Frequently Asked Questions?

What is bwjsapps.co.uk?

Bwjsapps is our new e-learning platform.  It is a collection of online tools which we can use with children here in school.  Children will also be able to use bwjsapps at home if they have access to the internet.  It is powered by Google Apps, so it will look familiar to children who have had experience with google accounts in the past.  This system replaces Wizkid, the virtual learning environment we have used this year.

The four core google apps are mail, calendars, documents and sites.  Over the course of the ICT curriculum, we will investigate all four of these tools.

Why change from Wizkid to this?

There are three compelling reasons for switching to this system.

First of all, this is a far cheaper system for the school to use.  It offers a substantial saving compared to our Wizkid subscription, meaning more money can be spent elsewhere in the curriculum.

Secondly, it provides us with a higher level of control, and it enables us to update the system more quickly and efficiently.

Thirdly, it provides a more real experience for the children.  For instance, bwjsapps allows children to send real e-mails to each other, rather than the somewhat artificial system children have used up to this point.

How safe is bwjsapps?

Google Apps for Education, the system which powers bwjsapps, has been designed by google with schools in mind.  It therefore allows us considerable control over what users can and cannot do.  Primarily, it allows us to block children from interacting with people who are not part of the system.  While children's e-mail accounts look and act like all other google mail accounts, they will not be able to send e-mails to people outside the school, nor will they be able to recieve messages from outside school, unless we have specifcally allowed this to happen for curriculum purposes.  Staff e-mail accounts are not limited in this way.

Through our ICT curriculum, we will be teaching children about e-saftey and responsible internet use.  This is increasingly becoming a key skill for life, and it is important that children learn these lessons in the early stages of their internet use.

What happens next?

We will launch bwjsapps in September, and develop the way we use the different tools throughout the year.

Can I access bwjsapps?

From September, all children will be provided with a username and password which will enable them to log on to the site at school and at home.  When they are at home, you are, of course, very welcome to use the site with them.  At some stage in the future, we may be able to offer access to parents directly, but we have no definite plans for this yet.

To find out more about e-safety at BWJS, visit our ICT page.

If you have further questions, feel free to ask me!

mr.senior@bwjsapps.co.uk