculum level. They can share information, create their own work area and access online educational resources and information sites all from the comfort of their own desk.

However the benefits are not limited to the students. Intranets such as the one in the East Midlands, have enormous potential to boost teachers' skills by providing ongoing professional development through the standardisation of educational content. E-learning also offers increased efficiency for teachers through access to constantly updated resources, not tired old text books, and as pupils can learn at their own pace, teachers can focus on individual learning for their students.

However, if all of this is to become an everyday part of education, it will require a change of culture and an investment of both time and effort. Schools must take into account that teachers need to become familiar with new technology in order to embrace and use it as an integrated part of their lessons, and this will require training.

Connecting the classroom

Of course, schools have had computers for years, but the Internet is only now becoming a major educational tool.

This is because all of the services described above require broadband connections to function effectively. Real-time video-streaming eats up bandwidth, so a standard 56K dial-up modem is no use - it'd be like trying to strain stodgy semolina through a school sock.

Unfortunately, the broadband infrastructure to provide fast Internet access has, until recently, been out of the financial reach of most schools. But with the Government's vision for creating 'Broadband Britain', it is now deemed to be a pre-requisite for modern education.

For this reason, Local Education Authorities, schools and councils are pooling their buying power to bring broadband infrastructure to schools and libraries around the UK. The City of York is a great example of this, with the city council partnering with Learning Connect centres (IT training providers) and the People's Network (a Government project to connect all public libraries to the Internet) to provide high bandwidth connections at public facilities across the city.

Of course online access to school resources sounds like a great idea, unless you are one of the pupils without a PC at home to access your learning area. Stephen Timms, the newly appointed Minister of State for e-Commerce and Competitiveness, is charged with making it easier for everyone to access the Net. Rolling out broadband Internet access to public libraries goes some way towards addressing this problem and, according to Timms, about 20,000 broadband connections are currently being installed every week. The number of British broadband users stands at 600,000 and by the end of 2002 there should be more than a million people with fast Web connections.

Top of the table or bottom of the class?

When making an investment of this importance, it is crucial that schools and education authorities select the right service provider. Look out for the three Rs:

• Reliability - For online resources to be of real value they have to be available as and when required by teachers and pupils. Unreliable service makes teaching unpredictable and frustrating for the pupils.
• Responsiveness - Ensure that your service provider is accountable and can provide timely response to any faults or technical queries you may have.
• Regional coverage - Ensure you choose a service provider that has a network that covers your region and that they are responsible for the efficient running of that infrastructure, not a hidden third-party.

Above all, though, choose a service provider that has a track record of working with the public sector, and understands your specific needs and requirements in order to address the challenges you face. Content management skills should also be considered as excellent connectivity is pointless if the information that the service provides is substandard.

Internet monitor

Despite the benefits of embracing technology in education, it is imperative that the dangers are recognised too. Providing Internet access and e-mail addresses throws up a number of headaches for schools in terms of school security and pupil safety. Chatrooms and e-mail are particular problems.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) recommends various filtering devices; 'walled-gardens', providing access only to specific, approved sites; keyword-matching, which blocks sites containing pre-determined words; and newer, more powerful keyword-matching approaches which avoid 'overblocking' by checking words in context.

Many schools don't yet perceive any educational value in chat and have decided not to pursue this path. One of the few chat rooms approved by the DfES is GridClub, a service for seven to eleven year-olds, where the chat is mediated by educational professionals and offers activities related to the National Curriculum. Pupils have to go through a procedure which establishes that they are students in a bona fide school in order to maintain security.

Teacher's report

Broadband connectivity is crucial if technology is to be adopted as an integral part of modern teaching - with its attendant benefits for pupils. Partnership schemes such as those in York and the East Midlands are bringing students together across whole regions, and are the first shoots of spring of the Government's vision of creating Broadband Britain. Continued investment in this area is vital if we're to get a gold star for education in the future and not the dunce's cap.

Useful web sites

Case Studies

City of York Council

The historic City of York is leading the march towards Broadband Britain with 50 schools and libraries across the city benefiting from faster Internet access thanks to Kingston Communications.

The challenge

The Government's aim to create 'Broadband Britain', with every citizen able to access the Internet and email services by 2005 has been well documented. City of York Council, working in partnership with Learning Connect centres (IT training providers) and the People's Network (a government project to connect all public libraries to the Internet), took up the challenge to bring broadband Internet access to schools and libraries across the city.

Kingston Communications was selected to provide 14 libraries and 36 schools with Internet connections that enable fast and secure access to online resources and e-mail.

The solution

Kingston supplies each of the participating sites in York with a 2Mb/s connection, providing much faster access to material on the Internet than is currently available. It also enables schools to make greater use of information technology, for example, videoconferencing with other schools and exploring collaborative teaching methods.

As well as the fast network connections, the service is also fully managed by Kingston Communications. This includes network performance monitoring, management and maintenance to ensure it all runs efficiently and smoothly.

This is combined with extensive security measures including virus checking and content screening to prevent unsuitable material being accessed and provide peace of mind for parents and teachers alike.

The benefits

Janet Looker, City of York Council's executive member for education, said: "As schools increasingly use a range of multi-media material to support teaching and learning, the provision of broadband access in our schools is of utmost importance. It means both pupils and staff can take full advantage of Internet technology and improve educational standards for children in schools across the city."

"Education in the future is increasingly going to use technology and it is a great achievement that over 50% of York's schools will have access to the latest developments, and this will put York well ahead of the Government's target of 20% of schools having broadband connectivity."

East Midlands Pioneering Education Scheme

The East Midlands Broadband Consortium, formed by nine local authorities, will eventually link over 2,500 primary and secondary schools, libraries and learning centres to a high-speed broadband network provided by Kingston Communications, ICL and Synetrix.

The Challenge

The East Midlands Regional Broadband Network acts as an Intranet providing access to multi-media technology never before seen in learning establishments. Students logging on to the network benefit from access to a managed learning environment appropriate to the user's age and national curriculum level. This enables student achievement to be monitored and kept up to date on a more frequent basis.

The challenge for Kingston was to supply and support the network infrastructure necessary to consistently provide the fast download speed needed to make the system a reliable and useable resource.

The Solution

Kingston Communications utilises its broadband network to deliver high-speed Internet services enabling the rapid delivery and downloading of Web-based information. Kingston supplies connectivity to the schools via a broadband backbone and link this to the Internet through a sophisticated content filter to ensure secure use.

Kingston's main switch site in Nottingham acts as the core of the East Midlands Broadband Network, playing host to all the educational content that is available.

The Benefits

Schools involved in the scheme are able to benefit from a whole range of multi-media services including videoconferencing and interactive video, transforming the possibility of the 'virtual' classroom into a reality. Teachers can collaborate with students electronically, and hold impromptu educational discussions through 'live' network chat-rooms.

"This is a groundbreaking initiative which is enabling people across the region to enjoy the benefits of Web-based learning in line with the Government's vision of a 'Broadband Britain'. E-learning offers the opportunity for teachers, students and pupils, young and old, to interact through a computer - forming out-of-school learning communities," commented Mike Kendall, chair of the East Midlands Broadband Consortium Steering Group. "QIt will have an impact on the teaching methods in all learning centres as we deliver a new learning environment for the 21st Century."