IT plans for the future

[nicholab]

Rooms without IWB planning to have projector with graphics tablet and cast from student device.

 

IWB software to be moved to Onenote or inking in apps.

 

Upgrading Wi-fi to ac possible as a service?

 

Chromebook for 1 to 1 or trollies. Could you teach primary kids on chrome books only?

 

Using the cloud natively.

 

Move to cloud MIS/remote access

 

Can we drop vle and use other tools?

 

Finance move to cloud from FMS?

 

Also a bit of Nersupport in end

Devices.

 

My view is you have a high low mix of devices PC for high end stuff and chrome books/tablets for low end.

 

Feel free to comment on these ideas and what you have used?

Edited October 15, 2017 by nicholab

[FN-GM]

Why stick with unreliable projectors? I would have a large LCD touch screen at the front

 

We have upgraded to AC with Ruckus. Ubiquity is also good.

 

We have loads of Chromebooks in our trust and they work great.

 

Would love a cloud MIS, I wish Capita would hurry uo

 

Dumped the VLE ages ago

 

We have a cloud finance system, we use Sage.

 

We are going for a model of mainly ChromeOS and then Windows devices for those who need it for apps that need the grunt.

Edited October 15, 2017 by FN-GM

[nicholab]

How much are large screen non interactive industrial TVs also whiteboard would need to be moved! Or could the TVs be mounted off centre?

[FN-GM]

Note sure what you mean?

[nicholab]

Well projectors can project on to the current whiteboards. If you put in a tv screen you take away the whiteboard or you end up with a smaller one. Do you teachers just have a IWB?

[Dave_O]

Why stick with unreliable projectors? I would have a large LCD touch screen at the front

 

We have upgraded to AC with Ruckus. Ubiquity is also good.

 

We have loads of Chromebooks in our trust and they work great.

 

Would love a cloud MIS, I wish Capita would hurry uo

 

Dumped the VLE ages ago

 

We have a cloud finance system, we use Sage.

 

We are going for a model of mainly ChromeOS and then Windows devices for those who need it for apps that need the grunt.

 

1. Using LCD touch screens - barriers are initial outlay and licensing to use Promethian/Smart etc with said board. But most importantly the huge number of resources on these formats (which never export accurately)

 

2. Upgrading our Cisco APs to AC gradually from ebay second hand places. Of the 94 APs in place we have upgraded 20 and probably need to do another 30 to get the same coverage has cost £2800 so far. Yes upgrading is worth doing

 

3. Agreed about Chromebooks we presently have 43. Have just purchases 30 licenses (and an equal number of Google management licenses) for Neverware to try and reuse present hardware. We will be expanding the number of ChromeOS devices over time but probably only for students.

 

4. Seriously?! Hopefully nothing will happen in that regard until after Sept 2020 (many issues to resolve and hearts to be won) by which time it will not be my problem :-)

 

5. Totally agree. Wrote a paper on this in 2011 predicting the demise of the VLE. Although, disturbingly Frog are still going strong. Get staff and students to use O365, Google Apps and Classroom

 

6. The trust are going cloud with regard to finance, no final decision made yet as to the vendor

 

7. Agreed, Chrombooks work for Google and O365. With federated identity the login is seamless. VDI also works well on ChromeOS. It's the future!

 

The question then is the sustainability model you use for client devices. BYOD, assisted purchase, school purchase

Edited October 15, 2017 by Dave_O

[FN-GM]

Well projectors can project on to the current whiteboards. If you put in a tv screen you take away the whiteboard or you end up with a smaller one. Do you teachers just have a IWB?

 

It is a touch LCD screen so they can write on the whiteboard software.

[FN-GM]

1. Using LCD touch screens - barriers are initial outlay and licensing to use Promethian/Smart etc with said board

 

Don't forget the electricity LCD saves, use much less than a projector. Plus you don't need to shell out for bulbs. For me it is worth shelling out on classroom equipment, the whole organisation revolves around the classrooms.

 

3. Agreed about Chromebooks we presently have 43. Have just purchases 30 licenses (and an equal number of Google management licenses) for Neverware to try and reuse present hardware

 

Just over 25% of our estate are Chromebooks.

 

Just purchased some licences for CloudReady as well. Got some i5, 4GB, Dell All in ones that are 4 year old so are nearly end of life. Will be good extend the life of them.

 

I plan to run ChromeOS for most users and Windows only for those who need it.

 

 

4. Seriously?! Hopefully nothing will happen in that regard until after Sept 2020 (many issues to resolve and hearts to be won) by which time it will not be my problem :-)

 

Much sooner for primary schools, its just around the corner. We deal with primary schools as well so it won't be long.

 

 

For me I would love to go with one Chromebook per kid. But I can't see it happening.

Edited October 15, 2017 by FN-GM

[Dave_O]

Don't forget the electricity LCD saves, use much less than a projector. Plus you don't need to shell out for bulbs.

 

 

 

Just purchased some licences for CloudReady as well. Got some I5 4GB Dell All in ones that are 4 so are nearly end of life. Will be good extend the life of them.

 

 

 

Sorry edited my original post to include the point about the promethean/Smart software and the resources produced on them. Yes there are some electricity savings (we use Casios so no bulbs) but would take a number of years to recoup

 

Yes have been running CloudReady on a Dell 7010 i5 4Gb SSD. Works perfectly. The Dell L2120 notebooks, not as well but usable for SFL students and broken legs. Unlike you (it seems) our end of life is much further back. 50% of our estate (1150 PCs) are 780s and are unfortunately not even close to end of life. Yes times are hard and jobs more important that IT equipment. That's what you get for running a tight ship and making things work for longer than they should. Hoisted by our own petard.

[FN-GM]

We don't keep PC's longer than 5 years old (generally). I also buy good quality equipment, we had some Wyse ThinClients and were are physically worn out after 3 years (before the Dell days). We also sell old equipment and that money goes back into the budget for new kit, if the kit is too old we loose quite a lot of the resale value.

 

We also have some Dell 7010's USSF in one site we are looking to convert, so that feedback is useful.

[nicholab]

Well the choose comes down to IWB or devices in the kids hands? So could spend £60k on gloried projector screens that are not used fully. How have you managed to get the Electricity budget upfront to pay for the screens?

[FN-GM]

Well the choose comes down to IWB or devices in the kids hands?

 

I can afford to do both by making savings in other areas. EG: Chromebooks, getting rid of expensive software Vmware, Ctirix, Frog. Selling old equipment as well Also I am not planning store files onsite anymore and put them into the cloud, means I don't have to invest as much into servers and backups etc. I also save money buying in bulk, when we buy equipment we buy it for all the schools at the same time. As well as said before I will refurbish some of our older PC's into ChromeOS devices.

 

How have you managed to get the Electricity budget upfront to pay for the screens?

 

If I can demonstrate I can save money the cost savings (or a portion) are rewarded back to the department. An example is the money I saved on a new copier contract. I won't always spend the whole budget. I will carry some over and save up for purchases.

[2ilent8cho]

I don't think the LCD TV's are any cheaper than Projectors to run electricity wise.

 

A Promethean APT 65" Touch Screen for example has its power usage as 325W (Max) so will be slightly lower unless the whole screen is 100% white. https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/apt-65/promethean-apt65-smartboard

 

and one of the projectors we have are Epson X9 which has 265W or 220W (Economy) for power consumption. https://www.epson.co.uk/products/projectors/mobile/epson-eb-x9-240v-with-educ-lamp-warranty

[FN-GM]

I don't think the LCD TV's are any cheaper than Projectors to run electricity wise.

 

We tested it here and they do use less. Also have you considered the stand-by time? If you have separate IWB, and speaker amp there is that to consider as well. I supposed it also depends on how old the projectors are.

Edited October 16, 2017 by FN-GM