National Grid for Learning
Encyclopedia
The National Grid for Learning (NGfL) was a United Kingdom
Government-funded gateway to educational resources on the Internet
. It featured many individually selected links to resources and materials deemed to be of high quality. The NGfL was specifically set up to support English schools; separate 'grids' were set up for schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The NGfL portal was launched in November 1998, as the portal for the DfES National Grid for Learning strategy. This programme aimed to help learners and educators in the United Kingdom benefit from information and communications technology
(ICT). It was one of several new programmes initiated by the new Labour
government which took office in May 1997 and had a linked budget of earmarked funds to be spent on schools internet connections and ICT. The portal was funded and managed by the Government's lead agency for ICT in education, Becta
(British Educational Communications and Technology Agency).
Regional Broadband Consortia
(RBCs) were created in 2000 under the auspices of what was at the time the Department for Education and Skills, (DfES) to secure lower prices for broadband
connections and services for schools by aggregating demand across a region and entering into region wide contracts. Since then, these consortia have expanded their remit and have taken over some of the original aims of the NGfL.
On 13 April 2006, Becta closed the National Grid for Learning portal, stating that it was improving its offer to teachers by rationalising the number of different services it provides for schools and teaching staff. According to the agency, this is being achieved by integrating valued components of the NGfL into its existing services.
The concept of the NGfL lives on, however. The RBCs have worked collaboratively since 2001, and have since been actively joined in their partnership by equivalent organizations in Northern Ireland (C2kNI), Scotland (Glow) and Wales (NGfL Cymru) to form the national education network (NEN), utilizing the JANET
network to provide a single, secure private network available to provide shared resources amongst all UK schools.
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...
Government-funded gateway to educational resources on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. It featured many individually selected links to resources and materials deemed to be of high quality. The NGfL was specifically set up to support English schools; separate 'grids' were set up for schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The NGfL portal was launched in November 1998, as the portal for the DfES National Grid for Learning strategy. This programme aimed to help learners and educators in the United Kingdom benefit from information and communications technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(ICT). It was one of several new programmes initiated by the new Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government which took office in May 1997 and had a linked budget of earmarked funds to be spent on schools internet connections and ICT. The portal was funded and managed by the Government's lead agency for ICT in education, 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...
(British Educational Communications and Technology Agency).
Regional Broadband Consortia
Regional Broadband Consortium
Regional Broadband Consortia were created in 2000, in the United Kingdom, under the auspices of what was then known as the Department for Education and Skills National Grid for Learning programme. The NGfL title was subsequently dropped in favour of 'ICT in schools' and more latterly is referred...
(RBCs) were created in 2000 under the auspices of what was at the time the Department for Education and Skills, (DfES) to secure lower prices for broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
connections and services for schools by aggregating demand across a region and entering into region wide contracts. Since then, these consortia have expanded their remit and have taken over some of the original aims of the NGfL.
On 13 April 2006, Becta closed the National Grid for Learning portal, stating that it was improving its offer to teachers by rationalising the number of different services it provides for schools and teaching staff. According to the agency, this is being achieved by integrating valued components of the NGfL into its existing services.
The concept of the NGfL lives on, however. The RBCs have worked collaboratively since 2001, and have since been actively joined in their partnership by equivalent organizations in Northern Ireland (C2kNI), Scotland (Glow) and Wales (NGfL Cymru) to form the national education network (NEN), utilizing the JANET
JANET
JANET is a private British government-funded computer network dedicated to education and research. All further- and higher-education organisations in the UK are connected to JANET, as are all the Research Councils; the majority of these sites are connected via 20 metropolitan area networks JANET...
network to provide a single, secure private network available to provide shared resources amongst all UK schools.