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IT Systems and Support

This section includes recommendations regarding IT Systems and support. Some projects have indicated a few technical challenges such as inadequate college network servers and tight restriction on security. IT departments have been unwilling, in some cases, to compromise on these restrictions to network access and of installation of device software and applications.

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Networks

Managed wireless solution: A managed wireless network was commissioned at Eccles College to provide the necessary connectivity of mobile devices to existing College systems, whilst learners are on College premises. The managed solution using Document WebCache service and DeviceSync application removed the need to physically connect any mobile devices to a computer, providing an alternative to using ActiveSync. The new Exchange server was configured to provide Outlook Mobile Access allowing devices to be used for e-mail and scheduling tasks. It is hoped to deliver student timetables to each devices through a custom application in conjunction with Outlook.

Old or protected buildings? There have many indications that the age of certain College buildings affects effective installation of wireless networks. Sometimes buildings carry protective rights where simple solutions for cabling or network installation requires a great deal of time, patience and creativity to overcome the issues.

Multiple campuses: Some Colleges have various campuses which can add to the difficulty to arrange networks to hook into existing infrastructure and work as and when connection would be needed. Gloucestershire College use Cisco wireless routers to allow students access to both standard College network and the wireless network. They use PoE (Power over Ethernet) so they do not use external power source and therefore can be placed anywhere there is a network cable.

Loss of connection: Comments have been made regarding networks and handheld devices. Some technical issues indicated that a frequent loss of connection to the wireless network. The HTC Advantage was found to be fairly reliable in connecting to wireless networks. Salford College felt that speed of successful connection was sometimes very slow. They consider this could be that when devices were being used outside of the College and with other networks and once back in the College, the devices were searching to connect to various known networks before connecting to the College system. "This adversely affected the transparency of the system from the users' point of view".

"From a college perspective, as a member of JANET, the college needs to ensure that access to the network is only by authorised users - that the college uses authentication processes that enable the college to know who is using the network, where in the college they are using that network and what they are doing on the network.

In the longer term the college is looking to changing its authentication methods to tie in with the main college network or Federated Access Management (Shibboleth)"

Glossy Project Manager's Report

Security and access: Matthew Boulton College has been using Trapeze Networks software where learners require a user name and password to login. This has had the benefit of allowing more control over what the users can and can't see over the Internet access. It allows to track users and maintain a record of student and staff usage.

Other network issues have been related to difficulty to connect to a wireless network at home. Some students require instructions to help guide them. Another issue Matthew Boulton College experienced is when students worked outside during summer where the wireless access was unavailable. Plans are now in place to boost the connection to cover areas of social networking around the perimeter of the main campus building.

WiFi and Bluetooth

IE 6 issues: It is worth remembering that Internet Explorer on devices with Windows Mobile 6 operating system, is a cut-down version and therefore restricts and limits the functionality. OpenLink, Norwich's free open-access wi-fi system runs throughout the city, however students found great difficulty connecting with their chosen device - the HTC S710. This has led to Norwich College planning to install a new wi-fi network across the College to get complete coverage on the premise.

Realistic speed of connection: Oaklands College recommend testing the chosen devices to ensure residential areas and town centres can provide connectivity. They found that rarely did the devices connect at speeds over GPRS or EDGE. Generally the devices worked at 100kbs, which is adequate for web browsing and e-mail but insufficient for rich media downloads and video uploads. Oaklands had negotiated a 3GB contract for use yet found that, because of the slow connection speed, virtually all learners used about 200mb over a monthly period.

Bluetooth is a realistic option: Bluetooth can push and pull content from devices and Weston College has found Bluetooth has a higher data throughput (720kbits/s) compared with 600 bits/s average for GSM. They found that the use of Bluetooth, as a radio access solution, avoided the need for learners to move away from their normal network onto GSM for access to their blog, content etc. They also found that many learners were already familiar with Bluetooth using it to exchange ring tones etc.

Firewall

Some problems have been experienced with SharePoint and a Student Voice Portal which was limited on a mobile device. This custom written web based application was produced to enable full interaction with SharePoint forums via the mobile devices, however this was problematic due to internal firewall settings. This was overcome but it hampered initial use.

A few projects have indicated that the performance of devices became hampered by anti-virus and protection applications when installed.

IT Support

Many projects have advised that a good relationship with IT Support team is essential as many of the newly acquired devices will need to be asset marked and added to the equipment inventory. This has to be recognised that it is a time consuming exercise which shouldn't be underestimated.

• Do give the devices to the technicians and allow them plenty of time to play with them to identify possibilities and potential problems.
• Do talk to the technician manager about workloads. Inevitably you will want to ensure the devices get to staff and learners as quickly as possible. Configuration takes time.
• Do assign at least one technician to the project and be clear about prioritising some time for it.

Regent College Project Manager's Report

Many colleges, especially those who have the advantage of their involvement in MoLeNET Phase 1, report that having “having a close liaison with the college’s IT Support staff was beneficial to the smooth running of the project. Their technical advice, support and ideas have meant that the project will continue after MoLeNET through teacher and technical support collaboration on future initiatives.” (Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College)

Moulton Consortium adds to this by confirming “The involvement from conception of the IT services team, ensuring they understand the limitations and demands of the project specification including timescales. Keeping them franchised and involved in the decision making process with regards to device selection is of key importance.”

Windows, Mac devices and systems

Some projects have realised the advantage to invest in Apple Mac equipment although have found resistance with the IT Support Teams. Aylesbury College purchased iPodTouch devices and found the issue was that the College didn't support this application.

To overcome this they invested in 4 MacBooks alongside an agreement made with the Art and Media technician to utilise the standalone Mac facility within the College.

Tower Hamlets College resolved their media streaming problem by deciding to purchase Akhter with Vidflow system. This provided the integration with Microsoft SharePoint for managing and delivering streaming media and off-air recordings as well as options for podcasts and conversion of video. They experienced many issues as a result of this problem including change of staff/expertise at the supplier, incompatibilities between server specifications and SharePoint web parts and problems with off-air strength. They feel that despite the teething problems the system has huge potential to further link different activities, projects and strategies "beyond what a streaming server alone could provide."

VoIP

VoIP has been investigated by various projects through Skype and also with a CISCO call manager system. Mobile Skype can work slowly with a delay of 2-3 seconds rendering it possibly unusable. Some projects have indicated a need for greater research to identify the best device to access VoIP calls.

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