Development Ideas

[maxrebo]

I`m writing a development plan for the next few years and I`m wondering if anyone can share any ideas to take the school hardware (in the classroom) to the next level in ICT.

At the moment In the classroom we have the pretty standard setup....IWB/projector, PCs are i5\8gb RAM\SSD etc...no real complaints and the teachers would happily plod on using this technology for the next 5 years but I would like to a level past this.

Most of our IWB are 10 years old so Obvious ideas would be replace the IWB\Projectors with Touchscreens?.

 

I would like to get (to a certain level) a "wow" factor instead of kit that was really new technology 10 years ago.

 

What`s everyone else`s set-up in the classroom and any suggestions welcome.

 

There`s a multitude of upgrades I have planned behind the scenes but teachers\SLT rarely see or acknowledge this.

[Duranis]

In a similar position. Some of our IWB/projectors are probably going to need to be replaced within the next couple of years so have been weighing up the pros and cons between touchscreens and new IWB with short throw projectors. Still personally undecided to be honest and when it comes to it I will probably just write up a few different options for both and let SLT/teachers decide what they want. If with stick with IWB/projectors though I definitely want to swap them all to short throw as the standard ones we have now must be horrible to have shining in your face all day when you teach.

 

Most of the classrooms now are running an IWB connected to a laptop, then they have a VHS player, DVD player and amplifier. I would like to replace the laptops with NUCS running the IWB (or touchscreen) and a secondary monitor and dump the rest of the kit which is just taking up space.

 

In terms of "wow factor" gear things I would like to see:

Class Tablets - Groups of tablets/hybrids that can be taken out and used for filming/photos/field work. I'm still working on this but the teachers here still mostly just use them as laptops.

VR - Still costly and not a lot of educational software support but it is getting there. Being able to teach kids about mars for example while they are using some form of VR to see 360 videos from mars would be pretty awesome. It might even be a viable idea using cheapish Android devices+some version of cardboard and there are a lot of cool VR videos on youtube now that could be worked into lessons.

3D printers - I really love the idea of this but I still think the reality is that they are too slow, to finicky to use and to expensive for real classroom use.

Large portable, multifunction, touch screens - The ones on electronic mounts that can be used as a table. could in theory be used for a whole number of group projects and they look pretty cool considering they are just a big touchscreen panel laying on its back.

Pi's and robotics kit - So much cool stuff out there that would be great for teaching computer controls, programming, etc.

 

The problem with a lot of WOW tech is that it isn't really practical for classroom use. Its a bit of a generalisation I know but a lot of teachers prefer the 10 year old tech because they understand how to use it and work it into their teaching. You could give every child an ipad, VR headset and personal 3D printer but I bet a lot of teachers wouldn't have the first clue about how to work there usage into the lesson plans.

[TomHD]

If you are after wow get the large format touch screens to replace IWB/PJ setups you have. Not only are they much better technology, they look great too.

 

Still personally undecided to be honest

I struggle to see how!? Ignoring initial outlay, are they any pros to IWB/PJ setups vs large format touch screens?

Edited May 12, 2016 by TomHD

[Duranis]

I struggle to see how!? Ignoring initial outlay, are they any pros to IWB/PJ setups vs large format touch screens?

 

That is pretty much the main point. Getting a decent quality, large (similar size to the IWB) format screen is going to cost more than an IWB/projector. If I was going to do a complete refresh of all the kit here it might be different but as some of the IWB are not that old I have to factor that in. I.E. If we pick IWB's we only need to replace the projectors and a couple of the really old boards.

 

I'm also not 100% convinced on the lifespan of a lot of the touchscreens. Projectors/IWB are pretty bullet proof (excluding lamps) and are fairly easy to fix the things that do occasionally go wrong. Spares are also quite easy to source. If a touchscreen panel goes though there is not much I can do to repair it. IWB/projectors have a proven reliability and I don't think a lot of the large format touchscreens really have that yet (my opinion and I would be happy to be proven wrong).

 

That is obviously not the whole story, you have to consider warranties, running cost over time, etc, which might level them out more but that is most likely what SLT will focus on.

[Lonix]

Just wondering, is this about moving technology forward or improving Teaching and Learning? Don't get me wrong I am more than happy to sit down and discuss ideas and the pros/cons that go along with it.

 

From my side apart of our budget plan we need to replace or do something with our data storage. One thing is "Cloud" and we have Office 365 so it makes sense to evaluate this to either replace our data needs, go half way or simply get a SAN.

 

Have you got Office 365? This is a good beneficial piece which allows Students and Staff to have access to this at home, abroad and not just at School.

 

I am currently reviewing our Plasma Screen locations (for better utilisation) and better equipment so they are more reliable - XiBo. For the Library and Canteen.

We are scrapping our BYOD Scheme so picking up more IT Suites.

Better phone system (with new kit).

New broadband (better connection, lower cost).

State of classrooms - although not hardware, we've still got some areas with too many cables... poor trunking if any etc.

iProjectors - very good allows a Staff member to have a standard Whiteboard and not a Smartboard for them to..... ruin.

 

Network fast enough? Servers reliable enough? Logon times as quick as possible? Data Storage issues?

 

What's the home access like? Our current data access is upload/download style. Personally I'd like it drag and drop (another option on why Cloud might be good).

 

4D?

 

Sorry some of the above is from the top of my head.