Frequently Asked Questions
What Ordnance Survey mapping can I access in uLearn?
uLearn is now able to provide you with Ordnance Survey maps for the whole country, through the OS Digital Map Data pilot project. This means that Authority-maintained schools in the UK are able to access Ordnance Survey data both at school and from home. Some licensed data (for example local licensed aerial imagery) may be restricted to access from within the school.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why can't I see Ordnance Survey mapping for the whole country?
If you are unable to see whole country OS mapping it is probably because you are an independent school. The Government classifies Academies and City Learning Colleges as independent schools. Independent schools can only see other mapping for which uLearn holds the license. Academies and City Learning Colleges are able to see all of the OS data that is licensed to their Education Authority or Grid for Learning.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I keep getting an unrecognised IP address message. What does this mean?
Due to licensing restrictions, Ordnance Survey maps can only currently be accessed from UK maintained schools. We enforce this by checking your IP address against a known list. If your school IP address isn't on this list, access to OS maps is blocked and you receive an 'unrecognised IP address' error message once logged in.
If you are logging in at home, you will currently by unable to access OS maps. However, there is a great deal of other map and aerial data available i.e. street-level TeleAtlas mapping for the whole of Europe, which will be adequate for lesson preparation at home.
Click 'ok' to the IP address message you receive and this should allow you to continue using uLearn.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What are the benefits of purchasing a uLearn license, as opposed to using the free community user license?
Within its small cost (£95 for primary and £195 for secondary schools), uLearn provides a full range of maps that really excite learners; from world, county and street maps to historical maps and aerial photography. Therefore uLearn is the most cost-effective way to access the mapping required by the school curriculum.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am having problems registering, what do I do?
There is help on registration available here.
You can also contact uLearn's friendly support team on 01752 797 134 or email ulearn.support@webbased.co.uk.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have forgotten my password, what do I do?
If you have forgotten your password, you can click on the 'Forgotten your password?' link on the home page. Enter the email address you used to register with and we will send an automated password to this address. This can be changed at any time by going to Me > Account > Update username/password.
You can also contact us using the details above.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is an Establishment Administrator?
When a school registers for the first time on uLearn, we provide one initial Establishment Administrator account. Establishment Administrators have the responsibility to add and create users for the entire establishment.
When logged in, the Administrator can click on School > User Accounts > Add User and add individual accounts for pupils, staff or additional Establishment Administrators. If they are only going to access resources rather than upload, you can create one class login that the whole class can use. Alternatively, you can extract staff and pupil information from your school's MIS System (for example SIMS), add appropriate usernames and password and create uLearn accounts for all users in one go.
Click on School > User Accounts > Add User > Upload from CSV. A link to download a template example file is provided.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do I have to enter a valid school email address when I register?
uLearn has been built for education only. This means we only provide access to schools and educational establishments.
When you enter your email address we check it belongs to an educational establishment and then send an email to this address. The email includes an activation link which you must follow to activate your account.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The registration process says that a license has been purchased on my behalf - what does this mean?
Some Regional Broadband Consortia and LAs have purchased a uLearn maps licenses on behalf of their schools. If you are from one of these areas you may not need to purchase a maps license to access the full range of uLearn maps!
Area-wide agreements include:
- Northern Ireland
- Nottingham
- Republic of Ireland
- Southampton
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What browsers are supported?
We currently support the use of uLearn on Internet Explorer versions 7 and 8, and Firefox version 3.
We are also continuing to support Internet Explorer version 6 while a large number of schools are still using it, but we will be phasing out support for this browser version, and users are encouraged to upgrade to version 7 or 8 as soon as possible.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am an Education Advisor - what type of licence do I need and what is included?
We will provide free access to all uLearn maps (subject to OS licensing restrictions) to all UK Education Advisors.
Just select "I am a UK Education Advisor" as part of the registration process.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What size files can I upload to uLearn?
While some users will have no problems uploading large files to uLearn, if your school has low bandwidth, a contended connection, or if you have several users trying to upload large files at the same time, you may encounter problems. We therefore recommend that you stick to the file limits set out below. We've also included some guidance, and some ideas for incorporating the reasons and methods for creating smaller files into your lessons.
Video: 2MB
With modern technology it is very easy to create long video files, but in the classroom there is rarely time to upload larger files, and accessing them also becomes more difficult. But it is also a really positive learning activity to work with pupils to identify what the video is actually wanting to achieve, and then ensure that the recorded video really meets those criteria. This is a fantastic way of practicing higher order thinking skills.
Image: 300KB
With modern cameras, it is very easy to take large numbers of very high resolution images. Familiarising learners with technology (e.g. Picasa, Faststone Photo Resizer or Gimp), and practicing the skills of being more discriminating about the images to choose, how to process them, and how to Tag them, are all good learning exercises.
Documents: 1MB
Extremely useful learning activities can be built around checking documents before they are uploaded, to make sure that the creators have thought about the intended audience and the outcomes they are wanting to have - is the text appropriate, do the photographs provide the right information, do they meet pupil safety rules, etc.
