SharePoint Portal:
Based on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 this offers users single sign onto their personal dashboard using their Active Directory username and password. This enables users to access school services such email, MIS, library, content and more without the need to logon again.
The user dashboard contains a mix of personal and general information coming from different sources. With the use of SIMS Web Parts teachers have read / write access to SIMS and parents can see their own child’s attendance, assessment and behaviour information as well as lesson plans plus homework status and detail.
Built into the platform is the unlimited use of wikis, forums, blogs and surveys and the ability to create web pages for curriculum and class sites.
SIMS Web Parts:
This technology enables SIMS to be web based. Teachers have read / write access to Assessment Manager, Attendance, Behaviour and Profiles. Parents are able to see their own child’s attendance, assessment and behaviour information and they can also see reports created from Assessment Manager.
Timetable Web Part:
The MIS integration software integrates the users and groups with Active Directory and displays an attractive timetable for each user. The timetable can be used as an interface to launch other modules such as LaunchPad or Homework Tracker. This intuitive interface can also be used to link to class sites using ClassConnect or subject sites.
Parents and students also see the timetable on their dashboards and permission can be granted to enable teachers to see other teachers’ timetables.
ClassConnect:
ClassConnect automatically creates a class site in SharePoint for each student group in school. These template based sites are typically used for class specific discussion, collaborative work or long term projects.
QuickLink:
This tool enables teachers and students to access their My Documents on the school network and network shared resources from outside of school. Users are able to open documents on the school network, edit them and save them directly back to the network.
LaunchPad:
LaunchPad enables a teacher to attach lesson plans onto their timetable. They can deliver their lessons directly from their timetable and make resources available for students to view. This module automatically creates a “Lesson View” by launching a simple editing tool with the attached resources embedded within it. This enables the teacher to enter lesson objects and images to make the lesson more visual.
Homework Tracker:
Homework Tracker enables a teacher to set a homework task to the full class or to individual students enabling differentiation. Homework can be a simple instruction or a whole set of resources. This module includes a comprehensive tracking system which includes an electronic mark book for the teacher and a homework diary for the students. The status of individual homework tasks for individual students can be completely tracked from handout to completion.
Assessment Tracker:
This web part takes the live data from sIms assessment manager and displays it in an attractive tabular format. The school may choose to have a different template for each year group. The management system running behind the scenes enables the administrator to choose which aspects from assessment manager to display in each of the table cells. This Web Part can be displayed on a real time basis to parents enabling them to easily monitor their child’s progress.
Exam Tracker:
This Web Part takes the live examination data from sIms and displays the exam timetable and results through the portal to each individual student and their parents.
i-space:
i-space is a secure personalised learning space. This module is ideal for schools looking for a product to meet ILP requirements. These areas provide a space for assignments and course work, a blogging area, a place for collaborative work and a means for a student to monitor their own attainment on a real time basis.
Student Password Reset:
This tool enables the teacher to quickly reset a student active Directory password thus preventing any down time in the lesson.
Third Party Integration:
Our basic installation includes integration with other schools systems such as Microsoft Exchange, web mail and existing VLEs such as Moodle.
We have also developed Web Parts for other third part content companies such as I Am Learning and Vivo. These Web Parts enable these systems to be integrated within the portal and are accessed through the single sign on system. Other partners include Eclipse.net and Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Coursebuilder:
Coursebuilder is a custom site template used to create, manage and present subject course content. Course materials can be structured into units or modules with an easy-to-use page editor. Video and sound files can be easily added to course pages - the software will automatically generate the correct player for the media file type. Youtube and Vimeo video files (if allowed by the school's web filtering policy) can also be quickly embedded into course unit pages.
Coursebuilder supports the full range of 'social learning' tools such as wikis, discussion forums, blogs and surveys.
Resource Booking:
The Resource Booking Web Part provides a solution through which school rooms and resources can be booked for use by members of staff. The Web Part displays a customised calendar-type view of the current day (with next and previous day buttons) that shows current bookings of rooms and resources. Users can book rooms by clicking on a free room and entering the booking description in a pop-up window. The Web Part also displays colour-coding for 'my' bookings and scheduled bookings (where a room is pre-booked for a defined period or timetabled use).
Event Tracker:
Event Tracker extends the standard calendar component to provide school and college specific flexible event tracking and presentation options. Event Tracker allows event items to be easily targeted (permissions set) for different user groups, and for events to be categorised by type (such as: staff events, student events, smT events, governor events, sport etc.).
Event Tracker includes a custom 'mini calendar' Web Part that provides a month view clickable calendar, an instant view of today's events, a pop-up view of today's events in detail, a pop-up chart listing events by time and category, a monthly view of events and a 'daily bulletin' option to provide users with an overview of today's activities and events which can include images, text formatting and media. Event Tacker also has options to colour code specific school weeks and holiday periods.