Emerson Park school opts for Extrasys hosted software service to deliver virtual learning
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Summary
Unique software-as-a-service deal provides 1,000 pupils and staff with personal e-learning accounts accessible from school and at home.
Extrasys, the managed IT service provider, announces a deal with Emerson Park comprehensive secondary school in Romford, Essex, to provide the school's pioneering virtual learning environment. Rather than having to install software on the hard drives of PCs at school and at home, all 1,000 pupils and staff at the school will be able to log in to personal e-learning accounts and access educational materials from any computer through a broadband connection.
Hosted virtual learning environment
Extrasys is helping to transform Emerson Park into a fully fledged virtual school by hosting all educational content at its state-of-the-art data centres, and providing dedicated technical support. Extrasys is managing and maintaining Microsoft's SharePoint Learning Kit (SLK), the latest online school learning application, which has now been installed at the data centre. SLK enables Emerson Park to turn any electronic document into an online assignment, and staff and students will be able to check homework online, review lessons, or access interactive content such as online educational quizzes.
In the future, educational content will even be available to staff and students via PDA and portable devices. Emerson Park also has plans to extend access within its local educational authority. For instance, a teacher training/learning module is being piloted in conjunction with Sacred Heart, another local school in Essex. Pupils from both schools will be able to interact using webcam technology and multi-media tools to collaborately complete the educational unit. Supported by Extrasys, the new SLK platform will provide the opportunity for pupil-to-pupil interaction, and comparative assessment across the two schools.
Ralph Reid, Director of IT at Emerson Park School said: "Accessibility is very important: we want to engage children with technology and transform the entire learning experience. Extrasys is ideal for us because it is cost effective as we only pay for the licenses we use, and it's very simple for us to open up our virtual school to new users in the community. Extrasys takes care of all the IT management for us - such as backing up files, installing updates, and keeping the data secure - which leaves me free to concentrate on developing a compelling learning environment."
Reid continued: "We'd like to extend access to parents if possible, so kids can be given encouragement with homework, and provided with maximum educational support."
Next generation virtual learning
By hosting educational content, Extrasys enables Emerson Park to offer students personalised learning, and the ability to choose the materials that best suit their learning styles. It will also enable improved communication between teachers, students, and ultimately parents. Research has shown that pupils with access to interactive ICT resources, have increased motivation to learn, and can remain focused for longer as they are able to learn at their own pace.
Extrasys will also collect data on student performance and assess how pupils and staff are using the service to further enhance e-learning. For instance, teachers will not only be able to evaluate their students' grades, but will be also able to see how long tasks took online, and how many drafts they did before submitting work. Extrasys also provides the flexibility to upgrade to new educational applications as they become available so Emerson Park can always access the best e-learning tools available.
Extrasys comment
Jay Korde, technical director at Extrasys, said, "This is the first project we have undertaken with a school and we are really proud of our contribution in creating an enhanced educational experience for Emerson Park students. By providing 1,000 individual accounts, we've helped Emerson Park to offer a truly personalised learning environment for all its pupils and staff."