This has been a lot of fun, from looking at how to get an SMS to do reporting, new SMS developments and an NComputing thin client terminal.
The SMS market in NZ is having some interesting developments as vendors look to the next generation of web-based systems. Integris’s G2 product which is now standardised across UK and Australia holds a lot of promise if, when, it makes it to NZ. Meanwhile, incumbent Musac is steaming on towards an initial release of its Symphony product. Of course the much smaller and less well known eTap and eMinerva products have been available for some time in a web based configuration. (Note that this is quite different from the existing hosted Integris and Musac products, both of which are being hosted presently on Terminal Server)
It is interesting that RM has really dropped the ball and failed to capitalise on its market leader position back in the days when it was the MOE’s solely accredited SMS and pilot program vendor of choice. The tables have been turned rather effectively by Musac since the MOE forced them to bring their offerings up to scratch.
The NComputing L230 is reviewed in the previous posting of this blog. As Insite Technology now have the agency for it after a few false starts, we can expect to see a lot more of this technology in education in the future, especially as Microsoft Multipoint Server has been released to exploit its specific capabilities.