Greater Easterhouse Learning Network
Progress Report
July 2002
Introduction
The Greater Easterhouse Learning Network is now moving from preparation to an action stage. It’s taken two years or so to get here, from initial partnership formation, establishment of the vision, preparation of funding applications, discussions with funding bodies and partners and over this year so far, the preparatory work to get the centres ready and now machines getting set up for installation. We’ve even had a change of name from the ‘ICT Network’ to the ‘Learning Network’, keeping us focused on the goal of enhancing capacity through developing local skills and knowledge – and access to support for them. At the start of the year I came in to begin the overall management of the network development; we’ve now got a web editor in place and in the next month will be employing a support officer to assist us make it all work (more about this and much else below).
The report is deliberately wide-ranging to give a flavour of the whole of the network development rather than just the learning centre readiness, and I hope that it’s found helpful by a range of people. The same report will go on the web for anyone who wants to know about how things are progressing, and will also be given to the Lifelong Learning committee of the Greater Easterhouse Partnership board, but it’s really aimed at everyone supporting the network in the organisations hosting the learning centres, for whose continued patience I’ve been grateful.
The report should at least let whoever reads it know enough about the network and its progress to be able to ask questions.
Craig Green
Network Manager
Phase one preparation
The following organisations have refurbishment work completed and connections in place ready for the opening of their learning centres:
- Calvay Social Activities & Arts Centre
- Cyber Zone
- Easterhouse Women’s Centre Information and Support Project
- FARE (Family Action in Rodgerfield and Easterhouse)
- Garthamlock Community Enterprise Centre
- New Horizons
- The WWW Pavilion
The Garthamlock Community Enterprise Centre and the Cyberzone both bring to the network existing PCs and other equipment - and invaluable experience and expertise in the running of community learning centres. John Wheatley College, through the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, is supplying PCs to the others.
The PCs have been ordered and the template machine has just had its set up completed. The college has ordered 90 machines; the first 40 to be sited in the phase one learning centres in the next few weeks (see the computer systems section below for more information).
Phase two preparation
The following organisations have work at tender stage:
- Bishoploch Hall
- Cranhill Women’s Forum
- Community Connections
- Easthall Community Hall
- Quarriers Ruchazie Family Resource Centre
- Ruchazie Community Centre
Other learning centres
The college also brings in two staffed centres – the Flexible Learning Centre of the main Easterhouse campus, and the Queenslie Learning Centre. The initial target was for 15 learning centres, and we’re there. The aim is to cover all the neighbourhoods in Greater Easterhouse in the context of a range of community services, supporting learning where people want to go anyway, supporting community services by supporting access to learning.
Attention will now be given to relationships with other learning centres; in particular local schools and the REAL centres supported by the City’s Cultural and Leisure Services, who despite not being on the network directly will be able to act as partners in many services many services through their Internet connections.
Computer systems and related equipment
The learning centres will be supplied with between 4 and 11 PCs depending on the nature of their location, and each with a laser printer that will be shared with the PCs. The PCs are made by Dell systems, the biggest direct supplier to the UK - and the specifications (P4 1.8s) provide value for money and ensure that they can run the latest software for a good time to come. We’ve got the first of the systems and have been setting up and testing it, to be returned this week to Dell, who’ll be making the first copies ready for delivery and installation to first phase learning centres in the next month. At delivery they’ll be unpacked, set up and the packing taken away.
We should be able to get delivery and installation for the machines in the week beginning 26 August or the following one – the form that goes out along with this report asks if there are dates in that those weeks that would be a problem for access. This time is aimed for because of holiday and staff training arrangements.
The printers will arrive in something like 10 weeks – the delay is caused by trying where possible to go through a single supplier and we regard this estimation as a worst case scenario – we’ll hurry things along as best as we can. This timescale has been accepted partly because delays in getting the final funding package together have meant that only now are we making progress in confirming final budgets – the money for the PCs etc was in early, but the maintenance of them is an issue that has to be settled in the context of final confirmation of funding.
The printers ordered will be black toner lasers to keep the consumable costs down. We’ll arrange a colour printing service available that will cover costs only.
Questions have been asked about the supply of other equipment, subject to the same delivery estimate as the printers. The college has ordered 15 CDRW drives, one for each of the initial learning centres, enabling the creation of CDs in each centre. There’s also a scanner on its way for each of the learning centres, and headphones for each of the PCs. There’s also ordered 4 DVD drives for the learning centres who already have PCs but not built-in DVD players to make sure they’re also able to play DVD’s from the college library or elsewhere.
Resource sharing
The college has agreed to handle all types of learning resources through its library management system, due to be upgraded this year. This forward-looking library service will be able to lend out laptop machines, DVDs and digital cameras as well as look after making web sites for learning available to everyone through its own web based system – and of course they’ll still lend the more traditional resources like books and magazines. All this is under development, but it’s on its way.
Consumable costs
The college has been asked an obvious question about the cost of consumables (ink cartridges, paper and disks) that’s nonetheless been difficult to answer. The college already bears the cost of the computers and the connections to the learning centres, as well as the development costs of the back-end systems needed to support learning across the whole of the area. It can’t commit to any increase in costs it’s not funded for and which is impossible to know in advance. There’s a small allowance for the whole of the project (about £5,000 per year) that will start us off.
There’ll be an initial allocation of paper and toner, but the supply will be capped when the budget has been consumed. The college is expecting to cover costs of college students printing their own work, but the Internet is so full of information begging to be printed and taken away that a charge of about 5p a sheet for Internet printing is probably, just to keep costs in order and to cover any additional supplies that learning centres want to buy for other purposes. More detail about the allocation after the summer.
Email entitlement
The network of PCs providing Internet access to learners is only half the story. Most of Internet traffic has nothing to with web sites providing information for browsing – it’s email that’s the cause of the Internet’s success. An email address and the skills needed to use it are becoming invaluable in all areas, including in the search for jobs, and the college is this year extending its email system to all its students who will be able to use the system in the learning centres. In this strategy the college shows its determination to fight digital exclusion through its local services.
This entitlement to email also applies to all the learning centre volunteers, who’ll get both email and access to a folder on the system. This system will enable us to ask questions, let everyone see the answers and to learn together from the experience of running the centres. Make no mistake, we’re breaking new ground and learning as we go so we’ll need a system that lets us solve problems together. We’re all wearing L plates as we develop the learning network, including the college, including me. At least we’ll not be bored.
Training programme
Meetings of learning centre representatives have agreed a basic training specification – covering basic the Internet and email skills and the understanding of good practice in the use of the network. Although the training carries with it an optional SQA certificate, it’s not too advanced and is designed to get us up and running. Later, when we’ve got everything running smoothly (it will happen) there’ll be the options to undergo more advanced training supporting learning centres (the Certificate in Learning Centre Operations) and developing IT skills (ECDL, and others).
Acceptable use policy
The acceptable use policy suggested by the Greater Easterhouse Partnership has been adopted, with a few amendments, by the college Board of Management.
Our protections are as follows:
- The PCs will demand a login name and password from the user. To start with, we’ll have to use just the one standard account (name; student, password; wheatley). During this year the college will be developing more sophisticated systems that’ll require everyone to use their own personal account, strengthening the system even further. For now, we’ll have to get everyone to sign a daily sheet with the time and machine details.
- The learning centres will be supported by volunteers. While this does not mean the volunteer has to be present every minute of opening operations (no-one likes being continually watched while working) it does mean that the volunteer will at least nip in and out to make sure everything’s ok, and unacceptable use will be discouraged simply by the presence of responsible people.
- The college has installed a device that sits between the college network and the Internet connection monitoring Internet use, blocking sites known to be a problem and allowing us the opportunity to block additional sites if needed – the database of problem Internet sites gets automatically updated by the security company anyway.
- All users of the network will be expected to sign acceptance of the ICT acceptable use policy. No one will be able to use a machine without their attention being drawn to the policy by the system even before they get the login screen. Anyone then going on to use the Internet will be met by a further reminder. There will also be notices to put on the walls.
The network is designed to enhance the capacity of Greater Easterhouse by providing access to modern IT facilities across the whole of the area and by supporting learning using the systems. The network is built on the determination of the partners to see things right and always improving for Greater Easterhouse – learning centre organisations, the college, the social inclusion partnership, the development company, elected representatives and more – and risks to the network through unacceptable use will not be tolerated. The learning network will be fit for all to use, and kept that way.
The Greater Easterhouse Pathfinder
Building on the successful Pathfinder Information Project which installed the ‘Touch and Go’ kiosks and a starter Greater Easterhouse web directory, the learning network also takes on the task of developing a ‘community portal’ web site – a route through to all sorts of information about Greater Easterhouse and services operating in it. The interruptions in funding (Pathfinder funding running out before the ERDF funding came in) meant that for a while the project was stalled. It’s great to be able to report that it’s now coming alive again with the employment of a talented web editor, Julie Finch, who’s developing a range of new services to support the portal.
We’re renaming the ‘Touch and Go’ web site the Greater Easterhouse Pathfinder, recognising both that the learning centres mean access in all the Greater Easterhouse neighbourhoods as well as the five with touch screens (the web site’s also a better experience on a PC) and also recognising the original efforts supported by Pathfinder funding. Other changes are coming too – the navigation of the web site will be simplified and we’re making the basic design more streamlined, but the main change will be in the nature of the information publishing service.
The original project created a page each for about 160 organisations providing services in the area based on standard headings; a one size fits all approach needed in early days. Julie will offer the option of a set of pages using a range of simple templates and colour schemes to suit the organisations’ own headings, and the college will be offering courses in web site creation for people who want to make their own designs (these courses will assume that students are beginners and so last about 120 hours in total). The college has begun discussions with support organisations in the area to develop support for ecommerce skills for community organisations.
There’ll be new sections for the site including local news and events, job opportunities (a development underway in close partnership with GEDC), the learning network itself, a search section and more – community services will be a section in its own right, and Glasgow-wide services not directly for Greater Easterhouse but useful to residents will be in another section. We’ll be looking for your feedback about the site and will announce major changes as they’re ready to be published.
The first priority for the Pathfinder has to be a restructuring and reformatting of the existing content. The site has obviously grown way beyond the capacity of the original design - a victim of its own success - and the navigation of the site needs to be improved, as described above.
The top priority organisations to get the new web information services as they’re developed will be the learning centres who don’t have web sites of their own – partly because they’re organisations we’ll be working with directly anyway which makes the process a lot simpler, and partly because aye, we’re prejudiced in favour of the organisations supporting the learning network, and nae apology for it.
College course development
The college is, as said above, also learning as it goes along. It’s developing its support for Greater Easterhouse to include email entitlement and making it a reality that at last Internet and email access are not just for a well-off few, but in Greater Easterhouse are for the local neighbourhood. This means not only learning the technical side but also adjusting the teaching side. There’ll be some short courses that can be done 100% in the learning centres, some that need the occasional call into a staffed learning centre (either at the main Easterhouse campus or the Queenslie Learning Centre), and some (nearly all to start with) that will be based in classes. Classroom teaching is not going away, but we’ll be able to assume access to the best in learning technologies using the network and not have to worry about it not being available to people who couldn’t previously afford PCs and the Internet.
The support the college can provide for the area will, however, get more flexible as the opportunities of the network allow it, and training programmes are being developed to enable teaching staff to take advantage of the network. The college is already developing an HNC in computing that can be taken partly in classes, partly in the local learning centre, partly with a tutor available in one of the staffed centres. The same techniques will begin to be applied in other subject areas, with the right mix according to student, subject and teacher needs.
Systems and Procedures
The systems and procedures we need to work out in detail will be developed partly through the work a Support Officer, whose costs have been funded for six months by the Partnership. To start with, we’ll simply devise a signing in sheet we’ll ask you to make sure everyone uses which will contain a statement agreeing to abide by the acceptable use policy.
We also need to set up an operations group that all the volunteers and organisers are part of – and we’ll run that on the new email system so that everyone gets a chance to be heard.
Marketing
There’ll be two big publicity events organised – one for the opening of new learning centres around the end of October (just to give time to iron out most of the wrinkles) and one around the end of November to promote the re-organised Pathfinder web site which by then we hope will have new information – especially about the learning centre organisations. The college marketing officer will be in touch about these events and how we can best make them work for you in the next month or so.
Conclusion
The Greater Easterhouse Learning Network now moves into the action phase. Work is still underway in the background to ensure that the college systems develop to serve the network and its users as it embarks on the most ambitious educational project we know of in Scotland. We’ll be developing new partnerships based on the new opportunities and we’ll together make the network work for you, your organisation, the people you provide services to and the whole of Greater Easterhouse. To get there we’ll get a few things wrong here and there because there’s no-one else to look to to ask how it’s done and to great extent we’ll solve the problems as we go, but lifelong learning is something that applies to all of us all the time and there’s no more fun way of learning how to do things than to go out and do them, as part of a team.
I’d like to thank all the partners for their support – organisational and financial, but I’d especially like to thank those in the learning centre organisations who’ve supported the network so far, and who’ve shown such patience as we’ve been getting ready.
Here goes …
Craig Green
Manager
Greater Easterhouse Learning Network
c/o John Wheatley College
1346 Shettleston Road
Glasgow. G32 9AT
Tel 0141 588 1500
craig@jwheatley.ac.uk
26 July 2002
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