C2k Exchange was introduced to deliver all C2k related information to school staff.  The website provides access to documentation, guidance and appropriate support materials for C2k services such as curriculum software, email, web filtering, video-conferencing, Management Information Systems, guest wireless access and laptop encryption to name but a few.

Paul Wade, ICT Manager, St Mary’s College (Derry), explained that Senior Management use C2k Exchange to access the software documentation relating to FMS, Exams and Assessment.  The school staff access these documents on seasonal basis. For example, the Exams Officer accesses exams documents to consult on how to create summer or winter exams entries and to produce exam results reports for Senior Management.

C2k Exchange has now evolved into C2k’s core communications platform which includes targeted content, service-related alerts/announcements and online forms. The statistics demonstrate that there has been an increased usage amongst school staff since the site was re-launched in February 2011. There has been a steady growth in the number of unique users, with a year-on-year increase of 78%.

The use of Alerts; Announcements; Document Centre; My School; Emails from C2k; RSS feeds; Zones for Video conference and Filtering along with FAQs and feedback links have changed how C2k works and interacts with targeted staff audiences in schools. With granularity, the number of target groups has increased. Audiences for FMS Users, Assessment Co-Ordinators and Data Analysts have all been recently added.   Information is communicated to schools via C2k Exchange on behalf of all C2k’s educational partners, including the Department of Education, CCEA and the NI Assembly.  Using the School Notice Board, schools and partners can submit notices which are of interest to the wider education community.

“C2k Exchange enables easy access to support materials reducing the need to ring the C2k helpdesk”, explains Alan Reavie (Senior Teacher, Lurgan College).  “Accessing the Document Centre permits us to find solutions to SIMS and curriculum system problems”.   Alan also explains that areas such as the Software Zone, School Notice Board and the Filtering Zone are frequently used among staff in the college.

Some of the benefits to schools in using online forms are that they reduce administration burden by providing a simple process to request changes to school roles, enabling schools to make software enquiries and to register and search for a video conference partner.

The use of online forms facilitates tracking of school requests and has improved response time.  Online course evaluation forms have improved the quality of attendees’ feedback which contributes to C2k’s course planning.  

Every school has access to its own My School area via a link on C2k Exchange. C2k and partners use this area to distribute school specific reports and information to individual schools.  The My School area contains subfolders for school staff to upload shared documents, and there is a private folder visible only to the school’s principal.

C2k Exchange is now recognised as the one-stop shop for information on all C2k services, with an ever increasing number of staff recognising its value.

To access C2k Exchange, click on the desktop icon on any C2k system. Outside your school or workplace, just type the URL https://www.c2kexchange.net/ into the browser on any Internet linked machine.