Inspiring futures – Acer and Microsoft at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (UTC)

For an institution that aims to arm the next generation of technical experts with workplace ready skills in an ever-evolving field, the right tools are critical. When it came to selecting a personal laptop device for every student in the college, as the UTC’s technical partner, Gaia recommended the Microsoft-driven Acer B118 Spin. We investigate how this has proven the perfect fit for inspiring a new generation of technical whiz-kids…

A brave new learning environment…

The ethos behind Berkeley Green UTC recognises the national shortage of skilled engineers, computer scientists and cyber security specialists. It aims to fill the skills gap with a new generation of youngsters armed with a strong foundation of relevant knowledge and hands-on experience by the time they progress to work or University.

The college opened in September 2017, following over two years’ work to bring vision to reality on site of the former Berkeley Laboratories. One of sixty UCTs planned nationally, it provides specialist, high quality vocational and academic education for learners aged 14-18 with a strong interest in Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Technologies and Cyber Security.

With some £2million investment in infrastructure and equipment scheduled before the college launched, the support and advice of an educational ICT specialist was essential and, following a tender for an RM1050 ESFA contract in May 2016, Gaia Technologies was appointed ICT partner in June the same year. Having already worked with a number of UTC’s across the country to ensure their technological infrastructure is capable of meeting educational ambitions, Gaia impressed with its mix of experience, technical support and flexible approach.

Gaia has since worked alongside Berkeley UTC at every stage of the project; providing strategic leadership support; advice on the curriculum and new technology as well as specifying everything from the ICT infrastructure through to individual devices and software packages that have the greatest educational impact.

The result is a £15 million institution with a host of state-of-the-art facilities - including an Innovation Hub and a SOCA centre with two Cyber Security Labs - that will enable students to hone skills in key areas. The college has also formed partnerships with leading industry players to offer students the chance to work on real-life projects and to forge links for future employment.

A robust infrastructure

Microsoft applications – both back end and user-facing – feature heavily in Gaia’s specification for the college’s ICT infrastructure. At the top level, Microsoft System Centre 2012 delivers a single management tool for the entire estate with backup and recovery provided via Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2012R2 Backup.

To provide a single, integrated platform for managing policies, software deployment, data-loss prevention and internet security Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 End Point Protection was suggested as a free alternative to the college’s preferred system. Its scalability to protect thousands of endpoints - including servers, PCs, laptops, mobile devices, Macs and virtual technologies - was key in its selection. A multi-layer approach for data and system backups and archiving was advised and implemented utilising Hyper-V replication based on Windows Data Centre 2012r2, Veeam Backup and Replication v9 Availability Suite, Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM 2012r2); Windows Storage Server with 48TB fault tolerant backup and archiving space scalable to 80TB and Microsoft Azure Cloud Storage (2TB) for Off-Site Automated Backup and Archiving.

For domain services, Microsoft’s flagship enterprise product - Microsoft System Center 2012R2 Configuration Manager was used; providing key management capabilities around server and device build, network management, application deployment, desktop virtualization, (mobile) device management, drive mapping, printer allocation, user management (password reset, user permissions, internet access), security groups and authentication. To support the school’s accommodation of ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BOYD) and help the school (and the Trust) securely manage the potentially large number of devices that may be brought to the school, Gaia provided the mobile device management (MDM) solution Microsoft Intune.

At user-level, inline with existing Trust strategy, Microsoft Office 365 was recommended to provide an integrated range of communication and collaboration tools that support working on and off site. To provide cost-effective access to Microsoft software for staff and students under a single subscription, the college was advised to procure a Microsoft EES license. This enables access to the Office 2016 suite and Office 365, allowing Microsoft Office 365 and OneNote to be used as the key productivity applications as well as offering access to Microsoft Office Professional 2013; covering the full desktop suite of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Lync, OneNote and Access.

Personal devices fit for the task
Part of the bid document set out the need for every student to have a personal mobile device in order to navigate the technology-focussed curriculum. Having a 1:1 student to device ratio would also aid teaching staff to effectively plan their use in the classroom. Ahead of the UTC’s launch in September 2017, with its initial intake of 150 students aged 14 the school acquired 100 Acer Spin B118 Windows laptops – some of which were allocated on a means-tested basis via Pupil Premium; with parental contribution required for others.

The Acer Spin B118 laptop was recommended by Gaia as a lightweight, hybrid, easy-to-use device for all age groups. versatile, rugged and powerful enough to run standard productivity and web-based curriculum software as a minimum, its ability to allow students to easily switch between 4 very useful modes: standard notebook, tablet only, and for media consumption tent or display mode – was also very attractive. As a fully authorised repair centre for Acer products and with direct access to Acer UK for support and training, Gaia ordered the relevant specification of devices on the school’s behalf and also arranged 5-year warranties.

Since allocating the devices to students in September 2017, the UTC has been reaping the benefits - with students’ digital literacy in the use of mobile technology for the working environment much enhanced. The devices have also enabled the UTC to utilise collaboration and communications technologies used in industry, such as Microsoft Teams. This has seen students impress with their business-like nature and ability to provide and accept critique in a public forum. For example, a recent project day required students to work in small teams to plan a mobile app for the National Biodiversity Network. The devices were extensively used in the interface design, collaboration and presentation of their work to the NBN’s director.

The devices have also been crucial in the UTC making effective use of Microsoft OneNote Class Notebooks, enabling teachers to create content and distribute it to students (individual or groups) to their section and allowing them to see, in real time, where students are; thus facilitating a strong feedback loop. A wireless network adapter has provided strong performance, particularly given the number of devices in use at any one point, and has ensured students are always ready and able to learn.

Looking to the future, more project days are planned where the devices play a central role. The UTC is also keen to explore the use of team videoconferencing to support employer engagement - employers provide a pivotal role in supporting students’ education, but it is not always easy for them to travel site. Connection via videoconference allowing them to remotely advise and mentor students work in progress but something the UTC team hope to have in place very soon.

Rich Williams, Director of Faculty (Computing and Digital Technology) at Berkeley UTC, says:

“The devices have been allocated to individual students to support their learning on or off site. This has worked well, and it’s brilliant to receive emails after school hours because students are enjoying learning with the devices.

“In terms of performance, the Acer Spin B118 has proven to be truly robust. I was particularly impressed with the spill tray located beneath the keyboard to reduce the impact of any liquid damage. We work in schools, and accidents do happen! The other benefit of the device is that by design it can operate as a laptop or as a tablet with a touch screen or stylus. Despite being a technologically advanced school, some students still prefer to write at times and the device enables this.

“Overall, the impact of the devices has been wholly positive! Students digital literacy, whilst good at the outset, has improved immeasurably and they are now very confident in their use of the device for a variety of purposes.”

Download Case Study (PDF)

Excelsior Academy was set up by the Excelsior Academy Trust and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

The academy serves the community in the west of Newcastle and actively involve families in supporting their children’s learning.

The Academy occupies new state of the art buildings which allows the delivery of a ground breaking model of education. Gaia was selected to help the Academy deliver its new build ICT Project.

Gaia delivers on time and on budget

Gaia was able to call on its own implementation teams to ensure that exact products were delivered and that work was meticulously planned in order to avoid any overruns. The focus and attention Gaia paid to the project meant that significant sums were saved from the £1.8m budget.

Secure Wireless Cloud

Gaia worked closely with the Academy to implement one of the largest wireless clouds in any school in the UK- in order to enable ‘Anywhere Learning’. A colossal 240 Wireless Access Points were distributed in key locations of the building to enable students to securely roam without interruption in and around the building. This number of Access Points is much higher density than normal and was determined to be necessary to accommodate the large number of simultaneous student connections to the wireless network.

This discreet use of ICT has been a major contributory factor in the school’s increasing levels of attainment as Notebooks used within a wireless infrastructure have provided pupils and teachers with greater access to information across every subject.

The flexibility to learn without time and place restrictions has suited pupils’ schedules, resulting in high-quality coursework.

Delivery Against the Odds

The design of the building and the weather caused delays in the construction project which endangered a delay in the Academy’s opening.

At the time of commencing work we had to deal with a number of issues surrounding support infrastructure to the Interactive Whiteboards, water leaks in the Server Rooms, and Construction delays.

Gaia, along with everyone else on site, worked tirelessly throughout the evenings, weekends and the insertion of multiple support teams in order to ensure that the delays did not cause the Academy to open later than planned. As a result, Gaia teams received the highest gratitude from the Academy Leadership Team for their dedication and their Delivery Against the Odds!

Cisco Systems as a Base Infrastructure

Gaia worked closely with the Academy to design the state of the art LAN infrastructure.

As a leading Cisco Partner, Gaia helped the Academy design and implement a Cisco based infrastructure that would protect their investments for many years to come. With industry-leading services and performance, the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch is Cisco’s flagship switching solution. It delivers the most comprehensive feature sets for core or distribution deployments.

The design involved two 10Gbps linked 6509 switches acting as a Core and linked up to 60 Cisco 3650 Switches with teamed up 4Gbps fibre SFP in 6 distribution zones around the school.

State of the Art VoIP as Standard

Gaia also worked with the Academy to design and implement a telephony system based on Cisco VoIP Call Manager and Unity.

The migration included new lines, PBX, Voice Mail, and Handsets including wireless based ones. Cisco Unified Communications Manager provides voice, video, mobility, and presence services for up to 60,000 users. The system is a scalable, distributable, and highly available enterprise-class IP telephony call-processing system.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager creates a unified workspace that extends enterprise telephony features and capabilities to packet telephony network devices such as IP phones, media processing devices, voice over IP (VoIP) gat

eways, mobile devices, and multimedia applications.

Largest Implementation of (IBM) Lenovo

The Academy has chosen for its user devices, Lenovo (IBM). Nearly 1400 Lenovo Machines have been deployed in the Academy. That is an average of one computer for every 1.2 students. An impressive ratio by any standard.

This all-new Lenovo equipment packs a complete, high performance computer into a beautifully thin design incorporating widescreen. It includes built-in wireless, the new Vista and the new Office 2007. The new devices will allow the students to do everything from sharing photos to creating movies to building websites.

To complete the picture, Gaia helped the Academy specify the portable device for students and teachers. Over 1000 Notebooks have been deployed throughout the Academy using secure trolleys.

Every device comes with the latest Microsoft Office version and a wide host of media applications. A special education pricing deal with Lenovo (IBM), brokered by Gaia, meant that the Academy was able to maximise their budget.

Staff from Shelfield Community Academy in Walsall in the West Midlands discuss the ICT Managed Services provided to their school by Gaia Technologies Plc.

3D Learning - an Exciting new Teaching Tool for Schools

Full PDF Version

Shelfield Community Academy is the first school in the UK to work with Gaia Technologies to embrace and develop the use of 3D technologies in the classroom. Through the implementation of 3D lessons, the school has seen a dramatic improvement in student participation, retention and comprehension.

Gaia have developed a wide range of 3D learning content in partnership with teachers and students. This content covers the breadth of the curriculum and some of the vocational courses. The content library is available for use and is packaged with the Gaia 3D Viewer. Gaia also offer a wide range of 3D hardware solutions for large spaces, classrooms and individual users.

Specialising in English and literacy, sport and physical education, Shelfield Community Academy is part of the Ormiston Academy Trust, which strongly believes that children should be empowered to maximise their potential through the removal of barriers to learning. One of the aims of the Trust is to raise educational standards by building a world-class network of innovative, high performing secondary schools in partnership with the wider community.

As an Academy, Shelfield has the independence to deliver the curriculum of its choice and adopt the latest technologies and innovative solutions to enhance and improve its pupils’ learning experiences. With this in mind, the Academy decided to partner with Gaia Technologies for the design, development, implementation and support of its unique 3D Immersive Visual Learning System.

“We knew that a 3D learning solution would dramatically enhance our teaching processes and develop students’ learning skills in a way that cannot be compared to the traditional text book approach.” Bernard Dickinson, Principal, Shelfield Community Academy

An Innovative Teaching Solution

“Gaia’s 3D Immersive Visual Learning system changes the dynamic of learning as students learn through observation rather than by instruction,” explained Anas Mawla, Gaia Technologies’ Managing Director. “By using our 3D visual learning solutions, teachers spend less time explaining, as students are able to understand complex relationships and techniques through individual observation. Gaia has brought expensive technology to affordable levels well within the reach of educational establishments.”

“From the outset, this has been a real partnership,” explained Bernard Dickinson, the Principal at Shelfield Community Academy. “We knew that a 3D learning solution would dramatically enhance our teaching processes and develop students’ learning skills in a way that cannot be compared to the traditional text book approach. We wanted an organisation that would work with us, providing the hardware and support and developing custom 3D resources in line with our curriculum objectives.”

“Teaching in 3D eradicates the time lost in lessons. Using the 3D learning solution I can teach 30% more than I can in a normal classroom!” Michael Murphy, Head of Humanities Faculty, Shelfield Community Academy

Impressive Flexibility

Shelfield has been impressed with the flexibility of Gaia Technologies from the early stages of the project. In addition to their in-depth experience, Gaia engineers and consultants fully understand the unique requirements and objectives of the Shelfield teaching staff.

“The partnership is extremely productive,” added Bernard Dickinson. “The combination of innovative technology, staff input and Gaia’s ability to deliver has resulted in an incredible teaching solution.”

Michael Murphy, the Head of Shelfield’s Humanities Faculty, agrees: “Gaia provides an outstanding service on many levels, but their communication skills are first class,” he continued. “Gaia is genuinely eager to help our students learn and works very closely with staff across the Academy to change the way in which our students interact with teaching and learning.”

But it’s not just about changing how students interact with teaching and learning. Shelfield’s 3D Visual Learning Solution is substantially en-hancing the way in which information is absorbed by students. Shelfield’s students were born into a world that embraces visual media. Computers, game platforms and mobile phones are a natural part of their lives and the transition from traditional text book teaching to a 3D Visual Learning experience is enthusiastically welcomed by the Academy’s students.

A Real Learning Experience

Shelfield has found that teaching in 3D provides students with an entirely new experience where they are more engaged and productive.

“Teaching in 3D eradicates the time lost in lessons,” continued Michael Murphy. “A lesson that would normally take 60 minutes can now be conducted in 35 minutes, leaving almost half the lesson period available to expand on what has been learned. Using the 3D learning solution I can teach 30% more than I can in a normal classroom!”

The initial Shelfield 3D learning solution implementation, including a wide screen, stereo sound and the core 3D projection system, has been installed in a dedicated suite. Teaching staff book the facility in advance whenever they need it, although the system has proved so popular with students and staff that classroom-based lessons often decamp to the 3D centre so that the subject being taught can be explored in more detail.

“Students are all engaged and excited to be learning. You can visibly see the participation increase when we walk into the 3D suite. Students who are engaged are much more likely to recall and retain information and that is what teaching is all about,” added Mr Murphy.

“A recent geography class used the 3D suite to focus on volcanoes. While discussing the structure and function of a volcano, one student brought up the subject of Pompeii. We were able to naturally flow on with the lesson, using the 3D system to explore Pompeii and walk the students through a Roman town. You just can’t achieve that level of interaction using traditional text books,” explained Mr Murphy.

Using resources like these, students show dramatic improvement and have more fun learning.
Shelfield’s 3D system is used to explore Roman architecture and the Roman way of life.

“3D isn’t a gimmick. It allows us to develop skills within our students far more effectively. It has changed the way we teach: students can learn at a faster pace, the whole process is more effective and efficient, and we can improve students’ abilities to understand and learn.” Bernard Dickinson, Principal, Shelfield Community Academy

Branching Out

The success of the 3D learning solution and the impact that it has had on both teachers and students has encouraged Shelfield to evaluate the practicalities of replicating its 3D learning solution across other parts of the Academy so that it can be used as a day-to-day teaching tool in classrooms.

“We initially saw our 3D resource as playing a key role in teaching complex subjects, such as science where it can be difficult to describe a concept,” explained Lisa Barton, Shelfield’s Head of 3D Learning. “However we found that our students have really engaged in 3D so we are working very closely with the Gaia team to create new resources to enhance our overall curriculum.”

Changing the Way We Teach

Shelfield Community Academy is developing the 3D concept further across the curriculum. It sees the 3D learning platform as the natural way forward in helping students learn and gain an understanding of subjects, and plans to expand its use of this new and highly successful teaching tool across all departments.

Bernard Dickinson concluded, “With Gaia’s help we have thoroughly investigated the whole concept and have developed our approach to learning using 3D in particular to help students appreciate concepts and understand more easily how things interrelate. 3D allows us to develop skills within our students far more effectively. It has changed the way we teach: students can learn at a faster pace, the whole process is more effective and efficient, and we can improve students’ abilities to understand and learn.”

“Gaia Technologies is leading the way in this technology and supporting the Academy in the content creation and development of the hardware and software used in this incredible teaching tool.”