Staff using desktop or laptops?

[TwistedHelixis]

I can say that only 4 or 5 are taken home at night

 

Very different at the schools I look after, they take their laptop whenever not in class, we do not need additional systems for PPA or spare rooms as they bring their laptop with them and they are all taken home

[Chrism03]

It isnt the staff that are complaining - it's the HT

The HT maintains that some teachers do NOT have a device at home and therefore they need a laptop.

 

Yep I think they get this straight out of the pile of excuses written in the 1970's that includes " you can't ask for computer skills in a teaching advert".

[sparkeh]

I can say that only 4 or 5 are taken home at night.

Again, very different here. All taken home and a barrage of flak sent my way if the remote access drops out. :S

[LeMarchand]

Out of around 18 laptops, I can say that only 4 or 5 are taken home at night. Most of them just sit in the classroom, getting dustier by the day, with the power always plugged in so that all the batteries are borked now.

 

Similar situation/ratio in my schools.

[jthompson]

THAT is probably the winning phrase.

 

That's in support of around 150 teacher laptops. I should say that lessons would definitely suffer without those ready spares. Its takes a lot of time pressure off fixing laptop issues, as well.

[gmonks]

We usually have up to half a dozen ready spares in the office, which go out on loan whilst repairs, etc. are being undertaken.

 

Same here, and for TAs to use for intervention too.

[Sonic007]

Laptops work for us quite well as the teacher then takes it away to do planning, takes it home, etc.

We have Prowise TV's in each classroom so they can hook them up to the TV if needed.

[robjduk]

you put laptops out because less faff for teachers and they can take them home to do work if they want to. Any of you who insist on desktops in classrooms need to move profession to something which does not require you to learn new skills. Move with the times people.

[Marcs_Dad]

Desktops all the way and installed nearly 350 during the last year.

 

Rant starts ##

Bloody laptops are a waste of taxpayers money, and in one case at my last school, one "Senior" member of staff had three allocated for the various roles she was in charge of (two of course ended up supporting her kids through Uni).

Rant ends ##

[LeMarchand]

you put laptops out because less faff for teachers and they can take them home to do work if they want to. Any of you who insist on desktops in classrooms need to move profession to something which does not require you to learn new skills. Move with the times people.

 

 

Guess 70% of the people who responded to the poll need to get those resignation letters in. I'm not sure the maths on the poll works out, though.

 

 

One could argue that a bunch of people who, to judge by many posts here, seem to be unable to work out how to plug something in would be better off with a non-portable unit. Plus better value for money, longevity and many other arguments made by others above.

 

Obviously around a third of respondents and presumably the staff they support are happy with laptops so it can work for some.

 

My sites are pretty much 1 laptop/teacher, though at one of them 4 teachers have requested desktops - and the first couple had far-from-brilliant ones. I'm guessing when the 2 new machines get put in (refurb AIOs from @ICTDirect_Dave) then some more might ask. To be fair, this is a primary and so they probably can try to get all their work done at school rather than take it home.

[Marcs_Dad]

New skills!

Less faff for teachers!

 

All our staff and students can login from home, including staff having FULL access to Sims without the need for Sims Learning Gateway.

 

Of course, these does require that the user has a computing device, internet connection and electricity.

 

Good luck to you with your laptops, and I hope you have all the data GDPR compliant on them.

[Andrew_C]

you put laptops out because less faff for teachers and they can take them home to do work if they want to. Any of you who insist on desktops in classrooms need to move profession to something which does not require you to learn new skills. Move with the times people.

 

Not only rude, stupid too.

 

All you do is invite trouble when said laptop is left at home; and YOU have to find a solution FOR THE NEXT LESSON.

[sat_s]

Staff desktops all the way. PCs are already setup and no unplugged or missing cables. They last longer and easier to upgrade. Make sure the desktop has dual graphics ports - one for monitor and one for projector.

 

If staff need laptops, they can take a walk down to PC World and pick one up. Use remote desktop to allow staff to access school resources or SIMS from home

[jthompson]

Staff desktops all the way. PCs are already setup and no unplugged or missing cables. They last longer and easier to upgrade. Make sure the desktop has dual graphics ports - one for monitor and one for projector.

 

If staff need laptops, they can take a walk down to PC World and pick one up. Use remote desktop to allow staff to access school resources or SIMS from home

 

Laptops are often already logged on, often with presentations and the like, as well as SIMS, up and ready to use. We don't have problems with missing cables (perhaps we're lucky there). We also aren't needing to deploy any non-classroom PCs for teaching staff. Laptops introduce virtually zero delay to teaching at the start of lessons. That's not necessarily true for shared desktops.

 

I've also found that looking after the teaching staff and making sure that they have a decent amount of mid-range computing power whenever they're working (yes, this means at home, too) helps in countless other ways. Telling them to take a walk down to PC World if they want a laptop isn't going to engender much esprit de corps.

 

At the end of the day, some schools have been happily deploying laptops, and that's how it's been for years, and that's what their staff working practices are built around. For others, it's desktops. Changing from one t'other isn't going to just be about the hardware and the IT support.

[TwistedHelixis]

and in one case at my last school, one "Senior" member of staff had three allocated for the various roles she was in charge of

Why on earth would they get given 3? each teacher signs for one and that is theirs to take to class, ppa and home.

 

All you do is invite trouble when said laptop is left at home

This is a very very rare thing, but each of my schools does keep a couple back in case a teacher is ill.

 

They last longer and easier to upgrade]

Our teachers get good quality laptops with a 5 year warranty. After the 5 years they get a new one and the old one is used somewhere else in the school.

[LeMarchand]

at my last school, one "Senior" member of staff had three allocated for the various roles she was in charge of

 

Wondering if this is the same person I once worked with...