THE ISANET
The ISANet is a collective description for a range of digital projects which the Association is pioneering. The ISANet includes:
• A social network for ISA heads, teachers and support staff for Teaching and Learning and ISA matters more generally and with a specific focus on digital matters and ICT usage in schools.
• Digital Strategy training, aimed at staff in schools who have little in the way of equipment or expertise, with on-going support and a willingness to visit and provide personal advice.
• On-line webinars to inform, educate, promote and explain - the current series are provided on Thursday evenings to support our work with Google in training teachers how to pass the Google Certified Individual exams. Please click here for more detail.
• A stand/demonstration facility for ISA conferences and meetings, to explain and promote the ISANet within the Association.
•. Partnership work with ISANet gold sponsors, other friends of ISA and world leaders in software innovation such as Google to provide ground breaking and innovative resources for ISA schools/colleges
• A weekly bulletin to promote thought and discussion in staff rooms, to promote issues currently in the news, not just about ISA schools, and to highlight new ideas coming onto the scene.
The ISA Grid for Learning (ISAG4L)
During the Academic year 2011/12, this will be established for both ISA Teachers and for their Schools. This development has been made possible through the implementation of Google Apps for Education, in conjunction with a bespoke ‘dashboard’ for teachers and pupils to use in their school. The project involves the collaboration of schools working together to implement a common design, so that full training and support can be given to schools adopting the ISA Grid4Learning.
This is a web-based school environment, with an easy to use front end with your own school's customised home page from which you can click on icon based links through to homework, email, pictures, videos, blogs and other services, a real VLE with full functionality. There is a one-off cost to this ranging from £500 - £1,500 (depending on the size and complexity of school) and no annual fee. For your money, your school will be taken through the registration process mentioned above, give you a customised front end, train you and support your use for the first 12 months. This cost compares to about £2000 to set up a commercial VLE plus annual costs of about £2.50 per child per year.
ISA Google Certified Individual Training
As part of the ISA G4L, we are running the ISA Google mid touch training programme, so that teaching and support staff can qualify as Google Certified Teachers - a unique programme developed exclusively for ISA to lead the Grid for Learning pioneering initiative within the UK. The programme was presented at the BETT12 exhibition in Olympia, and you can see that presentation here - http://goo.gl/Gd6Sj
A full list of the next few weeks of GAPPS training sessions can be found here - http://goo.gl/FHvTU
The ISA Grid for Schools Service
A presentation explaining what we can offer to schools was given at BETT12, the annual showcase for what's best in education and technology held this year in Olympia. You can see that here - http://goo.gl/MVTQM
The ISA Grid for Teachers (ISAG4T)
This involves the further development of the ISANet social network, currently to be found at www.isanet.ning.com. This is a private network, solely for ISA professionals and associates, joined by invitation only. Full details of all ISANet developments and initiatives are available through membership of this digital community network. The community network has subsidiary groups for specialist topics, subjects and ISA school areas.