Tower Hamlets Council is exploring the benefits of developing a thin client-based personal computing strategy to meet young people’s education needs

In two pilot projects, Darren Coghlan, head of e-learning for children’s services at the council, has a brief to support schools to raise standards through the use of IT.

This includes managing Tower Hamlets City Learning Centre (CLC), a strand of the Excellence in Cities programme, which looks at innovative ways of using technology. The first group of students identified for a pilot project are sixth formers taking A-levels in further mathematics.

Once a week, about 20 students meet for maths tuition at the CLC. Each is equipped with an NEC TCM160 thin-client device to log on to servers at the centre, and they have the same experience at home as they do on site, says Coghlan.

‘They will all have broadband connections, and they will be able to do extra work from home using online resources to further encourage their mathematics learning,’ he says.

Coghlan says that over three or four years, the total cost of ownership will be less than a PC, but two other important factors are being able to reuse legacy equipment and ensure security.

‘All the computing happens on the server rather than the device, and we can use old PCs to act as dumb terminals to access the system. There is a piece of software bundled with Windows, a remote desktop connection which can be used to establish a connection to the virtual PCs on the servers,’ he says.

The security issue is also a key part of the council’s personal computing strategy.

‘The devices are not full-blown PCs which young people can do what they want with. They are access devices to secure servers that are monitored from an e-security and e-safety point of view,’ says Coghlan.

Another aspect is reducing the threat of theft.

‘If we are equipping young people with IT equipment, we don’t want to increase the risk of street crime. Children talk to each other, but once there is the understanding that the devices are useless without access to the system, they will not become a target for theft,’ says Coghlan.

The second pilot project focuses on the local authority’s plan to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

‘We are trying to use IT to re-engage young people outside of education or employment with the learning process,’ says Coghlan.

To this end, a personal adviser has been hired, online resources created, and a group of 50 people identified through youth services who could benefit from the project.

‘Before we loan them the thin-client devices, we will help them create a personalised learning programme. They might not live in houses with fixed lines or broadband, so the idea is to use 3G and wireless to access the servers. It’s about using technology in a challenging environment,’ says Coghlan.

‘There are also powerful green arguments for having thin-client devices over PCs in terms of sustainability, as they have a longer useful lifespan.

‘And the much lower power consumption and resultant lower heat emission means there is less of a need for air conditioning if they are grouped together in an IT suite.’