DfE Funding set to end in Q1 2021

Last Summer the Department for Education announced that it had created a coalition of Cloud Service Providers to deliver technical support to schools during the pandemic. Since then Haptic Networks have been working with a long list of education customers, helping them obtain the funding available and delivering crucial services to help enable cloud learning.

We are incredibly proud of the work that we continue to deliver, the funding window is set to expire during Q1 this year.

We're offering expert technical support to access Google’s education platform G Suite, along with free training on how to use the resources most effectively, this will be available for schools immediately. This will include online resources, support getting set up, webinars and peer to peer support between schools.

Guidance for schools on choosing the right education platform to meet their needs will be hosted by The Key, including best practice case studies and myth busting. The guidance will walk schools through the key assets of both Google and Microsoft’s platforms and provide an option to register for Government-funded expert support in getting these platforms set up.

read the full press release on the DfE website here

As a long standing Google for Education Partner, we continue to support the UK's Schools during this incredibly demanding chapter in World history. If you'd like to know more about the assistance available please contact us by clicking here.

Enterprise for Education - GSEfE - Benefits for Educators

For those involved with learning that are currently utilising Enterprise for Education, you will know that there is a vast range of features now available to you.

We've created a range of short posts focussed on what we see as some of the highlights , below we look further into the advanced features within Meet, attendance registers and plagiarism detection.

Haptic Networks can also help you set up a free trial of GSEfE for your school, college, MAT or University.

We're here to help with any aspect of your organisation's journey with G Suite.

If you would like to know more about Enterprise for Education you can contact us here or use our online chat function.

G Suite Enterprise for Education upgrade

Upgrading to G Suite Enterprise for Education couldn't be any simpler. Click here to contact us and we'll show you how. Google Meet advanced features have been made free to all G Suite users up until September 30th 2020 -Following this date you require the Enterprise for Education upgrade to continue using the advanced video conferencing abilities.

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Google Voice Partners

Our long standing partnership with Google enters it's next phase

Calls, anyone remember them? Long before 2020 saw us all taking part in more video calls (not us, we've been raving about how awesome Hangouts are for years!) everyone relied on the good old fashioned phone call.

The main issue with call packages, platforms and partners of old really came down to flexibility. Changing VOIP platform usually meant adopting a whole new PBX, new deskphones as well as a large scale project to get the damn thing to work seamlessly with your existing applications and workflows.

Never one to be outdone by Microsoft, Google have been working hard on ensuring their Google Voice platform shines. For any business already using G Suite, it's an absolute doddle to implement and even easier to use.

Our customers enjoy using it as it gives them a single provider of service, anyone that's had to make a support call before will know how frustrating it can be when your VOIP partner points fingers at your IT dept and so on.....

Google's marketing bumf condense the platform benefits thus:

Simple - Number assignment, porting and billing all in one place

Smart - Google's AI filters SPAM calls, automatically transcribes voicemail and makes it easy for you to configure your PBX. It also gives seamless interoperability with Google Meet and Calendar.

Scalable - Deploy it instantly, globally, from anywhere. It makes administering the solution, including setting up multi-level auto attendants and hunt groups...easy.

Like all things Google related, we're more than happy to provide more information if you'd like it. We can host demo sessions, walkthroughs, consultation and advice on any element you'd like to see/hear more about.

How DfE funding is helping schools

Since the Department for Education began authorising funding for schools to enable cloud learning, we've been asked what the funding can help with. Here's more on why schools should embrace a Google Learning environment and utilise the DFE funding pool.

Teach Remotely using Google Meet

Video calls within Google Classroom with pupils, keeping the teacher in control of the room 

Video call with up to 250 staff members from a Chrome browser 

Use Google Chat to send private messages to staff or create group conversations

Assign work using Google Classroom

Handout work digitally using Google Classroom assignments and grade them in the same place

Utilising existing resources such as word docs and pdfs that are already in your Google Drive 

Ask questions within the Class and differentiate learning resources between specific students quickly and easily 

Store it all in Google Drive 

Completely unlimited cloud storage for each user 

Can store anything from pdf up to large media format video projects 

Links directly to others apps in G Suite and other apps you may use already 

Self Marking Assessment using Google Forms

Create easy surveys and quizzes within Google forms and distribute them through Google Classroom

Create your answer keys so the quiz can mark itself with multiple question formats available 

Analyse results quickly with Google forms directly integrating data collection into Google Sheets

Preserve Student Safety 

Google Admin console allows you to control what parts of GSuite students experience while logged into a school account 

Google Meet can allow a teacher to record all calls so you have an audit trail in case of safeguarding concerns 

Google Vault and Google Drive provide the ability to search and export data on a user basis to help understand interactions that happened with GSuite applications

So there you have it, a very brief rundown of some of the outcomes you can expect if you harness the funding available to partner with Haptic Networks. We guide you through the set up process, we can even offer your school ongoing support to help during lockdown. Contact us here for more info

Haptic Networks joins DfE coalition of Cloud Partners

Thousands of schools to receive technical support to start using Google and Microsoft’s education platforms

We are proud to announce that Haptic Networks have been named amongst a small number of Cloud Service Providers to join a coalition forged between Google and Microsoft to support the Department for Education.

We're offering expert technical support to access Google’s education platform G Suite, along with free training on how to use the resources most effectively, this will be available for schools immediately. This will include online resources, support getting set up, webinars and peer to peer support between schools.

Guidance for schools on choosing the right education platform to meet their needs will be hosted by The Key, including best practice case studies and myth busting. The guidance will walk schools through the key assets of both Google and Microsoft’s platforms and provide an option to register for Government-funded expert support in getting these platforms set up.

read the full press release on the DfE website here

Liz Sproat, Head of Education, Google EMEA:

This is a challenging time for UK schools, educators, parents and students and this initiative by the Department for Education provides vital support to schools seeking to enable remote learning.

We are delighted that our suite of tools, resources and our partners can help schools maintain learning during these difficult times.

As a long standing Google for Education Partner, we're incredibly proud to be selected to assist the UK's Schools during this incredibly demanding chapter in World history. If you'd like to know more about the assistance available please contact us by clicking here.

1:1 Contribution schemes for schools

Haptic Networks have worked extensively with Education since we began trading in 2007 - we've seen many innovations in technology but none have excited us as much as Chromebooks. For those that know, Chromebooks are simple to use, fast and low-cost devices for schools. They provide a wide range of education resources. All Chromebooks come with a Google License (Formally known as Google Apps for Education.) This is a suite of free applications which includes: word processing, spreadsheet work, presentation, calendar and G-Mail. These are all designed with school children and the classroom in mind.

Working alongside our finance partner, we assist schools and colleges in the deployment of G Suite and Chromebooks. Offering a parental contribution scheme that puts the devices in the hands of pupils so that they can benefit from their use at home as well as the classroom. For more information visit our partner's site here

Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals are "much better than school"

Google learning festival
Google learning festival

by Darrell Raynard, Cloud Services Specialist

If you don't know what a Google Learning Festival is, it's an education programme created to help end-users understand the power of Chromebooks in the classrooms and see the impact on the real users of the technology - the learners.

After seeing teachers and leadership staff coming to other IT channel events and being talked 'at' all day, with no context or application being delivered to them, we identified the gap in getting the message and value across to the learners and BANG! - the Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals were born.

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Click here for YouTube interview

Friday, 8 November 2019:

" It's not often I'm excited to be out my front door in the freezing cold at 5:30 am, but today was another one of our Google Learning Festivals at the awesome Google reference school Aylesbury High School. So with my other half's travel mug “borrowed” and not nearly enough coffee in it I was merrily on my way.

09:00: After wrestling with the slightly frustrating marketing stand, and getting a superb amount of support from Caroline and the team at Aylesbury High School, the kids and their teachers started to file in. Everyone collected there own Wonde magic badge and sat at one of the 4 colour coded desks in front of a Lenovo 300e Chromebook for them to use for the tasks at hand.

learners
Click here for the YouTube Video

We told everyone to login using the Wonde badge by holding it up to the camera and in the words of one of the kids, “Boom I'm in, that was easy!”. After a brief play around with Google experiments, our Google guides, Hardeep and Joe from Tablet Academy UK, got everyone started on the tasks:

All of the tasks and resources were distributed to students using Google Classroom, with instructions in Google sites. Learners were allowed to work at their own pace and explore the tools independently and with their peers.

I'm always in awe of the feedback and soundbites we get from teachers and learners who come to these events, you can see for yourself from the video testimonials included in this blog why we love doing them.

teachers
Click here to view the Youtube video

In summary, today we hosted 50 learners from Years 6 - 8 and there wasn't a moment in the day where they were disengaged or looked to be at a loss with the technology.

The Haptic Networks Google Learning Festivals are always well-received, senior leaders and learners alike are inspired and excited about the possibilities available to them, and I have a fulfilling day at the office. "

Till next time,

Darrell Raynard

Cloud Services Specialist

Interested in hosting a Google Learning Festival with us?

Please click below to register your interest

Google Classroom now available to all users

Anyone that has seen Google Classroom in effect will attest to it's ability to help teachers and students alike. Google Classroom makes it easy for teaching staff to create class content, hand out assignments and tasks, develop quizzes and generally aid communication with students.

Up until today this has only been available as part of G Suite for Education, we've just been informed that Google Classroom is being made available as an additional service to G Suite Basic, Business and Enterprise customers. Haptic Networks have witnessed a huge demand for Google Classroom from Business users. It's ability to create and distribute training content, employee onboarding and ongoing Professional Development being the main drivers.

We can assist the adoption of Google Classroom for both Education and Business customers using our custom made Migrate service

You can read more from Google directly by clicking this link