Edugeek
Encyclopedia
EduGeek.net is a British based online peer support community and information portal for IT professionals predominantly working in the field of education, operating primarily as an internet forum
. Founded by Chris Byers and Ric Charlton in 2005, the site now has 2 full time paid employees the founder, Chris Byers & the webmaster
Shaun Garriock. As of June 2010 the sites member base exceeds 31,000 users.
schools in the United Kingdom
, who has since become employed with the site full-time. During research, he found there was no other website or community that specifically targeted IT professionals that worked in Education. The website initially used Dragonfly CMS, although this was found to be too restrictive and the site has since moved onto vBulletin
. Today, the EduGeek community boasts a member base in excess of 31,000.
In April 2010, the NAHT released a report looking at the spending behaviours of schools and the way suppliers were taking advantage of them. This report was in part based on posts at Edugeek, where some members had provided detailed accounts of how their schools had been ripped off by some suppliers.
Following the announcement by the UK Government that it was to close Becta
, members of Edugeek worked to ensure that the expertise and knowledge available from Becta didn't disappear, transferring it to various new homes on the internet.
Edugeek has been a regular feature at the BETT
show, manning the technical support help point for visitors, staffed by volunteers from its membership.
and Promethean
. The site also uses advertisements provided by AdSense
to generate income.
Its members come from all areas of the IT profession. Originally aimed at the burgeoning field of IT professionals working within the British education sector
in the mid-2000s, its membership now consists of IT staff from all over the world in education, health, banking and private sector.
While the forum remains focussed on the education sector, their ‘Technical’ forums contain help and information covering all IT sectors. Its membership increases at a rate of just over 10,000 per year although this currently shows signs of increasing.
and the United States
, as well as hosting its own annual conference, to ensure the staff and moderators get to meet its members in real life as much as possible.
Since its first conference in 2005, EduGeek has always ensured no costs will be passed onto its members for attending (apart from travel and accommodation costs) or catering during the event. EduGeek is a regular at the UK based BETT
(British Educational Training and Technology) Show held each January at the London Olympia Exhibition Hall
where it runs the shows Technical Help Point on behalf of show organisers EMAP, and has exhibited at the US International Society for Technology in Education show in Denver 2010 helping to increase awareness of the community in the US.
In February 2011, Microsoft
invited 50 members of EduGeek over to their Reading Campus to discuss the different topics relating to Microsoft software in an educational environment and members got to voice their own concerns and questions such as licensing difficulties that small primary schools have compared to secondaries.
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
. Founded by Chris Byers and Ric Charlton in 2005, the site now has 2 full time paid employees the founder, Chris Byers & the webmaster
Webmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
Shaun Garriock. As of June 2010 the sites member base exceeds 31,000 users.
History
Edugeek was founded in 2005 by Chris Byers, an IT Systems manager for LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
schools in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, who has since become employed with the site full-time. During research, he found there was no other website or community that specifically targeted IT professionals that worked in Education. The website initially used Dragonfly CMS, although this was found to be too restrictive and the site has since moved onto vBulletin
VBulletin
vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software produced by Jelsoft Enterprises and vBulletin Solutions, both subsidiaries of Internet Brands. It is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database server.-History:...
. Today, the EduGeek community boasts a member base in excess of 31,000.
In April 2010, the NAHT released a report looking at the spending behaviours of schools and the way suppliers were taking advantage of them. This report was in part based on posts at Edugeek, where some members had provided detailed accounts of how their schools had been ripped off by some suppliers.
Following the announcement by the UK Government that it was to close Becta
Becta
Becta was a non-departmental public body ] funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, in the UK It was a charity and a company limited by guarantee. In the post-election spending review in May 2010, it was announced that Becta was to be abolished...
, members of Edugeek worked to ensure that the expertise and knowledge available from Becta didn't disappear, transferring it to various new homes on the internet.
Edugeek has been a regular feature at the BETT
BETT
BETT or The BETT show is an annual trade show in the United Kingdom that showcases the use of information technology in education. Founded in 1985, it has expanded to fill both the National and Grand Halls at the Olympia exhibition centre in London, England...
show, manning the technical support help point for visitors, staffed by volunteers from its membership.
Operation
The website currently has 3 Administrators and 16 Moderators, who volunteer personal time to contribute to the community. To help financially, the site has many sponsors such as SmoothwallSmoothWall
Smoothwall is a Linux distribution designed to be used as an open source firewall. Designed for ease of use, Smoothwall is configured via a web-based GUI, and requires little or no knowledge of Linux to install or use....
and Promethean
Promethean Ltd
Promethean World plc is based in Blackburn in Lancashire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index...
. The site also uses advertisements provided by AdSense
AdSense
Google AdSense which is a program run by Google Inc. allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to automatically serve text, image, video, and rich media adverts that are targeted to site content and audience. These adverts are administered, sorted, and maintained by Google, and they...
to generate income.
Membership
All of Edugeek services to its members are provided free of charge. Member’s details are never sold or passed on to third parties, and it’s this integrity which remains one of the sites main strong points.Its members come from all areas of the IT profession. Originally aimed at the burgeoning field of IT professionals working within the British education sector
Education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England, and the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are...
in the mid-2000s, its membership now consists of IT staff from all over the world in education, health, banking and private sector.
While the forum remains focussed on the education sector, their ‘Technical’ forums contain help and information covering all IT sectors. Its membership increases at a rate of just over 10,000 per year although this currently shows signs of increasing.
Public face
EduGeek spends a great deal of time and money ensuring the ‘community’ aspect of the site is developed by attending educational IT shows in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as well as hosting its own annual conference, to ensure the staff and moderators get to meet its members in real life as much as possible.
Since its first conference in 2005, EduGeek has always ensured no costs will be passed onto its members for attending (apart from travel and accommodation costs) or catering during the event. EduGeek is a regular at the UK based BETT
BETT
BETT or The BETT show is an annual trade show in the United Kingdom that showcases the use of information technology in education. Founded in 1985, it has expanded to fill both the National and Grand Halls at the Olympia exhibition centre in London, England...
(British Educational Training and Technology) Show held each January at the London Olympia Exhibition Hall
Olympia, London
Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...
where it runs the shows Technical Help Point on behalf of show organisers EMAP, and has exhibited at the US International Society for Technology in Education show in Denver 2010 helping to increase awareness of the community in the US.
In February 2011, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
invited 50 members of EduGeek over to their Reading Campus to discuss the different topics relating to Microsoft software in an educational environment and members got to voice their own concerns and questions such as licensing difficulties that small primary schools have compared to secondaries.
In the media
- In May 2007, SophosSophosSophos is a developer and vendor of security software and hardware, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, network access control, encryption software and data loss prevention for desktops, servers, email systems and other network gateways....
threatened Edugeek with legal action due to criticizing posts of one of its members. Shortly after, Sophos apologised for their actions, blaming it on a staff member convincing their legal team to send the threats, rather than a senior management decision.
- In July 2008, the site was put offline due to a hardware issue at their hosting provider, FasthostsFasthostsFasthosts Internet Ltd is a provider of Internet access and hosting services based in Gloucester, England. The company also operates the domain name registration service UKreg and cloud infrastructure service Rise, and has operations in the United States....
. This downtime lasted several days and lead to angry members emailing the company en-masse to express their displeasure.