Taecanet additions for the new school year

There has been little respite for our technical team over the summer 'holidays' with a number of ongoing activities designed to improve both the functionality of the Taecanet service, as well as the number of curriculum subjects on offer. Many thanks to our Content Creation Teachers for all related contributions. To add to our existing portfolio of KS (Key Stage) 2 & 3 History, Science and Geography, these teachers have been hard at work to improve Taecanet for all involved. We sent out a ballot to all of our school customers last term to canvas opinion on what we should develop next. Key Stage 1 materials as well as R.E. and Citizenship topped this list, so this is what we have produced! Taecanet are now offering these new subjects and KS which should be fully launched and available at the end of October.

In terms of functionality, we have also made improvements to the 'Groups' section to allow multiple user import/export as well as offering a search facility to make finding particular students much easier. There is a very useful 'explore' section available (in the Help file) so that teachers' access to valuable web materials is made even easier. We have developed a much improved Reports system as well to give teachers more information relating to individual student performance, as well as whole class information.

Virtual Classroom (see previous post 29/9/06) is also proving an interesting concept for schools, especially those with one eye on community projects such as SSAT (Specialist Schools and Academies Trust) affiliates. This service will soon be available through Taecanet and I will keep you posted on any progress regarding this valuable initiative.

We hope to continue to improve Taecanet based on feedback received from the teaching community, as this way we can truely support teacher's needs.

For some recent Case Study material proving that we are on the right track, please visit http://www.taecanet.com/ where you can view a short video diary of Holy Trinity Primary School in Cookham, Bucks. They have reported significant learning gains as a result of Taecanet usage which is great news for all involved. Long may it continue!

Taecanet to attend ASE Regional Conference 13/10/06

We would like to announce that Taecanet will be attending the Association for Science Education (ASE) Regional Conference in Leamington Spa on the 13th of October 2006. We attended the Annual ASE event at Reading University in January 2006, which we very much enjoyed, despite the near freezing conditions! I was lucky enough to meet with Gaynor Sharp who is one of the event organisers. She was so taken with our concept that it was subsequently agreed we would also attend the Regional Event in October. We are now in a much stronger position with nealy 350 school customers, and therefore we are looking forward to an even more productive day out amongst the West Midlands Science teaching community.

We will be located in the 'Innovation Zone' and would we would welcome the attendance of any interested parties. We will be available to discuss our approach to elearning and education as well as showcasing the Taecanet service. Details for this ASE event can be found at http://www.ase.org.uk/htm/regional/event.php?MeetingID=593&RegionID=7 . We look forward to meeting all involved. If you would like to arrange for specific discussions at the event please contact ian.nairn@taecanet.com

Online Educa Exhibition update

With the ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN conference and exhibition just around the corner (November 29 - December 1, 2006), they have released the Preliminary Programme for the event detailing a number of hot topics in the elearning arena. The link for this programme can be found at http://nl.xeu.de/j.cfm?i=308455&k=92046 which outlines the order of events for the relevant days.

Subjects such as 'Learning by Playing' are on the agenda and there will also be a session detailing 'Promoting Inclusivity in E-Learning'. For more details on this topic, please visit
http://nl.xeu.de/j.cfm?i=308458&k=92046 . This article touches on how using ICT's in teaching can benefit many groups of learners such as children with dyslexia, or other SEN characteristics in a way that traditional teaching cannot.

Elearning affords teachers a multitude of tools with which to choose from in order to meet the individual needs of all students....not just strong readers and writers that traditional schooling can be seen to favour.