Becta seeks supplier for home edu-tech

Education technology agency Becta is looking for an IT supplier to help deliver services to children with special home learning needs in a contract that could be worth up to £78 million, states Computing.co.uk.

The deal will support the UK government's Home Access Programme, a scheme that will roll out PCs and broadband connectivity to 250 000 households by March 2011 to allow children from low-income families to have access to technology to help their education.

Becta is now looking for a managed service provider to cater for applicants who will need enhanced assistive technology requiring additional support compared to typical users of the scheme.

ITC Learning, a provider of industrial skills training, says its revamped Web site now offers extensive information and resources for continuing education and training in the process and manufacturing industries, according to PRWeb.

These resources are available to all Web site visitors, and are intended to endorse an ongoing dialogue within the industry, as well as promote the value of investing in advanced skills training.

Key Web site enhancements include the Founder's Blog by Bill Walton and free informational White Papers.

Online education has been achieving better results than classroom education, according to a recent report prepared for the US Department of Education, says InformationWeek.

The study was conducted by SRI International and delivered a conclusion that startled many: "On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction."

Online learning is springing up in multiple ways and places, from continuing education courses and interactive foreign language classes to entire university curricula like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 1900-course MIT OpenCourseWare initiative.