Buying a learning platform? You need more than a pretty interface!

All local authorities and many schools are now fully aware of the Government's learning platform targets. By Spring 2008 it is planned that every pupil will have access to a personalised online learning space with the potential to support an e-portfolio, and by 2010 every school should have integrated learning and management systems.

Since BETT 2007 Ramesys has been in discussions with a number of local authorities regarding the second element of this target. Systems must communicate with each other and work together for the aspirations behind this target to become a reality. Of course integration is not a new word or concept, many have been talking about common standards and 'integration' for years, but finally the will, money and capabilities have come together simultaneously. The main driver for this is the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Academies Programme.

Local Authorities and schools have a unique opportunity to 'start again' with ICT and the chance to build a new fully integrated and managed learning platform to transform teaching and learning for students and teachers, anywhere at anytime. Within the education environment, application integration is a specialised area, requiring in-depth knowledge of schools and local authorities' inner workings. The widespread adoption of Shibboleth (Becta's strategic approach to school web content authentication and authorisation) brings the requirement for application integration more to the focus than ever before by providing a standard approach to sign-on between applications.

Enabling integration in the education sector is a core Ramesys skill. For instance in 2007 Ramesys installed a new central server farm together with the Assimilate learning platform in Manchester. The first new build school opened in September 2007 in Manchester and Wright Robinson College now benefits from a range of integrated new services including registration, email and Ramesys' online learning and collaboration tool, Assimilate.

While the aims of application integration vary and the ‘need' must be accessed on a case by case basis, common to many application integrations is the requirement for:

- improved teacher and learner access to systems

- sharing of data between systems

- seamless integration of system features

- reduced management burden

Ramesys has been working with education standards and protocols for a number of years and has vast experience and understanding in implementing and supporting these technologies. Other on-going new large scale integration projects include partnerships with local authorities in Sefton and the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest and Westminster. In each case a complex set of authority-wide, school and individual requirements are being juggled with the features of a range of technologies and online content to ensure learners and teachers maximise the benefits of a 21st century learning environment, 24/7.

'Swiping' or use of biometric identification to open a door, register, purchase lunch, take out a library book, print and then log-on to an online portal to see all this activity recorded and the next homework task is normal behaviour for many students already, and it has been easily adopted. The fact that parents could in future also see the fine detail of their offspring's day if they logon to the same portal from home or work is something students find more controversial!

To find out more visit Ramesys at stand H30/H39 at BETT 2008.