Staff Devices

[foofighterjim]

We are reviewing the use of our staff laptops (or lack of). I was wondering what others out there are doing. Anyone doing anything particularly clever that they wouldn't mind sharing?

 

At the moment we just have them built as stand alone devices with the teacher as local admin. Most get taken home and never see the light of day or get used as the household computer for the whole family. I am thinking of dual booting the laptops with our controlled domain partition and a stand alone 'home' partition. There would be a 3rd Bit Locker encrypted work partition that both OSs can sync with the one drive for business client. This would hopefully provide full functionality in and out of school and remove the need for staff to have USB drives. Opinions and pointing out obvious faults that I have missed are welcome.

[FN-GM]

We removed all staff laptops. Desktops in the classroom and staff are expect to use there own device if they choose to work at home.

 

We have 1 or 2 users who work in another building in the area. They have a laptop on the domain no local admin rights no local accounts. They can VPN back into the network.

[halbaradkenafin]

We've got 3 configurations for staff laptops (all the same base image but the post-imaging process changes), one for pure in-school use, one for home only use and one for use at both. We also provide easy access to RDS so many staff don't need much installed on their laptops and quite a few just don't bother with them and get by with their personal devices.

[EvLPhenom]

We have class laptops that connect to the IWB's which will shortly be being changed to desktops as have had alot of issues with damaged ports and cables over the last 12/18 months and they are starting to show their age. As for staff, they all have their own laptop which is use for PPA and taking home, whilst some never see the light of day the others that use them regularly are fine. Ours are set up with as a normal domain computer but have offline files available so they can use them out of school with no issues and no local access so we still have control of whats on them.

[foofighterjim]

We removed all staff laptops. Desktops in the classroom and staff are expect to use there own device if they choose to work at home.

 

Now that I find interesting as I mentioned this to the leadership here and was immediately told that staff must have a laptop. I know this has not been the case since the laptops for teachers 'initiative' some 10 years ago.

[FN-GM]

Now that I find interesting as I mentioned this to the leadership here and was immediately told that staff must have a laptop. I know this has not been the case since the laptops for teachers 'initiative' some 10 years ago.

 

Quite a few schools in my area do this. Saves a fortune. Staff don't mind either, some bring personal devices in and connect them to the BYOD network.

[foofighterjim]

Ours are set up with as a normal domain computer but have offline files available so they can use them out of school with no issues and no local access so we still have control of whats on them.

 

This is one avenue I have not considered up to this point, I will have a look at how viable this would be. My issue with it being a domain only computer is that many staff would want to install software (I include printer drivers in this) for use at home. If I relax this I would not want staff to have domain computers with everything under the sun installed on them.

[Steve21]

This is one avenue I have not considered up to this point, I will have a look at how viable this would be. My issue with it being a domain only computer is that many staff would want to install software (I include printer drivers in this) for use at home. If I relax this I would not want staff to have domain computers with everything under the sun installed on them.

 

Set them up to allow printer drivers off of Windows Update etc if it fails to install through local ones

 

Steve

[Boredguy]

We stopped providing laptops to new staff earlier in the year as we do longer have the budget to be able to replace the aging kit and with more staff having better personal equipment they just were not using what they did have.

 

Staff have access to Office for their personal devices now so compatibility is not an issue, and they can download ActivInspire if they wish to create flipcharts direct from Promethean's website.

The only requirement for them to have a school device is if they wish to access our SIMS remotely (as SLG is a bit too clunky for report writing) and we now have a couple of stand alone laptops that they can borrow overnight if they previously returned their issued one or did not have one to begin with.

[foofighterjim]

The only requirement for them to have a school device is if they wish to access our SIMS remotely (as SLG is a bit too clunky for report writing) and we now have a couple of stand alone laptops that they can borrow overnight if they previously returned their issued one or did not have one to begin with.

 

This would be our problem, we actively promote the use of our Citrix TS for staff to use at home. I would much rather have all the staff laptops back, repair them and then turn them into a couple of class sets where they would be used. I suppose the issue with that is breaking the perception that all teaching staff must have a laptop provided by school.

[Gibson335]

Now that I find interesting as I mentioned this to the leadership here and was immediately told that staff must have a laptop. I know this has not been the case since the laptops for teachers 'initiative' some 10 years ago.

 

Been trying to get this agreed for years - even with the support of the BM the rest of SLT won't listen...apparently if we expect teachers to prepare lesson plans, etc, etc, then we must provide them with a device they can use at home. It's funny how, when they want something they simply point at another school and say 'they have it' as if that alone proves it must be a good thing, yet when you point at a school and say 'they don't have it' people suddenly have a different criteria by which to assess things.

[Boredguy]

This would be our problem, we actively promote the use of our Citrix TS for staff to use at home. I would much rather have all the staff laptops back, repair them and then turn them into a couple of class sets where they would be used. I suppose the issue with that is breaking the perception that all teaching staff must have a laptop provided by school.

 

In our case the restriction is due to our RDS licences having to be on a school device. Ideally I want to replace them with user licences instead of devices as our supplier said it would not matter then if they used a personal device or not. I just don't have the funds currently to add more to our EES agreement.

[Oaktech]

We removed all staff laptops. Desktops in the classroom and staff are expect to use there own device if they choose to work at home.

 

We have 1 or 2 users who work in another building in the area. They have a laptop on the domain no local admin rights no local accounts. They can VPN back into the network.

 

I'm working towards this.

 

It's met with approval from management as the planned device life is 5 years for a desktop and 3 for a laptop and the desktops are a third of the price. It's met with approval from some staff as they like the fact the desktop machines are way more reliable doing things like connecting to whiteboards and audio, they are also loads faster as they are wired .

[Gibson335]

I'm working towards this.

 

It's met with approval from management as the planned device life is 5 years for a desktop and 3 for a laptop and the desktops are a third of the price. It's met with approval from some staff as they like the fact the desktop machines are way more reliable doing things like connecting to whiteboards and audio, they are also loads faster as they are wired .

 

We even proposed it as cost-neutral to begin with as we'd take the laptops and put them in the rooms, and when they were replaced on their normal cycle it would be with stations instead. Apparently, staff simply can't live without their laptops, though - even though they complain like mad about shunting them all over the site every day. We even 'have' to provide cover staff and trainees with laptops as it's 'expected of us'.

[foofighterjim]

I'm working towards this.

 

It's met with approval from management as the planned device life is 5 years for a desktop and 3 for a laptop and the desktops are a third of the price. It's met with approval from some staff as they like the fact the desktop machines are way more reliable doing things like connecting to whiteboards and audio, they are also loads faster as they are wired .

 

I wouldn't have a problem with the classroom laptop setup as long as the laptop was using a proper docking station rather than getting staff to regularly handle the cables. Unfortunately if we were to implement this, it simply would not be the case. All interesting points so far.

[CyBeRkId2002]

we switched to desktops only around 7 years ago when we were a new build, and wouldn't switch back for anything.

 

Ongoing maintenance costs of staff machines is a fraction of what it used to be, reliability and ease of which staff can just get on with the lesson is so much better (which not only helps us from a support perspective, but also has a hugely positive outcome on Teaching & Learning).

 

Fortunately out SLT are 100% behind us on this so it's never really been an issue.

[CyBeRkId2002]

also our building is also a hub for a lot of lettings so is open long hours - if staff want to work earlier or later (or even weekends) using college provided equipment that's not a problem, it just has to be onsite. Failing that is it that unreasonable for any person in a professional position such as teaching to buy their own if they want to work remotely? I know I use my own personal laptop for work at home and wouldn't expect the school to provide me with one

[Quackers]

We removed fixed workstations few years ago. Staff have a Macbook and an iPad. They wireless Airplay to Apple TV's connected to projectors giving them the freedom to move around the classroom and redesign the layout of the room how they see fit without having us move network and power because they want the teacher desk the other side of the room.

 

No way would i want to go back to fixed workstations for teacher stations. Its nice now seeing teachers sitting on the desks with the kids or in the hall the teacher standing amongst the kids while doing the powerpoint instead of right at the front. Had some designer from New York come and give a lecture on design to the kids at Christmas he just connected his iPhone 6 up to Airplay and gave his presentation from that.

[bossman]

When the laptop for teachers scheme died around 7 years ago we decided then that staff would have to purchase their own if they wanted to use it in school as a standalone, funny how many requests we have to allow them access to our wireless network hehe!

 

Very few buy anything that they cannot get for free from the school so our BOYD has very few devices attached hehe!

 

Best thing we ever did, saved the school shed loads of money and as the staff have remote access to Sims and their work areas with application use also they don't require them.

 

I am happy

[Patrick]

We removed fixed workstations few years ago. Staff have a Macbook and an iPad. They wireless Airplay to Apple TV's connected to projectors giving them the freedom to move around the classroom and redesign the layout of the room how they see fit without having us move network and power because they want the teacher desk the other side of the room.

 

No way would i want to go back to fixed workstations for teacher stations. Its nice now seeing teachers sitting on the desks with the kids or in the hall the teacher standing amongst the kids while doing the powerpoint instead of right at the front. Had some designer from New York come and give a lecture on design to the kids at Christmas he just connected his iPhone 6 up to Airplay and gave his presentation from that.

 

You don't need a MacBook for that. Any PC connected to a projector with Air Server installed can have what ever is on the iPad/iPhone displayed on the IWB. No need for Apple TV. Plus, Air Server is CHEAP! Ha. But i get that you want nothing wired to the projector apart from Apple TV.

[Oaktech]

We removed fixed workstations few years ago. Staff have a Macbook and an iPad. They wireless Airplay to Apple TV's connected to projectors giving them the freedom to move around the classroom and redesign the layout of the room how they see fit without having us move network and power because they want the teacher desk the other side of the room.

 

No way would i want to go back to fixed workstations for teacher stations. Its nice now seeing teachers sitting on the desks with the kids or in the hall the teacher standing amongst the kids while doing the powerpoint instead of right at the front. Had some designer from New York come and give a lecture on design to the kids at Christmas he just connected his iPhone 6 up to Airplay and gave his presentation from that.

 

Bloody hell fire... What is your budget like? I couldn't afford to equip a single year with that level of kit on the budget I have (not that I'd want to, I'm not a Apple fan, but I'd still like the budget)

[MatthewL]

If it was me and laptops were to be provided they would be connected to the domain like any other device and have the relevant remote access setup needed. No way would I have a standalone device purely for the fact I would never see it again. At least if its on the domain/vpn'ing I have control over it and if not used for x number of days it would have to be brought into school. Ideally I would have desktops if staff wanted to work from home I would setup a RDP style connection so they can use their devices they already have. If there was good enough case for a laptop then that room/user would have 1 or the other.

[foofighterjim]

If it was me and laptops were to be provided they would be connected to the domain like any other device and have the relevant remote access setup needed. No way would I have a standalone device purely for the fact I would never see it again. At least if its on the domain/vpn'ing I have control over it and if not used for x number of days it would have to be brought into school. Ideally I would have desktops if staff wanted to work from home I would setup a RDP style connection so they can use their devices they already have. If there was good enough case for a laptop then that room/user would have 1 or the other.

 

The issue is that in the brief I have been given I can't see a way of making them open enough for use at home but controlled enough for use in school. This is where my theory of dual booting them came from, the best of both worlds. Staff have full remote access to our Citrix TS, that's why I wouldn't be bothered about software on the stand alone OS as everything required could be accessed from the TS.

 

In an ideal world we would just geofence the laptops and restrict what they do that way.

[MatthewL]

As long as a user can access what they need and install a printer I cannot see what other access they would need at home? It's a school owned device and we know what staff would install its just nightmare, if they are so desperate to install their own software and its none legit as such they should be purchasing their own machine. For all you know they could be installing every virus going. Provide them with a laptop for their job, if they need additional stuff install they should approach you as they would to install software in school.

[dhicks]

I was wondering what others out there are doing.

 

We currently have desktop machines in classrooms, which we hope to replace with nice all-in-ones over the summer. We're also thinking of a bank of Chromebooks for staff to use at home if they want to - they can connect to our remote access server with those no problem.