Teacher 1-2-1 laptops

[max_carpenter]

Evening all,

 

Fairly new here ao really should say Hi to all o/. Should of signed up here a long time ago probably would have solved me serveral frustrations!

 

Anyway to topic.

 

We are investigating rolling out 1-2-1 laptops for all teachers as replacements for classroom desktop units as well as their office desktops and iPads. The route we have gone down after lots of research and some testing is Microsoft Surfaces which the teachers on the pilot seem to like minus a few teething issues to be worked on such as access to their files away from school/offline.

 

The reason for my post is I am having to write a paper up on the scheme with case studies so I was wondering if any of you amasing people here have rolled out a similar scheme (even better if its the surface) and wouldnt mind sharing your story and any pros/cons or things to watch out for and consider, as well as how you think its gone overall/feedback from the teachers.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Blue_Cookeh]

Our staff are on a one to one device basis - I think having desktops at work is a very old fashioned way of working.

 

We tried Surface tablets with Type Cover keyboards but found that staff disliked using them because of the small screen size and lack of lap usability! Our staff like to use their laptops in the staffroom etc on their laps and Surfaces have a tendency to fall over on anything squishy! One of the other complaints was lack of ports (1 usb, 1 mini-DP).

 

We offer our staff two models, the latest version of the Lenovo T or X series depending on what screen size they would like (12.5" or 14") - it's important to stick to one manufacturer I find, and pick one that makes enterprise management easy. I like Lenovo because the hardware is built like a tank, they offer SCCM driver packs and cheat sheets, and their on-site repair service is top notch. We buy them with 5 year warranties and refresh them when that expires. If they're still usable we'll drop them into our spare pile for people who forget laptops etc.

 

Nowadays you ought to look at embracing the entire Microsoft suite if it's the way you're going, particularly on Surface. Windows 10, Office365, forget folder redirection and use OneDrive sync, BitLocker, and then InTune and SCCM for management. Your life will be easy, staff will get a good experience, and everything will be fast and secure. DirectAccess (or Always on VPN now if you want instead) is wonderful for remote access to anything since it's all seamless... I'm not sure I want the hassle of training staff to connect to VPNs

 

Make sure you have a decent wireless infrastructure too, because that could be the thing that ruins the experience for your staff.

 

Just my 2c

Edited May 23, 2018 by Blue_Cookeh

[Meldrew]

Our main problem with staff laptops (not surfaces) is accidental damage. We're getting around 1 a week where staff have smashed their device. Insurance excess is £500 for us, so that's not an option, so my advice is ensure you have good insurance cover.

 

Meldrew

[free780]

If you fully invested in Microsoft 365 it's focused on 1:1 devices. You could also get to the point t where you don't need a VPN. Getting the budget for 1:1 will be the hard part. Though you do find 2:1 happening which seems more expensive.

[kennysarmy]

There would be uproar here if I suggested I was going to remove EVERY PC in classrooms and force staff to bring to school and carry around a laptop with them, constantly plugging in and out all day as they go from lesson to lesson.

 

Horses for courses I guess, so we'll just stay old fashioned here

[SamanthaD]

As well as the deployment of individual devices - consider how they are going to connect to existing infrastructure in your classrooms. Prepare yourself for "my projector isn't working" callouts because they've connected the cable but the machine is in "Desktop Only" projection mode, or their screen res is too high for the projector to support. Also buy a job lot of adapters and power supplies for when they forget theirs and they must have it else they can't teach (and don't expect them back, because then they'll have a spare that they'll want to keep...)

 

If you can add docking stations into the budget do so, it'll save a lot of pain. Also have spare laptops for cover teachers / new staff...

 

Desktops in every room might seem old fashioned at first, but you're providing a turnkey solution in every room that works. Personal device only rooms require a lot more management and go wrong a lot more! (IME - I look after approx 250 rooms ranging from 600+ cap lecture theatres to 4 cap meeting rooms, and we get a lot more callouts for laptops than the installed PC's.)

[LeMarchand]

If I could, I'd switch back to desktops in every classroom with laptops only for select "mobile" staff.

 

That said, if you're going ahead:

 

Others have mentioned wireless and spare machines. I'd add in spare chargers; these will get lost and some teachers will think they should have one for "at home" and one for "at school". They won't pay any attention, but all users will need to be trained on how to connect their audio and video to the sound system/projector/screen unless you can afford a docking solution. Consider forcing the machines to "Clone" or "Extend".

 

Buy some Regaine.

[mavhc]

If I was moving from classroom to classroom I'd want to take my own laptop, don't want to have to log in and set up every lesson

[Hokalus]

I'll echo LeMarchand, we have 1-2-1 laptops for teaching staff and damage is the number one problem. We get through a fair number of damaged keyboards, screens, LOTS of chargers. We don't have docking stations so damage to video and audio cables in rooms is also an issue, 3.5mm jack snapped off in laptop, VGA cable been mashed in upside down...

 

Course we'd only get the laptops from the cold dead hands of the teachers as it's much more convenient for doing work at home (and not having to login from fresh in each room)

Edited May 24, 2018 by Hokalus

[LeMarchand]

Course we'd only get the laptops from the cold dead hands of the teachers as it's much more convenient for doing work at home (and not having to login from fresh in each room)

 

Meant to mention this. Once you've gone to laptops, your pretty much stuck unless SMT are prepared to weather the fury of stopping the scheme. Also, very difficult to get them back for work/maintenance/version upgrades.

 

If I was moving from classroom to classroom I'd want to take my own laptop, don't want to have to log in and set up every lesson

 

Logging on shouldn't take that log and if the desktop/start menu (not so easy on W10!) is uniform I don't see a problem.

[Rochdale_Cowboy]

We offer our staff two models, the latest version of the Lenovo T or X series depending on what screen size they would like (12.5" or 14") - it's important to stick to one manufacturer I find, and pick one that makes enterprise management easy. I like Lenovo because the hardware is built like a tank, they offer SCCM driver packs and cheat sheets, and their on-site repair service is top notch. We buy them with 5 year warranties and refresh them when that expires. If they're still usable we'll drop them into our spare pile for people who forget laptops etc.

 

Nowadays you ought to look at embracing the entire Microsoft suite if it's the way you're going, particularly on Surface. Windows 10, Office365, forget folder redirection and use OneDrive sync, BitLocker, and then InTune and SCCM for management. Your life will be easy, staff will get a good experience, and everything will be fast and secure. DirectAccess (or Always on VPN now if you want instead) is wonderful for remote access to anything since it's all seamless... I'm not sure I want the hassle of training staff to connect to VPNs

 

Make sure you have a decent wireless infrastructure too, because that could be the thing that ruins the experience for your staff.

 

Just my 2c

 

As an aside we bought quite a few Lenovo laptops and found that we couldn't use KMS to activate them as the BIOS was an OEM one and would only accept MAK keys. How do you volume activate your laptops?

[chazzy2501]

I'd not go the surface route, too top heavy, expensive with no ports. Go with a business class laptop from HP, Lenovo, etc. I'm using HP laptops these work well with their respective docking stations, which are the key. The docking station can be plugged into power, wired networking, audio and projectors. The dock is always the same but various classrooms have different devices, having a dock there means that we can configure the dock for the room. e.g vga or hdmi projector, interactive. The docks can also be setup in and office with a second monitor and full size keyboard and mouse sometimes a local printer. Using the HP dock in my case means that the dock works across several generations of laptops.

[PotNoodleTech]

You can have 121 but still have permanent teacher PC in ever classroom - there's no reason not to - a permanent teacher PC allows teaching to go on unhindered 365 days a year with no damage woes, no battery woes, no I forgot my laptop woes, no I've connected it up wrong woes.

 

I would never get rid our my permanent teacher PCs. I've advised other schools in the are to move to permanent teacher PCs from laptops and they are extremely happy with that decision and say they won't go back either.

[Norphy]

You can have 121 but still have permanent teacher PC in ever classroom - there's no reason not to

 

Except the fact that the school would have to pay for a classroom PC AND a laptop for the teacher.

[leegcvcc]

We have 1-2-1 and the staff take "ownership" of them. THat is the important bit. We pay for component failures and repairs, their Dept budget will pay for accidental damage, loss of chargers, cables etc. We have very little damage, and that's because they are more careful with the laptops because it'll come from their budget if they aren't!

 

Saying that, I'd love PCs in every classroom as just dealing with so many custom built laptops is time sapping for numerous reasons, whereas a fixed domain PC would be a breeze. When a laptop is in for repair, you need to provision a spare for their use. Not especially hard work, but extra considerations all the same.

 

We have a 3-5 year warranty from the purchase date and don't have insurance on them individually.

Edited May 24, 2018 by leegcvcc

[PotNoodleTech]

Except the fact that the school would have to pay for a classroom PC AND a laptop for the teacher.

 

IMHO - Worth the extra to ensure teaching and learning in each classroom is not negatively affected by the use of laptops.

[mavhc]

Logging on shouldn't take that log and if the desktop/start menu (not so easy on W10!) is uniform I don't see a problem.

 

I'd have a chrome window of tabs to use, 4 office docs, whatever other software I was using preloaded on my laptop, logging in isn't the problem, it's restoring the entire state of the desktop

[jonnykewell1]

I've worked in schools and had experiences from both sides. The school I work at currently has 1:2:1 laptops and I would go back to a fixed computer per room tomorrow. Damage to laptops is a big problem but it's also a pain when teachers have the machines off site during the holidays and we can't reimage and test deployments properly. I've also had to start looking additional steps to secure those devices for GDPR.

[LeMarchand]

I'd have a chrome window of tabs to use, 4 office docs, whatever other software I was using preloaded on my laptop, logging in isn't the problem, it's restoring the entire state of the desktop

 

Still doesn't take that long. Pretty sure there must be a chrome extension to save state as well, and if they were using O365/Google as most schools provide that would further cut the time.

 

In fact, maybe "setting up" takes less time than moving a laptop.

Edited May 24, 2018 by LeMarchand

[jtotheb]

Docking options are becoming better now that USB-C ones offering HDMI/Displayport and charging through the dock are more commonplace. It means you aren't tied to manufacturer x's docks and proprietary connections and there's just a single cable to the device for everything.

[mavhc]

Still doesn't take that long. Pretty sure there must be a chrome extension to save state as well, and if they were using O365/Google as most schools provide that would further cut the time.

 

In fact, maybe "setting up" takes less time than moving a laptop.

 

Depends what you're doing, how fast you can set things up vs what you have to plug in, can't see a vga cable taking that long to plug in vs learning to save and restore tabs in a synced chrome extension, reloading all the files I wanted, loading the apps and navigating inside them to the part I want, etc etc, and I use a computer x10 faster than a teacher

[fredbayker]

As well as the deployment of individual devices - consider how they are going to connect to existing infrastructure in your classrooms. Prepare yourself for "my projector isn't working" callouts because they've connected the cable but the machine is in "Desktop Only" projection mode, or their screen res is too high for the projector to support. Also buy a job lot of adapters and power supplies for when they forget theirs and they must have it else they can't teach (and don't expect them back, because then they'll have a spare that they'll want to keep...)

 

If you can add docking stations into the budget do so, it'll save a lot of pain. Also have spare laptops for cover teachers / new staff...

 

Desktops in every room might seem old fashioned at first, but you're providing a turnkey solution in every room that works. Personal device only rooms require a lot more management and go wrong a lot more! (IME - I look after approx 250 rooms ranging from 600+ cap lecture theatres to 4 cap meeting rooms, and we get a lot more callouts for laptops than the installed PC's.)

 

This is exactly our experience. Hence we are currently switching back to desktops as we have endless trouble with regular, cover teachers & trainee teachers. Cables go missing or get damaged etc. Most cover staff don’t seem to have gotten to grips with screen duplication. We’ve found it opens you up to more overheads in cost and time.

[mp4-dave]

We moved to desktops about 4 years ago and it is one of the best things we've done. Now every teacher knows exactly what will be in a classroom when they arrive, that the projector and speakers will be plugged in and working, that everything will be ready to go. We used to have problems with all of these things as well as some people taking their laptops where ever they went while other staff left their laptop in their main room and then had nothing to work on somewhere else.

Initially some staff were resistant, but once they used the desktops they preferred them. We now get staff to fill in a one page "business case" if they want a laptop, so far we've bought 4 (about 70 teachers in total), 2 for IT teachers, 1 for a music teacher and one for medical reasons.

I can't imagine us ever going back to issuing staff laptops, desktops just work better for everyone. Obviously your mileage may vary, but this could be a case of "the grass is greener".

[free780]

I used to work at a school which had 1:1 laptops for teachers. Which encountered all the issues above. In colleges however 1:1 laptops seems appealing as 1:1 seems to be the expectation from Microsoft. You also seem to end up with 2:1 as satff need staff room PCs/thin clients (which now become 'my' PC) and the classroom PCs (large amount of profiles). The biggest issue seems to be staff being confident with IT but usb 3 docking stations could make life easier.

[psydii]

Avoid all device related headaches: Buy Thinkpads. Consider getting separate insurance on them. (Surface is a fantastic device - but the relaiblity and robustness is not that of Thinkpad)

 

Also USB-C docks seem to be the way to go - one cable audio, video and charging (and usb peripherals like a visualiser). Networking too if your wifi isn't up to it.

 

Pick a department to move first. Train them *well*, be there for them faster than lighting. Then nominate a champion from each of the rest of the departments and have the first department train them. Roll it out.

 

But first:

Build your IT maintenance and management system assuming you will *never* touch a laptop once it is deployed until it is time to retire it. This is much easier with Win10, SCCM CB and modern enterprise-grade EUFI based laptops, than it was with 7 running on cheap pentium/celerons with no TPM running in legacy mode)

 

Be warned, if the installed kit in the room isn't 100% reliable, the laptops will get the blame. ("It didn't work when I plugged it in" - nevermind that was because the lamp had blown, and the speakers were off etc etc)

 

You have to sweat the details - the process for getting a teacher up and running at the start of a lesson has to be almost frictionless. Laptop+HDMI/USB-C can almost offer that. Done well it is a faster more personalised experience than logging on to a shared desktop. The teacher's desktop state (open windows etc) is instantly available. There is no logon to wait for.

 

A decade ago we used vga, 3mm jacks and usb in a cable management bundle. The last cable tie was placed at a point to provide the correct amount of slack between them to perfectly fit our chosen model of laptop (enterprise grade so the design didn't really change over the 5 years we were buying them). Teachers ended up leaving their power leads in classrooms because the laptops needed them, and worked well enough for the couple of hours work outside the classroom they would do. Additionally each teacher had their own IWB pen, and remote control. Oh and make sure the wifi is absolutely top notch. Anything less than -65db at the teaching position and you will have unhappy teachers at some point. Eliminate all start-up and logon network dependancies. A laptop that has been rebooted and logged on to away from the network needs to be 100% functional when that teacher rocks into their classroom at 8:45 the next morning.

 

Have spares - once a week someone will forget their laptop. Occasionally a device will fail. You need to be able to swap in a replacement with all their files and folders in less than five minutes.

 

Speaking of files and folders: 1999-2017 Offline Files and folder redirection FTW. Today OneDrive and Folder Redirection is the way to go.

 

Keep sweating the details. Laptops are a contract of commitment by the senior leadership/governors. If the commitment to maintenance and refresh of the equipment is broken, the laptops will quickly take the blame for all failures. It took one year of an alternative management to destroy trust in 1:1 laptops, and nearly five years to regain it.