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Brian Cunningham

Thursday 15 June 2006

I was out of school yesterday, and just about to go into a meeting when I heard that I had been successful in becoming an SSDN mentor. I am more than chuffed to say the least.

The Scottish Technicians Advisory Group meeting went well. There was a good turnout from around 25 of the 32 local authorities and a lot of topics were discussed.

We started off talking about the national conference to be held at Crieff Hydro in November and made decisions about what kind of format it would take. The feedback from last year’s conference was analysed and it was decided to have less keynote speakers and spend more time in working groups / workshops.

We then moved on and discussed the fact that wood dust had now been assigned a maximum exposure limit (MEL). This has implications for technical technicians.

In Glasgow every CDT technician will be fitted for a personal dust mask. A medical is to be carried out before the mask is fitted to the contours of the technicians face, and if the person in question is in possession of a beard then a special mask is needed, at the approximate cost of £400. I made a note to contact our health and safety department to see how the change of legislation will affect staff in East Lothian.

A report was given regarding the CPD courses for technicians currently being trialled. All candidates passed the various courses and the Scottish Schools Equipment Research Council are now waiting for them to be assessed and accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Unfortunately due to a clerical error I wasn’t passed the nomination forms for personnel who wished to take part in the trials but I am hopeful that support staff from East Lothian will take a full part in the next round of courses.

Management training for senior technicians was raised. Many promoted staff had gained access to corporate management schemes but it was felt that all staff should be offered the opportunity to take part in management training to enhance their opportunities for promotion.

A potential problem with Phihorn power adaptors was discussed. These adaptors, in some circumstances, had broken apart, leaving two, bare, live terminals that could cause serious injury if touched. They had been found being used in conjunction with some makes of interactive white boards and may be supplied as standard with some types of PDA etc

On my way home on the train I talked to a technician who was also a network administrator for schools in Dumfries and Galloway. We chatted about ICT etc and he told me that because of the rural nature of the schools he worked in, it was difficult to get fast internet access. Up until fairly recently some schools were still using dial up. I asked if satellite access was an option, he said they had thought about it but the expense was prohibitive.

I wonder what implications issues such as speed and remote locations will have on the delivery of the Scottish Schools Digital Network?

Comments

SSDN Mentors

John Connell, Director, SSDN

Sunday 18 June 2006

Brian - welcome on board! It's great to see the local authorities across the country selecting people for the mentoring role who are thoughtful, committed to the purposeful use of ICT in education, and who will bring energy to the role. I look forward to meeting you at some point in the context of SSDN over the coming months!

The question of connectivity for the rural areas of Scotland is a big one for a country with the particular topology that we have. D&G and the Borders, of course, are in the South of Scotland Pathfinder project - that project is nearing fruition and both authorities should see decent levels of broadband begin to roll out to their schools over the next couple of years. With the Northern Pathfinder also getting close to contract (I believe) this will still leave some large swathes of rural Scotland with a problem in relation to broadband. Interestingly, not all of the most problematic areas are in necessarily 'rural' parts of Scotland - many central belt authorities have substantial rural hinterlands that suffer from the same issues.

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