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EDUCATION
From day one we saw education as a key catalyst for wide spread adoption of Broadband within
the town. Within the approximately 1,200 homes in Buckfastleigh about one-third have children
attending either the local primary school or nearby secondary school in Ashburton. Combined
with people studying at further, higher and adult education levels, this creates an important
and sizable group of people for whom Broadband enabled access to learning resources is an
increasing necessity. We therefore set about developing a range of initiatives to help and
connect with these groups:
- Extended Campus
- Archiving and publishing local culture and history
- Learner Support
EXTENDED CAMPUS
Broadband, and the Internet in general, has the power to redraw the boundaries of learning.
It presents a greater choice for students and parents to access the school environment and
resources in a flexible way. It brings the school into every home and fosters a shared and
supportive way of learning between student, teacher and parent. Along with one of the key
partners in the Buckfastleigh Broadband project, the South West Grid for Learning, we are
working with them, our local education authority (Devon) and secondary and primary schools
to develop an 'Extended Campus' Broadband architecture.
ARCHIVING AND PUBLISHING LOCAL CULTURE AND HISTORY
Local communities have a strong interest in their past. This past by its very nature resides
within the stories, pictures and memories of older generations. We wanted to find a way
of connecting this wealth of knowledge to younger generations, who are typically more familiar
and comfortable with modern communications technologies, to share it with a wider audience
through publishing in the modern interactive world of the Broadband enabled Internet. Having
contacted the media department of the local secondary school (South Dartmoor Community College)
we are embarking on an exciting project that looks to publish the life and times of some
of Dartmoor's characters. In addition to building bridges between generations, this project
builds the new media publishing skills base within the local area and generally creates
the awareness of Broadband enabled communications.
LEARNER SUPPORT
Older students within the educational system increasingly have a need to high-speed Broadband
connections but may not be in the position geographically or economically to afford the
latest equipment and connection. For this group even access to education may be limited
by local transport provision, particularly in rural areas, and the challenge of balancing
work, family and studying. Our priority in this area has been to ensure that WAVE, our Broadband
public access centre, is available with extended hours and staff to act as a facility for
the use by individuals and groups to support their learning goals. Successful learning initiatives
have already taken place in partnership with adult, further and higher education providers.
HEALTH
Working within the professional healthcare area has proved to be one of the more challenging
aspects of the project. This would appear to be due to the highly centralised provision
of ICT services within the NHS system, combined with a complex regional and seemingly ever-changing
organisational structure. We therefore decided to focus our activities to those working
directly to support local health initiatives through the Buckfastleigh Medical Centre. Our
work with the alternative health sector has tended to be integrated within the broader business
action programmes, as the majority of these practitioners are self-employed or small businesses.
COMMUNITY
The final programme is all about connecting with the community in its broadest sense, individuals
and groups, including all those existing, successful and long-standing groups so familiar
in rural communities like the Women's Institute, children's playgroups, sports organisations,
etc. Each and every person has a relation, friend or neighbour with some kind of interest,
and community groups form the social fabric by which individuals connect and communicate
within their areas of interest. Particularly within rural communities one cannot underestimate
the power of these existing groups and their networks. By capturing the imagination and
enthusiasm of these networks, a ground swell of support for new ideas can rapidly develop.
The key we have found in working with these groups is to listen carefully to their interests,
concerns and objectives and to then define ways of demonstrating how new communications
methods can help. The trick is not to push technology for technology's sake.
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