Staff laptops - does your school still supply them?

[birchanger]

Our teaching staff laptops are five years old and failures are becoming more frequent. With severely straitened budgets I'd rather spend the money elsewhere, such as by getting some refurbed machines for Autodesk Fusion 360. I'm meeting the SLT later in the week and I want to make a recommendation on where we go with teachers' laptops: my inclination is to announce that we will not replace them as they fail, nor will they be issued to new staff members.

 

The alternatives to staff laptops at our school are: each classroom has a teacher's machine; the staffroom has a few devices, but they tend to be dominated by TAs who aren't issed with laptops; the library, sixth form study area and five classrooms have many (250+) machines that are not always all in use (and Impero can display a web page showing where there are unused machines); we allows staff personal devices on our Meru network.

 

Are laptops still seen as fairly standard perq/essential teaching tool? Or has that day passed?

[fiza]

We stopped issuing laptops to new staff 2 years ago. We didnt have the budget for new ones and the staff didnt want the old stock we had so it was decided that it would come to an end. We do still issue the occasional laptop but there must a be a genuine need for it accompanied by a Business Case which is reviewed by SLT.

[localzuk]

We still provide them, and they're seen as a key tool for the job. However, we don't have PCs in each classroom - the projectors are operated via the teacher laptops.

 

They are a cost, sure, but not that big of one overall. Hardware alone, we now spend about £400 per laptop every 3-5 years (depending on how brutal the individual teacher has been to their device).

 

That said, we have now issued iPads to all staff, and I believe the thoughts of the powers that be are to eventually stop using laptops in favour of them. Not really sure how that'd work, but hey ho, we'll see in a few years!

[LeMarchand]

All 3 of mine (primary/junior) still issue laptops to all teachers and 2 of them issue older laptops to key TAs. At least the one that was issuing 2 (a "home" and a "work" machine) to all teachers has realised that it's not tenable!

 

Most NQTs seem to expect a (preferably new) laptop on or before their start date. I agree that it's not a good use of limited finances, but SMT aren't (yet?) prepared to face the backlash if they were to withdraw teacher laptops.

 

P.S. No "board" machine in the classes, though I'm sneaking a couple in on one site.

Edited January 4, 2016 by LeMarchand

[smithson83]

We still issue staff laptops, but they are ones that have been replaced from classrooms, so are 3+ years old by the time staff get them. New Batteries, bit of a spit shine, fine for what they use them for.

[pcstru]

We issue staff laptops. We do not have classroom PC's for teachers. Other than provide a classroom PC, I can't see how we could expect teachers to operate without them. I don't see any particular saving providing fixed PC's for teachers but there would be a massive reduction in flexibility. In short, I don't see them going away any time soon.

[Gibson335]

We still do, yes. Been trying for years to get desktops in classrooms instead (actually, for neutral cost would simply tie-down existing laptops in classrooms for staff until they are scheduled to be replaced, then replace them with desktops) but to no avail. BM would love to do so as well, but SLT not willing to do so. Costs would come down only by around 4 grand a year (assuming 4 year replacement cycle for laptops and 5 for stations) but the management and admin for them would reduce significantly. SLT say staff 'demand' them these days, whereas in speaking to staff the vast majority could actually care less.

[LeMarchand]

I don't see any particular saving providing fixed PC's for teachers but there would be a massive reduction in flexibility. In short, I don't see them going away any time soon.

 

Fewer call outs because they're not plugged in properly for one! I think that if the staff are actually using them to work at home then you have a point. If it's just taken home so that it can be used by other family members/for shopping etc etc then it's a waste of money. I know that some of the staff do a lot of planning etc at home. Unfortunately it would be difficult to identify those who are using their laptops for legitimate work and those who see it as a perk.

[sparkeh]

Yep, all teachers and HLTAs get one. Every class has a fixed PC as well.

 

Staff use them extensively for working and planning at home and connect to our VPN to access resources at home. There's no plan to change this as it works well.

[Sagima]

We don't issue laptops but we do issue a tablet (currently the MS Surface 3 or iPad Air 2 both with the keyboard) to all teaching staff, even the PT ones, and it has been decided just to let them keep them after 3 years and then we'll buy them another one.

We don't do a lot of support on them - just make sure they work if the staff member gets stuck, supply instructions for accessing email and such. All software is accessed via remote app.

It is treated very much like it's their own device but if they break it we pay for it to be fixed/replaced.

 

There is a staff workroom with half a dozen PCs and another 8 or so desk areas they can use their tablets on. All classrooms have a pc as well although these days not many teachers have a permanent classroom

Edited January 4, 2016 by Sagima

[Gibson335]

You do have to wonder how they managed before laptops came along...I'm not suggesting new technology shouldn't be used in order to improve, but staff laptops do eat up a decent bit of our annual budget, and it would be better if we gave them to those who really need them as opposed to every teacher/TA.

[Gibson335]

It is treated very much like it's their own device but if they break it we pay for it to be fixed/replaced.

 

We try to treat them as school devices...most users treat them as their own.

[sparkeh]

You do have to wonder how they managed before laptops came along...

Much less demand on teachers for paperwork to be done out of working hours. Providing laptops with the original Laptops for Teachers scheme was a cynical ploy to squeeze more work out of them after them had left the building.

[localzuk]

You do have to wonder how they managed before laptops came along...I'm not suggesting new technology shouldn't be used in order to improve, but staff laptops do eat up a decent bit of our annual budget, and it would be better if we gave them to those who really need them as opposed to every teacher/TA.

 

We didn't have VLE's, email, constant tracking, etc... to do back before laptops became commonplace. Sure, some schools had a bit, but there was not an expectation for digital entry of everything then. Marks were in markbooks, for example.

 

So, as the requirements on teachers have changed, so have the tools they need to do their jobs.

 

Yes, laptops use up a bit of budget, but this is more down to how our schools assign us budgets. Treating the cost of laptops as a specific IT cost somewhat ignores the overall cost of simply having a teacher, and giving them what they need to do their job. If you account for it as part of that figure, the cost of a laptop is inconsequential.

[pcstru]

Fewer call outs because they're not plugged in properly for one!

I guess if we didn't have them, we (the IT dept) would have slightly less work, although if PC's belong to classrooms rather than people, I can see that being a problem - "Oh it was broken when I came in". Making the call based on our (IT) workload would be a case of tail wagging dog.

I think that if the staff are actually using them to work at home then you have a point.

I can't see how they can do their job without using them at home. We have so many systems they have to use; email, VLE, MIS, attainment analytics etc, I think they would have a strong argument that they simply can't do their job without the technology. In terms of checking that they are using them for that - I don't think that's my problem. It would be a capability issue for their managers.

[LeMarchand]

I can't see how they can do their job without using them at home. We have so many systems they have to use; email, VLE, MIS, attainment analytics etc, I think they would have a strong argument that they simply can't do their job without the technology. In terms of checking that they are using them for that - I don't think that's my problem. It would be a capability issue for their managers.

 

In one school in particular I have problems if I need to reboot certain devices because the teachers seem to live there. I certainly hope that for their sakes they don't go home and do more work! To be fair, i see a lot fewer signs of "personal" use these days (probably only because tablets are relatively cheap) but a lot of laptops are left at school overnight.

[edmokeski]

We issue, on an opt-in basis, laptop and/or iPad to staff. Used to be a laptop only on an opt-out basis, but we're going 1:1 iPad over time. I think we'll probably see the classroom PCs going the way of the dodo as teachers prefer to plug in / airplay their iPad. The #1 thing likely to keep the laptops around for now is the lack of an iOS app or (or tablet-friendly web interface) for our MIS that allows entry of reports. Digital report writing was the original impetus behind issuing laptops, and so the laptops won't go away until reports can be done on tablets.

As was said by others, individually the laptops are fairly cheap, and by going to an opt-in basis at the start of this year we're already seeing numbers drop, which will allow that budget line to shrink over time.

 

ps - The other factor reducing uptake of the laptops was the MIS becoming Mac-friendly. Previously had lots of staff using personal Macs at home for everything, and dusting off school-issued Windows laptop only when needing to access MIS. Instituting some virtual machines they could access remotely helped some, but being able to access directly from MacOS has had a more significant impact.

[synaesthesia]

We don't, and despite the protest from some staff (usually new starters) think we're better off for it. There are static PC's in each classroom, and it's laughable to think that they would be without some form of device at home they can use there. We have good BYOD in place and make good use of mobile apps such as Edulink from Overnet Data to help with mobile registration, behaviour etc.

And looking at the financial side of things, a cheap-but-not-too-cheap laptop at £300, times 150 - would giving staff laptops be £45k worth of improvement to the kids education? If it was, there would still be government initiatives to help with it.

[birchanger]

Thanks to all replies so far: you've given me a lot to think about. One thing's for sure: money will have to be found from somewhere, as their systemboards are dying in droves. I like the idea of casting from personla or school devices but our projectors lack HDMI. And I still don't really like the idea of having to support iPads.

[Linfit]

We don't issue staff with laptops routinely. We have some senior staff who have them and the IT Dept, but that's all. There is a fixed PC in every classroom and in the staffroom, each Dept has a work area with at least 4 PC's in it, some have more. We stopped issuing them over five years ago as the then Head took the view that computers were so common most staff would certainly have one at home. I still think this is a valid point of view, but these days of course staff might have several tablet devices at home but not perhaps a PC or laptop, so we might have come full circle on that one.

We do issue all our staff with a personal iPad. These are actually easy to manage as other than setting them up for the Staff wireless we let them use them as they wish - they are not managed: as a result they have a low overhead for us (unlike the pupil ones used in class which are a complete pain in the a***).

This works well for us at the moment - given the capital cost of the two options would be about the same. Staff are happy because they get the shiny shiny, and we are happy as the management overhead is reduced.

[edmokeski]

FYI, lots of our projectors don't have HDMI either, although we're not buying any more that don't have it. For older VGA-only ones, we're using some 20 pound StarTech adaptors that work very well.

[CyberNerd]

And looking at the financial side of things, a cheap-but-not-too-cheap laptop at £300, times 150 - would giving staff laptops be £45k worth of improvement to the kids education? If it was, there would still be government initiatives to help with it.

 

Thats one way of looking at it. Another would be to provide £200 chromebooks and give them a 5yr lifecycle (google do). Then your only looking at £6000 per year which is less than a single teachers TLR

[Sylv3r]

We've never bought them to be honest. Once the Laptops for Teachers ones died they were never replaced. We've got a fair size staff study with 20 PC's plus other smaller departmental offices plus a PC in all classrooms so we didn't see the need.

[F3000]

We currently have a PC in every classroom and the only Staff Laptops we have are a handful of very old ones which we haven't physically seen in 5 years, so I would be surprised if they still work (considering they are not in the School!). I have over the last few months been debating suggesting moving the opposite way and issuing staff with laptops and removing desktops. There are various pros and cons (most of which I have read from various threads on here), but at the moment we are sticking with desktops due to both cost and the extra management we get with them. Also about half our Staff have got iPads in the past year (who would have guessed) and I really don't think they need two portable devices (especially considering how little the iPads are actually in School).

[mikeprice]

We issue laptops to all teachers - and some TAs

I have never been sure of why this is needed - I was a teacher for over 10 years and never had a school laptop - I needed a computer at home to work with but I had to use my own - as I did in my previous job in the real world

 

Nowadays I still need a computer at home for work - so I just use my own laptop - which I also use for my own stuff

In fact it comes into work on occasion as sometimes it is easier to use it here rather than reconfigure one of the school machine (e.g. I have it in at the moment as it has an HDMI connector which I will need to connect to a TV tomorrow)