Any 1:1 Schools?

[mthomas08]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. The funding issue isn't too relevant at the moment. I am interested more in who has gone down the route, why and how. Have you gone entirely 1:1 with no suites available or do you still need them with your solution? Perhaps a partial rollout with more planned.

 

Many thanks

 

Our School attempted this 1:1 but then realised they couldn't due to the heavy reliance on IT Suites for Year 9-11. At those ages you need productivity above anything else.

Our Students still prefer the "Office/Keyboard" method although can be fixed with attached/blue tooth keyboards you also have to consider the screen size and reliance of touch screen vs mouse/keyboard.

 

@Others talking about liability - Falls back on to the School. That's the official statement from Scheme providers, your School IS 100% liable. If Parents refuse to pay, they can all bring the devices back to the School and cancel their DDs. You will have the liability of sorting everything else out.

 

How ever it can be classed as stolen if they cut their payments off and refuse to return the device.

 

This will be the same regardless of who you choose for a Scheme provider or your School organises everything.

[Haptic]

Certainly an interesting topic.

 

With our 1:1 solutions we negate any risk by working with both Insurance and lease providers. We selected both parties based on age of organisation and financial position.

 

We also offer Schools and colleges an additional insurance built into the scheme, this protects against the potential for under/non payment from parents.

 

 

Regarding the roll out, we strongly advise a test/trial batch. Change management and adoption are always far more important than the financial aspect in our opinion.

 

Joe

[bclarke]

My first choice strategy is to go completely Microsoft with Windows 10 using Surface 3 with a keyboard cover and pen. Lose the suites entirely and then put docking stations in with screens, keyboards and mice for the desktop experience where necessary. I would like all teachers to have the same and each teacher station in a classroom would be replaced with a docking station too. This way, the students would have the relevant software at their fingertips wherever they are.

 

If you compare a computer to a pen, you don't go to a special room to use a en, you can use it anywhere. Using a computer should be like that.

 

Also, industry have been doing this for decades. They give laptops to their staff, they can work anywhere. Education should be the same.

Edited June 24, 2015 by bclarke

[DrCheese]

^ This is what I'm looking at for a September 2016 rollout. Windows tablets are at a point now I consider them perfectly fine replacements for the traditional IT suite solution. I've had to use my budget this year to replace what I think will be my last big computer suite refresh, next year I'll install 802.11ac wave 2 wifi & start doing a 1:1 scheme. At this time I'm looking at the school owning the devices entirely & leasing them over a period of three years with a supplier, who will provide the insurance/repairs. If we equip Year 7, that will last them until year 11. Then buy a new device to see them out into post 16.

 

There's a *ton* of planning needed for this tho, it's not a small change. The way teachers teach will need to change to get the best use out of the investment & needs to be lead by them, rather than just throwing devices at the students & hoping for the best (This is why every iPad scheme I've ever seen has failed) Also there's a ton of CP issues that may result from this, i.e students using the webcam out of hours & puts the school at a big risk

 

I'm just getting fed up of equiping a 30 computer suite & having classes of 15/20 take up an entire room. This leaves a large amount of computers not being used, which is a huge waste of case.

[bclarke]

^ This is what I'm looking at for a September 2016 rollout. Windows tablets are at a point now I consider them perfectly fine replacements for the traditional IT suite solution. I've had to use my budget this year to replace what I think will be my last big computer suite refresh, next year I'll install 802.11ac wave 2 wifi & start doing a 1:1 scheme. At this time I'm looking at the school owning the devices entirely & leasing them over a period of three years with a supplier, who will provide the insurance/repairs. If we equip Year 7, that will last them until year 11. Then buy a new device to see them out into post 16.

 

There's a *ton* of planning needed for this tho, it's not a small change. The way teachers teach will need to change to get the best use out of the investment & needs to be lead by them, rather than just throwing devices at the students & hoping for the best (This is why every iPad scheme I've ever seen has failed) Also there's a ton of CP issues that may result from this, i.e students using the webcam out of hours & puts the school at a big risk

 

I'm just getting fed up of equiping a 30 computer suite & having classes of 15/20 take up an entire room. This leaves a large amount of computers not being used, which is a huge waste of case.

@DrCheese I would love to get in touch properly to compare on this. I think I will have a good strategy and starting to cover the bases but the school have yet to commit to an actual device which I need them to do so I can move forward properly with the planning aspect.

 

I am upgrading our WiFi this summer with Meraki which is pretty good and excellent value for money.

 

In terms of how it is used in the classroom, we have a Digital Champions group which has been running for about a year. They are teachers who are tasked with looking at how to use this in the classroom and should speak with other teachers for ideas.

[mthomas08]

My first choice strategy is to go completely Microsoft with Windows 10 using Surface 3 with a keyboard cover and pen. Lose the suites entirely and then put docking stations in with screens, keyboards and mice for the desktop experience where necessary. I would like all teachers to have the same and each teacher station in a classroom would be replaced with a docking station too. This way, the students would have the relevant software at their fingertips wherever they are.

 

If you compare a computer to a pen, you don't go to a special room to use a en, you can use it anywhere. Using a computer should be like that.

 

Also, industry have been doing this for decades. They give laptops to their staff, they can work anywhere. Education should be the same.

 

Problem with the above, one of the biggest reasons why Schools are going 1:1 is to remove the cost of IT from the budget. If you start buying a lot of equipment around the School you negate that reason?

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of fitting classrooms to be more compatible with our mobile device scheme. Unfortunately the main reason why this School went down 1:1 route was to cut back the IT Budget requirement and put the cost to Parents. If you kit rooms out, you still have to maintain them.

[localzuk]

Problem with the above, one of the biggest reasons why Schools are going 1:1 is to remove the cost of IT from the budget. If you start buying a lot of equipment around the School you negate that reason?

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of fitting classrooms to be more compatible with our mobile device scheme. Unfortunately the main reason why this School went down 1:1 route was to cut back the IT Budget requirement and put the cost to Parents. If you kit rooms out, you still have to maintain them.

 

Its a false economy. Companies did the same thing, but found the costs involved with supporting such a setup were higher than just providing their own gear in the first place (I believe Vodafone was the company I read about).

 

If you want to have subject specific software, you still end up having to have some form of setup to support it, so you end up having to maintain that anyway. The cost savings through BYOD are not as good as they appear.

[DrCheese]

We wouldn't remove the cost of IT from the budget, we'd buy all the devices so we have full control over them. If parents start paying for devices, they start wanting to use them like full on home computers.

 

As for existing IT suites, we'd pair down the amount we have. Desktops are becoming dirt cheap now so those that still need full computers will cost a ton less than they have in the past, i.e if all you care about is office work you can get by with a 150/200 quid device. We were paying £490 two years ago for a core i3 device with 19ins monitor, this year it's £390.

 

Exception would be say, a media/music suite where you'd need beefer computers.

 

Teachers desktops in classrooms won't go away but again, the cost is much lower now - Unless you insist on touchscreens in every room!

 

This isn't about cost savings, it's about putting IT in more lessons without needing to up sticks to a computer room. If every student has a full on device capable of everything a desktop is then it just becomes integrated into every lesson. I believe this was a pipe dream a few years when iPads started appearing as the technology to make them useful to education simply wasn't there - It is now.

Edited June 25, 2015 by DrCheese