SENnet – The Learning Support Intranet (Version 2)
SENnet is the Special Educational Needs data management solution developed by Bay House School.
SENnet(v1) provided staff with the ability to search and view pupil SEN data and documents, produce SEN lists on a per class basis, highlight exam related SEN requirements for individuals and distribute SEN related CPD resources. Though much of this functionality was available through the School’s existing Management Information System (MIS), this lacked an efficient and user-friendly interface and was undesirable for document management and CPD resource distribution. SENnet was developed (in classic ASP) as an intranet solution to meet these requirements, and functioned satisfactorily for several years.
Over time it became clear that SENnet was in need of a revamp. The system still relied on IT support for updating data (no user interface) and there was little flexibility in the underlying system for exploring new areas of functionality. SEN department visitors from other schools had also expressed interest in purchasing the system for their own uses, and SENnet Version 2 was born.
Entirely reconstructed from scratch to run “in the cloud” and enable commercial sale through the software-as-a-service model, SENnet Version2 is a PHP5 and MySQL based solution designed to run on a dedicated LAMP platform. Highlights of the new system include a user-oriented interface to improve usability and understanding, storage, processing and accessing of SEN register data to meet Data Protection Act requirements, flexible construction allowing new features and functionality to be made available on request and a suite of management tools for the Learning Support department.
Phase 1 of the redevelopment is complete and the system was rolled-out at Bay House in Septemeber 2011. Phase 2 of the reconstruction is due in Q1 2012.
The full feature list (including plans for Phase 2) is available to download below and a test site will be made available when appropriate.
On a personal level SENnet V2 represents something of a contradiction. Without doubt it is the purest data-oriented web application I have developed. Implementation of data categorisation and encryption levels, 2-factor authentication, synchronisation of multiple redundant security layers across firewall, Apache and PHP application code and the most advanced server technical configuration I have constructed to date represent significant steps towards “Enterprise Level” web application experience (see feature list for more details). Conversely, to keep initial development time to a minimum and enable colleagues to easily maintain the system further down the line, the core code still draws primarily on the now outdated procedural CMS code that I wrote when first developing in PHP. This couldn’t be more different from my recent experience developing the new CMS in OOP following the MVC design pattern, and receiving all of the benefits bundled into the CakePHP framework. Code wise, as an application, SENnet V2 even represents a regression from the previous work on the inkManager CMS, though achieves all of the desired objectives in a clean and functional manner.
SENnet V2 (Technical) Features
Comparing Free Social Media Management Tools
Increasing demand from school and private clients for Social Media integration and management advice is fast making a third party management tool for in house use and recommending to clients a necessity.
Ideally I’d like to use and support the same system for multiple purposes and clients, so it seems best to trial a few of the available options. Initially I’m going to explore a number of free to use tools (most of which offer a professional/paid upgrade) and I’ll review the pros and cons here.
Based on some Google searches and other blog posts I’ll be starting with Hootsuite (http://hootsuite.com/) but also intend to try the alternative feature sets and interfaces of Buffer (http://bufferapp.com/), dlvr.it (http://dlvr.it/), Seesmic (http://seesmic.com/) and SocialOomph (http://www.socialoomph.com/).