News - Hebron Seminar on 7 June 2007

	David Friend hosts the seminar

A Seminar of Workshops and Presentations

The seminar held on 7 June at the King's School Bruton had a busy schedule of presentations and workshops from start to finish.


Hebron Products

After tea and coffee, the morning began with an introduction from David Friend, Head of ICT, King's School Bruton, with an outline of the school's history since 1519.

Paul Rastall (Hebron's Software Development Manager) followed with a summary of Hebron's Products - Hebron Engage, Double First and Payroll, including each of their development plans.

Paul also hinted at Hebron's new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Hebron Engage, which would be fully demonstrated later in the day.



Workshops

	The hands-on workshops were especially popular

After Paul's introduction, five workshops were held where delegates could see and use the products, first-hand. On display were,

• Hebron Engage - Assessments module
• Hebron Engage - Timetable module
• Hebron Engage - Core and Fees module
• Double First Accounts
• Double First Administrator

Telephony Fraud

After an exceptionally fine buffet lunch, Simon Jones (Marketing Manager) hijacked a slot in the seminar to present on a subject which was affecting all businesses, especially those which use voice mail, and which is growing at an alarming rate.

Simon explained the 'new' craze of hacking phone systems and making premium rate calls, which was costing organisations many thousands of pounds. Simon gave some examples and explained the problem had reached such a level that the Police now have a 'Dial Through Fraud' department to combat the problem.

'Try entering voicemail hacking on Google and just see what comes up,' said Simon. 'Since du Pré (Hebron's parent company) launched their Fraud Alert scheme, they have had an increasing number of instances where their customers had been hacked. Thankfully,' added Simon, 'we managed to alert them within 24 hours of the intrusion and thereby limited their exposure considerably.'

Read more here.

e-Learning

	Jeff Elliott speaks on VLEs and e-learning

Jeff Elliott, (Group MD) delivered an excellent 20 minute brief on VLEs and e-Learning.

'The benefits a VLE bring are tangible and well proven,' said Jeff. 'As we all know, children readily embrace the internet and digital media. A VLE makes use of this interest in two ways - communication and learning.'

Jeff outlined how these were achieved, adding some of the published data on higher exam results already experienced by some schools, coupled with a decrease in administration burden.

'Results show that provided a VLE is simple in its use, with pupils able to customise the look and feel of their workspace, it is set to be a success. The final ingredient for this success is a robust plan in place to make everyone use it.'

Finally, Jeff discussed the Government's stance and the pressure from Becta for State Schools to implement VLEs by Spring 2008, albeit at a basic level. 'The Government is pouring money into the State sector for VLEs to be active by 2008. Most State schools now have them, and the benefits they are reaping are tangible.'


Hebron Engage

Paul Rastall demonstrated Hebron Engage, Hebron's new VLE, after which many encouraging comments were made.

'And when it is linked with Hebron Engage, everything is automated', said Paul. 'One database for the whole school.'


More Information on Hebron Engage & Becta's Comments

More information here.


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