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This is a very sustainable and transferable module. Great illustration of emergent trends in educational technology. The new tools are varied for management , teaching, learning and assessment. I have been using many of them but it is very handy to have them listed and available for referral. Ideas on access to education such as videos, simulations, all aspects and multimedia as discussed in 6.3 lead to dynamic learning. The SEN cohort is also well catered for in this module with examples of assistive technology and programming applications like Scratch and BeeBot.

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Module 5.| The Effective ICT Administrator. 

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Module 5.| The Effective ICT Administrator. 

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Engaged with the survey and the quiz ....,both completed. Re the survey... very interesting findings and good to see that there was a large sample returned to give credibility to post survey analysis and conclusions. The variation across Europe on the different emphasis in technological areas such as schools, ICT infrastructure, profiles and training needs is noteworthy.

As far as I can see most ministries are getting the delivery of ICT mediated pedagogies on the cheap when one sees from the survey that 80% of administrators are double jobbing citing Czech Republic as an example.

It is clear that teacher interest in ICT is strong ....60% of administrators have a post school qualification. Is this teacher driven or ministry driven? If the former it can be concluded that there is great interest in teacher CPD.
The survey shows that the challenges are many....teacher competency development, hardware and software management, network management, privacy, e-safety and security and of course the ever changing dynamic technologies like cloud services.
What remedial action is needed? Massive I think. Firstly I believe each ministry should conduct a root and branch audit in its own country. The spheres to be audited in my opinion would be school infrastucture and resources, leadership and planning in schools, existing ICT culture in schools, ICT curricular integration, teacher competencies and avenues/facilities for teacher qualifications and recognition.

The role of the ICT administrator was well illustrated in the two case studies from Ireland and Iceland. We got very direct answers from Peter to very well constructed questions while Kolbrun provided us with an itemised list of the myriad of tasks that the job entails.
The challenges illustrated per the videos and padlet contributions certainly seem to resonate across Europe. As far as I can see the challenges are poor infrastructure/broadband connectivity, tech support and proper designated budgets.
It is emerging as this course progresses that costs /budgets are big problems. Paul Hynes' contribution gives intersting insights where value for money can be achieved.
Re personal professional I have completed many Schoolnet Academy courses. Also I design and deliver in-service training for colleagues on behalf of the Irish PDST...Professional Development Service for Teachers. As an Irish e-Twinning ambassador I am currently delivering online training for prospective and established e-Twinners.
On the Activities section of course there are challenges and problems. But challenges and problems bring opportunities. It is a pity that ministries do not appreciate, as they should, the triangulation of resource/infrastructure provision, digital teacher training and tech support. Lack of these or partial provision of same brings to mind the analogy of the gold miners who have at last discovered the gold mine and now realise to their horror that they have no shovels.
On the other hand even working on an ad hoc basis or finding out as you along teachers get the opportunity of experiencing integrated pedagogical, digital and technical training not to mention the fourth element.... the critical mass that is a derivative of those aforementioned three elements.
On the question of problems faced by administrators I enumerate the following three ..
1. The Morphing from the traditional to the digital mindset.
2. Provision of Hardware and Software multimedia devices.
3. School evaluation and policy making in the areas of age related, graduated digital content aligned to the national curriculum.

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There are good suggestions in the reading list on cyber/electronic security. For ease in solving problems issues are looked at under two defined headings which makes the resources more user friendly:

1.Technical Issues.
2. Human Issues.

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The ICT Administrator's Poll has been completed and submitted.

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Firstly as it is fast approaching it is important to keep in mind that 7th of February 2017 is e-Safety Day a most important reference point.

This is a valuable site,
www.esafetylabel.eu
and is a tremendous hands on resource. Another valuable site is the accidental outlaw site which through a suite of searching scenarios presents situations related to blogging, tweeting, copyright law, selling on the internet etc. It is well worth taking the accidental outlaw test.
You may be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised. Here is the link.

http://accidentaloutlaw.knowthenet.org.uk/

Another good idea is to organise a visit from the school-police liaison officer who would deliver a talk on e-Safety from the legal angle.

European Commission update on e-Privacy.

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Firstly the mobile phones and the seemingly eternal debate as to whether they should be allowed in school or not. My own belief based on the litigant culture that exists in Ireland at the moment is no. Of course I can see the value of the mobile phone and its potential benefits particularly in the flipped classroom scenario where multimedia resources can be quickly accessed, analysed and relevant data integrated into lessons/projects.
If mobile phone usage is to be adopted a very defined robust policy must be put in place. Before getting as far as this point serious meetings must be held with parents/guardians and parental /guardian permission documents must be signed and incorporated into the updated school AUP. Of course if parents/guardians want to opt out I have a document for them to sign as well. Saying you are opting out without signing is not enough. The areas of sanctions, storage, potential thievery and confiscation would all have to be definitively decided on. I would not use the phone for online dynamic events.There are other ways to use it For example a non online event would be a literacy exercise such as building up vocabulary.... Pupils in pairs, one with a phone another with the excel sheet on the phone. Start in alphabetical order taking pictures of objects named from A - Z . At the end of the day a class with 10 pairs will have some repository.

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Firstly anti-virus and firewalls ...it goes without saying !!!! Accessibility through the choice of good user names and very strong password which contain a multiplicity of alpha-numeric characters is a very simple but robust element.There must also be a policy on using external disc and USBs in place. Blocking of dangerous websites and the reasons why is also a requisite.Teachers should also be aware shutting down the system and then know how to restore it from a reference point.

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Module 4 | 4.2. Securing your School's Infrastructure.

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Module 4 | 4.2. Securing your School's Infrastructure.

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There are good definitions of Viruses, Worms, Spyware and Ransomware all part of dangers of Malware discussed in this module. Good defenses such as Firewalls, anti virus, blocking websites, staff training, protocol creation and the appointment of a designated person to address security problems and consequences are suggested. In the case of sensitive data we are made aware of the dangers of downloading to or indeed installing from portable devices. Once again the theme of social engineering and other forms of electronic trickery are touched on.

Interesting European Commission document here !!!!!!!!
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/presentation-eprivacy-regulation

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Vigilance is so important as security is a full time concern when operating in the electronic world. The weakness of human nature is explored through the activities of social engineering and the twilight zone operations of phishing, leaks, spoof IDs and spoof sites. Again this shows the need for strong rules, discipline and end user training.Intrusion is explored and we are shown the value of network monitoring tools like Nagios, Cacti and Snort. There is also good advice on what to do and what not to do in the areas of developing robust safety and security policies.

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Happy New Year.

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Predicated on the dual issues of security and privacy it has to be said that there are major educational benefits be it set up costs , storage, accessibility, productivity, engagement, collaboration, sharing and presentation.

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Module 3 | 3.3. WHY Cloud Services in School?

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Module 3 | 3.3. WHY Cloud Services in School?

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Assuming that leaders and teachers can satisfy themselves on the issues of privacy and security the advantages are obvious. ....access anywhere, anytime, collaborize, storage, evaluate, get feedback. The integrated use of approach as Prezi, Dropbox, Padlet, Google Docs ...all advantages in dynamic teaching and learning.
I attach a Prezi link to a project entitled "European Citizenship."

https://prezi.com/hg3z9ufpwoze/the-blue-star-project/

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Module 3 | 3.2. WHICH Cloud Services in School?

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Module 3 | 3.2. WHICH Cloud Services in School?

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I have had good experience with Dropbox as a storage medium, Google Docs for surveys, analysis of same and consequent planning, Padlet for literacy particularly for comprehension eg Any story... being precise on the location ad date/time of any story, profiling the main and subsidiary characters which populate any story, focusing on story plot, identifying the multiple challenges faced, resolution of the dilemma, the outcome and resolution and of course, the development of an alternative outcome. I have used PREZI  for presentations with a good mix of multimedia
The Framework:  Search , Work, Connect, Organise, Manage and Store lends to greater focus.

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The 3 videos that open this module are very informative and easily assimilated. Whether they are studied collectively or as a unit, each on a stand alone basis, one formulates a definitive idea on the concept of "cloud computing". The technical information on the outlined 3 services is not overloading and also well presented while the third video stimulates good ground line debate on the pros and cons of possible "cloud" migration.

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Module 2 | 2.6. Additional Viewing and Reading.

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Module 2 | 2.6. Additional Viewing and Reading.

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The selected reading is and will be a great resource for the topic under discussion and will add to its sustainability and transferability.

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Module 2 | 2.4. Sharing some Activities.

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Module 2 | 2.4. Sharing some Activities.

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The use of smartphones and personal tablets is prohibited in line withe school's AUP (Acceptable User Policy) which staff, students and parents have signed.

It must be remembered however that BYOD is not all about devices such as smartphones and personal tablets. We have used handhelds and GPS capturing devices. The handheld device has the full office suite where students write word docs and generate graphs and 3-D charts. An added bonus is the fact that the docs mostly essays and reports are done at home which involves parents. These essays are edited  on the IWB at school. This improves construction, sequencing, presentation and incidental peer to peer evaluation and appreciation.

The GPS device captures data in real time such as school bus journeys, shopping, football and educational trips and tour. The captured data is illustrated on the IWB. Real time maths problem solving situations such as time, speed and distance to mention but a few present themselves and are critically and logically addressed. These two devices which need no internet connectivity greatly improve literacy and numeracy in all age and class groups.

Here is a link to the blog ran in tandem with the GPS device lesson plans.
http://brosnadistrict.blogspot.ie/

Below is the journey profile.This profile is the basis for our Data Analysis exploration.

What does the x-axis represent?
What does the y-axis represent?
What is the length of the journey?
What was the highest point on the journey?
What was the lowest point on the journey?
What is the average altitude?
Have you any idea why the profile looks like this?
Where do you think is The River Feale?
What is the altitude at 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 km.on the journey?
Make a list of Data Analysis terms

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Guillermo and Sergio have excelled themselves with this presentation. 1.The very good reasons for the usage of BYOD are well documented.
2. The challenges are equally well pointed out giving a balance to the discussion.
3.The need for solid ground rules is well addressed.
4.The actual physical infrastructure including password management is dealt with.
5. Also technical issues (signals) and implementation of BYOD teaching and learning  eg. number of pupils and the use of tickets is examined.

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Module 2 | 2.1. Setting up a Wireless Network.

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Module 2 | 2.1. Setting up a Wireless Network.

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Our system is a mini version of Hermann's due to the fact that we are a small institution. We have a wireless connectivity, a router and a switch panel which delivers to the different classrooms. Each classroom has its own individual username and password.Each classroom has an internet connected IWB which also has its own sound system. There is a computer/laptop/tablet inventory well in excess of the desired national pupil to computer ratio saturation of 1:1. There is also a dedicated computer for the SEN cohort. (Special Educational Needs) The network also has an administrative computer which is used for parent/teacher, Board of Management and business with departmental and community activities. There is an emphasis and with very good reason on security, supervision and monitoring.
There is an access point in each room  to bolster transmission and reception.
Technical issues are dealt with by a local contractor hen the need arises.

There has to be theory and hands on activity to get one's head around the concept of internet networks and connectivity. I think a combination of Herman's delivery and the usage of slides from the webinar in Module 1 goes a long way to understand the theory and the practice.

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Module 1 | 1.7. Upgrading The School Infrastructure.

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Module 1 | 1.7. Upgrading The School Infrastructure.

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The area of Arts Education is being looked at and this will decide on the upgrade.
The Performing Arts in this context has three strands:
1. Visual Arts... Digital Visual Arts in this case.
2. Performing and Composing.
3. Drama.
Resources needed here will include Image manipulating software, visualisers,cameras, digi-cameras, headsets, microphones, DVD writers.
As can be seen there is quite a fusion of pedagogy, digital skills and technical work involved here.
It will also add greatly to the school inventory.

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Unfortunately I missed the webinar as on Wednesdays I deliver inservice ICT online training to colleagues.
However i have studied the contents and found the graphics very useful.

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Module 1 | 1.5. Educational Purpose of The ICT Infrastructure.

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Module 1 | 1.5. Educational Purpose of The ICT Infrastructure.

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The school has a very definitive ICT policy which all parents have signed .
All classrooms are equipped with IWBs and associated sound systems plus satisfactory internet connectivity.. Within the classroom the emphasis is on the mediation of digital literacy and digital numeracy.
To cater for our SEN (Special Educational Needs) cohort the school has invested in assistive technology.
In the computer room we have plenary sessions where projects of a curricular, co-curricular and extra curricular themes are initiated, selected and designed. Projects can be local based eg. production of community news letter, national based such as projects on the environment, road/farm safety, international projects like e-Twinning and other projects on European Citizenship.

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Module 1 | 1.4. ICT Vision and Planning.

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Module 1 | 1.4. ICT Vision and Planning.

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There are some splendid points raised in this presentation.However, it is now becoming apparent to me that there is some ambiguity about the title ICT administrator in the context of the said presentation. Does administrator mean tasks involving the physical resources, functionality and infrastructure in the school? The promotion of teaching and learning is the primary purpose of a school. It appears to me that an ICT co-ordinator and not an ICT administrator is responsible for the fulfilment of this primary purpose. Are there teachers out there who are both?

I also have to disagree with the premise that "the school vision is a basic component of its ICT infrastructure" To me the  school vision is the primary over riding element, indeed, pillar of a school's philosophy and ethos.

Our integrated ICT school vision is based on the following five pillars.

1. Leadership.

2.ICT Curriculum Integration.

3. ICT School Culture.

4. Continual Professional Development for Academic and ancillary Staff.

5. Adequate resources, best possible connectivity and infrastructure.

To me the administrator's role should relate to procurement and functional areas, based on assessment of the network needs as rightly pointed out, such as network services, network type, network structure, network servers,applications, security,safety, growth and capacity planning.

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The 3 case studies delivered here give an easily assimilated report of a spectrum of infrastructure ranging from the simple to the elaborate. The language is not very technical which is what one generally meets when dealing with this topic. Good graphics enhance the explanation and provide a good mental picture of what an infrastructure looks like.

The second case study gives a good account of the ever present problem of connectivity and offers some remedial action.

The third study explores two situations...working without an external support and the working with external support. I found the external support interesting firstly because it takes the teacher out of the technical but also the idea that Hermann raised on exploring partnerships with industry.

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Module 1 | Graphic Illustration/3 Case Studies.

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Module 1 | Graphic Illustration/3 Case Studies.

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A non -technical mental image.

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My name is Thomas Roche. I am from Ireland. I live in County Kerry in the Province of Munster in the south-west of the country. I am a former Irish Primary School Principal of many years experience. I am now an e-Twinning Ambassador and a tutor with the Irish PDST-TiE (Professional Development Service for Teachers-Technology in Education.)

Here is a bit of history about my surname ROCHE. The Roche surname is in Ireland since 1169 AD with the arrival of the Norman colonisation of the country and has contributed to Irish History in a major way over the past 8 centuries.