Brand Brings the Fun into Mobile Data

During 2000 South Birmingham College devised the 'Big Top Learning Gateway' project.

An IT education resource designed as a funfair attraction. The project's aim is to reach out to those who find it difficult to attend the traditional education system and it enables the visitors to learn new IT skills and build upon those they already possess in a non-threatening environment.

The 'Big Top Learning Gateway' project is the biggest of its kind in the country, it's state-of-the-art mobile data communications technology connects to the Internet without traditional land lines, so wherever the funfair goes the Learning Centre will also go.

The mobile internet classroom was the brainchild of Midlands Fun Fair owner Mr. Robert Wikinson and has been designed as a fun fair ride and a place to learn. The project is being run by South Birmingham College and funded by the DFEE as part of LearnDirect.

The Learning centre is sited on a 40ft specially adapted trailer. The trailer has 12 workstations installed which make use of Brand's award winning technology to provide GSM access via the Orange mobile network to the LAN (local area network) at South Birmingham College.

Brand has provided an Apollo Evolution BRI server which is attached to South Birmingham College's LAN. This enables the LAN to be extended to all of the workstations within the mobile vehicle, and can be utilised anywhere the Big Top goes. The Brand Apollo Emulator software, used in conjunction with the Nokia Card phone II, dials up and connects to South Birmingham College allowing data to be transmitted at 28.8kps using Orange's cutting edge technology HSCSD (high speed circuit switched data).

Orange's HSCSD is typically 3 times faster than other mobile network's circuit switched data, and also the GPRS speeds which are available today. With Brand's unique spoofing technology there is no need for users to continually log in and off, when there is no data being sent or received. With Apollo, it releases the phone line which is transparent to the user, so all of the information stays in place as if they were still on-line. This dramatically reduces the costs of the phone bills.

The Big Top Learning Gateway was officially launched on Monday 11th September in Birmingham, by Mr. Michael Willis, Under Secretary for Education and Technology. Dr Anne Wright also attended and gave an introduction to LearnDirect, and she commented, “We are very proud that the Big Top Learning Gateway is playing such an important role in UK Online. UFI's LearnDirect is at the forefront of this revolution and the Big Top is one of the most exciting centres in our e-learning network.

It will put the fun back into learning and is thought that it will draw all sorts of people who would not usually think that learning is for them.” She went on to say, “Like all LearnDirect centres it will be using the Internet to open up a huge range of courses, which people can use at the centre, at home, at work or anywhere that they can get on-line. It is the classroom of the future, a mobile Internet learning centre that has been designed to tour the region with one of it's leading funfairs.”

South Birmingham selected Ramesys, UK providers of e-business solutions to take charge of all the project management, infrastructure and support of the network.

More than 10,000 people visit Robert Wilkinson Funfairs every week and the 'Big Top Learning Gateway' will provide a fun learning experience for all those involved. Virtual Makeovers, Games, Competitions and family learning weeks are all things planned for the future using the Big Top.