http://www.neelf.com/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:20:33 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss e-Learning Foundation 3000 Hillswood Drive Hillswood Business Park Chertsey Surrey KT16 0RS T: 01932 796036 F: 01932 796660 E: info@e-learningfoundation.com http://www.neelf.com/2009/06/contact_information_1.html http://www.neelf.com/2009/06/contact_information_1.html 07 Contact Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:20:33 +0000 AN entire year group at a Redcar and Cleveland school is getting online as part of a ground-breaking computer scheme. All 140 parents of Year 7 pupils at Redcar Community College signed up to receive a laptop thanks to grant funding from the North East e-Learning Foundation (NEELF). The Foundation provided the College with a grant of £20,000 last summer, with each family asked to consider making a small monthly donation of less than £10. As part of a family learning project, each family has also been provided with all the educational software required to support their child’s education, and all are taking part in a series of family learning sessions to provide an introduction on how to get the best out of the machine. The Toshiba laptop is part of a package worth nearly £2,000, with those taking part donating just a fraction of the total cost. The scheme, backed by Redcar and Cleveland Council, also enables parents to monitor their child’s progress at school, making them more engaged in the educational process, with further input from the local authority’s adult learning team to provide more learning experiences for the families. The North East e-Learning Foundation targets social inequality. In the 21st Century children who do not have access to ICT including the Internet are proven to be educationally disadvantaged, limiting life chances. Schools that have partnered the Foundation, many of them in some of the region’s most deprived communities, have attracted £2-3 of parental support for every grant pound invested in a home access initiative. Over the past two years £300,000 of grant funds have been transformed into £1.1m worth of ICT resource, providing not only the students but also their families with extended learning opportunities. Head Teacher Stuart Rees said: “The Family Learning Laptop project is one of the most exciting and important initiatives that has been launched at Redcar Community College in the recent past. “The project goes far beyond merely distributing laptops to all Year 7 students. It not only combines a programme of tutorials for the parents and their children which not only familiarises them with the range of software provided with the laptop, but gets right to the heart of showing parents how they can become actively engaged in helping their children learn and do better in their schoolwork. “Watching the parents and their children enjoying learning together has been one of the most inspirational educational experiences of my career and encapsulates all that we are trying to do as a school to raise the aspirations and attainment of our students and the wider community. “The Project has also given the teaching staff a tantalising glimpse of the potential of 21st Century teaching and learning.” The North East e-Learning Foundation commented: “We held a meeting at the Community College to introduce the scheme and the response from parents was fantastic. “Our aim is to bridge the digital divide – the laptop helps to stimulate interest and get parents more involved in their children’s education. “To aid this involvement we encourage schools to run introductory IT courses for the families, Redcar are doing this with great success, running numerous sessions over a five-week period tailored to individual levels of experience, ranging from beginners to advanced.” Redcar Community College Deputy Head Teacher David Kennedy added: “We wanted to make an impact in the community and I hope that in three years’ time we will have a school where everybody has a laptop and free internet access. “The benefits are enormous, and affect the whole family. “With free internet access, they are able to learn everything from home shopping to internet banking. “We are also rolling out the school portal which allows parents to access information about the school and even look at their child’s attendance records. “It’s also a possible precursor to further family learning in literacy, maths and IT, for example, which could lead to qualifications and even employment. “I really believe this has the potential to lift the whole area, helping parents to become computer-literate and able to access the kind of information that was previously unavailable to them.” David Major, Senior Adviser for Schools (ICT) with Redcar and Cleveland Council, said: “The school has taken the Computers for Pupils initiative and really made it extend the role of their school in the local community. “The way they have risen to the challenge as leaders is a great credit to them and their vision for the role of the school within the whole community. “They do not see the scheme as an add-on but central to the moral purpose of the school.” Redcar MP Vera Baird said: “I am very impressed by the Family Learning Project: it is the sort of cutting-edge thinking which can really transform communities. “Not only are children learning vital skills for their futures, but adults can also use the computers to improve their job prospects. “IT skills are vital in the modern economy, and it’s crucial to give young people the best chance, as the NEELF are helping to do. It is an excellent scheme.” http://www.neelf.com/2008/01/more_lorem_ipsum.html http://www.neelf.com/2008/01/more_lorem_ipsum.html 05 News Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:13:27 +0000 In planning for most complex projects ‘the devil is in the detail’, and planning an e-learning initiative is certainly no exception in this respect. Introducing e-learning is about managing a series of interconnecting and mutually related issues, all of which add up to a successful project. Managing any form of change is best seen as a process rather than an event, and this section of the website provides support notes that tackle some of the issues which will contribute to the success or failure of that change process. http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/intoducing_an_elearning_strate.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/intoducing_an_elearning_strate.html 02 Schools Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:27:23 +0000 The North East e-Learning Foundation understands the demands that regular donation collection can place on a school project. Working in partnership with Unity Trust Bank, the North East e-Learning Foundation has developed a Donation Management Service (DMS), to remove the administrative burden associated with the handling of regular donations allowing you time to focus on running your project. http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/managing_project_funds.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/managing_project_funds.html 02 Schools Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:43:01 +0000 PDAs are the best thing since sliced bread, debate......... http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/pdas_are_here_to_stay.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/pdas_are_here_to_stay.html 06 Debate Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:01:09 +0000 £300,000 worth of grant funding over the past two years. The funding has come from both regional and national sources and in all cases has formed just part of the funding mix of school led home access projects. This section of the site looks in detail at the types of funding available, how schools can apply for a grant and also the criteria that a school can expect to have associated with incoming funds.]]> http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/grant_funding.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/grant_funding.html 02 Schools Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:43:36 +0000 Existing North East e-Learning Foundation projects http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/live_projects.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/live_projects.html 02 Schools Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:28:27 +0000 Text to follow http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/articles_research.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/articles_research.html 02 Schools Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:44:21 +0000 Text to follow. http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/resource_centre_1.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/resource_centre_1.html 02 Schools Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:44:59 +0000 Text to follow. http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/suppliers_1.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/suppliers_1.html 02 Schools Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:45:27 +0000 October 10th - 12th, London Now in its third year the Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition has established itself as the signature event for those interested in opportunities presented by “always-on” learning. ]]> http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/handheld_learning_2006_confere.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/08/handheld_learning_2006_confere.html 04 Events Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:26:28 +0000 9th - 12th January 2008, London BETT is the world's leading educational ICT event, attracting over 600 educational suppliers and close to 30000 visitors, and bringing together the global teaching and learning community for four days of innovations and inspirations. ]]> http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/bett_2008.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/bett_2008.html 04 Events Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:02:35 +0000 Children from Ravensworth Primary School, Normanby will be testing their wildlife knowledge with the help of special handheld computers at Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park this week. http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/children_on_nature_trail_thank.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/children_on_nature_trail_thank.html 05 News Fri, 13 Jul 2007 13:48:04 +0000 Story to follow http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/lorem_ipsum.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/lorem_ipsum.html 05 News Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:15:10 +0000 School invests in Laptop library to reduce digital divide Ann Baxter, Director of Children’s Services (DCS), will officially launch a new e-learning project at The Village Primary school, in a bid to reduce the digital divide in the North East. A laptop library is being opened to the children of years 5 and 6 in the first phase of a brand new project. http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/director_of_childrens_services.html http://www.neelf.com/2007/07/director_of_childrens_services.html 05 News Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:13:29 +0000