I can't teach, the projectors broke!

[Zourous]

I received an email from an SLT member not happy that we couldn't provide a quick enough workaround for a broken projector. The projector is under warranty and a replacement is being sent out within a few days. I explained that this was historically a tricky one to deal with. Even if you have a spare projector, mounts can be incompatible, you have to think about throw distances and maybe if they've got different power connectors etc. Anyway I was wondering about ultra short throw projectors. We don't have any because they are generally pricey, but if I had a mobile one that could maybe save us in this situation. Better still would be one that universally clamps on to the top of a whiteboard. Does anyone know of any such projector or have any better tips?

[LTurner3692]

I received an email from an SLT member not happy that we couldn't provide a quick enough workaround for a broken projector. The projector is under warranty and a replacement is being sent out within a few days. I explained that this was historically a tricky one to deal with. Even if you have a spare projector, mounts can be incompatible, you have to think about throw distances and maybe if they've got different power connectors etc. Anyway I was wondering about ultra short throw projectors. We don't have any because they are generally pricey, but if I had a mobile one that could maybe save us in this situation. Better still would be one that universally clamps on to the top of a whiteboard. Does anyone know of any such projector or have any better tips?

This is one of the most difficult things to deal with, I had this happen 2 weeks before an OFSTED inspection, at first I just left one on a desk and taped the cables to the floor while we got a new mount, etc sorted out.

 

The best thing is to try and put an interactive tv up, Short throws in my experience are more hassle than they are worth!

[mavhc]

"this is why I suggested we replace all the classrooms at once with the same model projector"

[Chaniel]

In any of those situations, we usually use a slim Casio Laser/LED projector on a desk and run cables in a rubber mat/tape them to the floor... or wheeled in a TV on a mobile stand (used for various events etc.). Getting something up has always been the priority, it doesn't have to look pretty and the large majority of the time, staff are very understanding of that.

 

I'd personally avoid a UST projector as I doubt you'll find one that universally clamps to the top of the projector (not in any way that I'd want!) and they are expensive and outdated. In my opinion it's a waste of money for something that will sit unused the majority of the time.

[Jawloms]

"I can't teach, the projectors broke!" here usually means they haven't pressed Windows P and need telling for the umpteenth time........

[mikeprice]

Having them all the same is great in theory - especially when the bulbs start blowing after a few years - so you would think you would keep 1 spare at a low cost - rather than keeping spares meaning having a lot of different spares and the cost becomes unreasonable

 

However - I tries this at my last school - the projectors were all old and started failing - I found a BenQ that seemed good value and started replacing them as they failed - all with the same make and model

 

after a year or so I couldn;t get the same model anymore

Guess what - the newer model didn;t use the same bulb -which was annoying

 

also - it turned out that whoever installed the projector mounts in the ceiling put them all at different distance from the IWB - they looked about the same and the first 2 were just fine but then I started finding that some of the others were closer - hence a much smaller image - or work needed to move the mount and associated cabling - all needed yesterday so I ended up having to get a more expensive projector - different bulb again

 

So unless you can do them all at once it is more complex than it should be

 

Which is why I recommended replacing the IWBs with interactive screens - which give a better images anyway - especially in this case as most of the rooms were quite bright even with the blinds closed!

[Bionic]

"I can't teach, the projectors broke!" here usually means they haven't pressed Windows P and need telling for the umpteenth time........

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who suffers this!

[dhicks]

We don't have any because they are generally pricey, but if I had a mobile one that could maybe save us in this situation.

 

We fitted ultra-short-throw Hitachi projectors in classrooms around 5 years ago. They've mostly worked very well, and been pretty reliable, although we are now replacing them with touch screens. We get complaints from teachers with projectors still in their classrooms that the projected image is dim - it's probably not that much different to what it's always been, but of course that doesn't compare that well to a nice new 65" touch screen! The Hitachi projectors produce an image from a metre or so away from the wall / board, and from quite low down. They aren't that heavy, either, so they might work okay sat on a sturdy camera tripod with a suitible adaptor. Add a NUC, cable tie all the power adaptors up so nothing goes missing and you have a handy all-in-one PC-with-projector setup you can plonk into a classroom. That's probably about £1,000 of kit, mind, which might or might not be within whatever budget you had in mind.

[Norphy]

"this is why I suggested we replace all the classrooms at once with the same model projector"

 

Which is great until they all start wearing out at once and suddenly the entire estate needs replacing. If you do a bit of planning and decide that a %device% has a n year life span, you can at least only replace 1/n of the devices a year rather than the whole lot at once.

[Ditto]

As others have said, IWBs is they way to go but doesn't really address the immediate short term problem. As for the 'unhappy' SMT member, well, we can share the frustration but we all know the challenge that budget limits bring. Two ancillary points.

a) covered well in other threads, but no teacher should be completely stymied by a technology failure. Teaching kids to be 'robust' in today's world is an important part of the curriculum - perhaps some teachers need to develop skills in this area.

b) as an SMT, wouldn't it have been better to come and speak to you - email communication is often not a good medium for expressing 'unhappiness' with service.

[mikeprice]

I have thought occaisionally that in many cases a cheap old flat screen telly, on a stand ,with an HDMI connection to a laptop would make a reasonable, although non-interactive, temporary replacement for a broken projector for a few days - the better brightness would make up, a bit, for the smaller screen size and any half decent teacher should be able to at least manage.

It would seem better than asking the teacher to re-design the lesson resources on the fly

 

 

I base this partly on the fact that the majority of IWBs and interactive screen are used as simple display devices

Obviously - some people use the interactivity fully - but most seem to just use it as a screen - so it wouldn't be much of a change

[mrbios]

My solution to this:

Once a year we audit all our projectors bulb times, we stock a bulb from most models we have around site, and keep one spare projector too. All projector mounts are universal mounts too (Optoma make a really good universal mount)

 

They all end up getting used, so nothing is wasted, and it means we can replace on the spot (odd exception for one or two classrooms that need us to get a ladder out to reach the projector, can't really do that mid-lesson)

[DrBeaker]

My solution to this:

Once a year we audit all our projectors bulb times, we stock a bulb from most models we have around site, and keep one spare projector too. All projector mounts are universal mounts too (Optoma make a really good universal mount)

 

They all end up getting used, so nothing is wasted, and it means we can replace on the spot (odd exception for one or two classrooms that need us to get a ladder out to reach the projector, can't really do that mid-lesson)

 

How do you manage that from a H&S v teacher/SLT moaning position?

[mikeprice]

Having a spare projector is sensible - especially in a largeish school

 

My problem was always that once it got used to replace a dead projector then the budget to order a new one kept getting put off

then another projector goes and suddenly it is all ITs fault because they should have a spare

 

Best situation I was in was working in a school where having a spare was just accepted as policy - hence when a projector broke the IT Manager just ordered a new one to replace the space on his own say-so - no SMT involvement required

 

I have only worked in 1 school where this happened - and that was only for a few months

[mrbios]

How do you manage that from a H&S v teacher/SLT moaning position?

 

Never had any issues or considerations with H&S. We've got some little red fold out steps for getting to the projector, only 2-4 students ever really need to move out of our way if we need to swap projector or bulb. It's very very rare we ever need to swap out the projector entirely though mid-class, as when we check bulb times we do an image check and filter clean at the same time, so you can normally tell if something is wrong beyond just the bulb. I try and be proactive with any teaching essential kit....if a projector has been in place for 7 years or more i'll generally have it marked down for replacement soon, and if it's removed and still in good working order, that's my new spare. As even an old one as a spare is still covering my back against any day to day complaints, giving me time to get the new one in, or let them know when a new one will be in if we've not for the money for it at that present time.

 

As for teachers, they're normally quite understanding that if a bulb dies that they might have to make other plans for that particular lesson, because we can guarantee them that it'll be working for the next lesson, and they're normally fine with that.

 

Best situation I was in was working in a school where having a spare was just accepted as policy - hence when a projector broke the IT Manager just ordered a new one to replace the space on his own say-so - no SMT involvement required

 

That's pretty much what i'll do to be honest, we'll always have one spare, wether it's brand new or old with a new bulb in. SLT/BM don't get involved at all with my spending either. I actually tend to try and get them involved because i quite like a bit of guidance/constructive criticism from above, but they never seem all that interested. (Which quite honestly, i find frustrating!)

Edited October 3, 2019 by mrbios

[hardtailstar]

We replace ours recently building by building for all same make and model. We bought a load of spares too. I think we have about 5 spare. We also have a couple of projectors that are used for events in places without projectors.

 

So far all has been good. Only replaced two or three bulbs out of all of them.

[PotNoodleTech]

Been there, done that! Had about 15 different models when I started. Eventually managed to get projectors standardised across the school to Casio Bulbless - started off with 2 different models but now got 3 so getting back to the position where we would need 3 spare projectors (not possible with current budget).

 

Also whilst the projectors were being replaced I changed all the mounts to the same visiontek mount - that make it SOOO much easier to deal with a dead projector as I can now just wack any model up even if it has slightly different focal length and it will work.

 

You can get cable converters to convert from figure 8 to kettle etc. I keep a few of them in stock. Very handy.

 

One thing to note - there are some projectors, some of the casios in particular that have huge focal ranges compared to others - they are really good model to keep as a spare projector as they'll work in most rooms (apart from ultra short throw, or super long throw).

 

So the crux is - tell your SLT the only way to ensure total teaching continuity is to buy a spare of each type of projector - for me that would be 3 and is doable, for you that may be 8 or 10 and is probably not doable - but give the SLT member the information to make the decision and if they then decide it is too expensive, then you've got that in an email trail for future use.

[3s-gtech]

Bear in mind that a IEC C7 / C14 or similar converter won’t have earth continuity. Not usually an issue with projectors as they’re often double insulated, but if they have an earth terminal on the unit it should be continuous with the feed. Edited October 4, 2019 by 3s-gtech

[mavhc]

Which is great until they all start wearing out at once and suddenly the entire estate needs replacing. If you do a bit of planning and decide that a %device% has a n year life span, you can at least only replace 1/n of the devices a year rather than the whole lot at once.

 

That's just because the stupid way budgets work and apparently not spending money in the short term to save money in the long term is bad.

 

Does depend on your scale, if you have 100 classrooms do 33 at once would be fine.

[mikeprice]

In a sensible budget situation then there would be a discussion every year at the start of budget discussions - and the IT Manager would be able to bring up projections of future costs over the next 5 years including which years have upgrade costs based on a pre-agreed cycle

 

so year 1 - replace all laptops

year 2 - replace all desktops

year 3 replace all projectors

year 4 free

year 5 replace all laptops

year 6 free

year 7 replcae all desktops

 

 

 

etc etc etc

 

I have never worked in a school where this has been possible - the bets I have come across is one where this was agreed but then every year the IT dept. would spend time working oit the costs of this years upgrades - and then SMT/Governors would 'decide' that the costs will have to be deferred for a year due to $shinything

Then next year you put forward 2 upgrade costs and they all faint

 

It is about time that school started treating IT as a revenue cost that happens every year like electricity and water

 

 

 

 

I'm not holding my breath

 

but doing so would allow us to strategize sticky communities and envisioneer real-time convergence while orchestrating sexy mindshare

 

 

 

Yup still using the bull**** generator

[mavhc]

It is about time that school started treating IT as a revenue cost that happens every year like electricity and water

 

I prefer to consider it as a money saving system. 1 computer replaces 1 human. Don't need 400 people in an office processing pieces of paper like they worked in The Apartment.

 

1 switch replaces 4000 usb sticks, and 4000 hours transferring data from 1 computer to another

 

1 internet connection replaces 18 libraries, 30 postboxes, 4000 textbooks, 600 DVDs, and 18 people to supervise kids because they're bored.

 

1 website replaces 1000 brochures and 3 people answering questions by phone.

 

Calculate the cost of doing the thing without any computers...you're welcome.

[Koldov]

Also whilst the projectors were being replaced I changed all the mounts to the same visiontek mount - that make it SOOO much easier to deal with a dead projector as I can now just wack any model up even if it has slightly different focal length and it will work.

 

Do you have a link to those?

 

I am thinking something like this (Vision?):

 

https://www.crusaderav.co.uk/vision-tm-tele-telescopic-projector-bracket/p-15565

 

Replacing some old projectors at the moment and fighting with a different mount in every other classroom (requiring different length screws or nowhere to adjust) and want to replace one where the projector needs spacers and somebody has used the cut up casing of a bic pen and another that is actually screwed to a block of wood.... yes, you read that correctly...

 

 

Edit: I guess my predecessor didn't have much of a budget either....

Edited October 4, 2019 by Koldov

[bald_pig]

I prefer to consider it as a money saving system. 1 computer replaces 1 human. Don't need 400 people in an office processing pieces of paper like they worked in The Apartment.

 

1 switch replaces 4000 usb sticks, and 4000 hours transferring data from 1 computer to another

 

1 internet connection replaces 18 libraries, 30 postboxes, 4000 textbooks, 600 DVDs, and 18 people to supervise kids because they're bored.

 

1 website replaces 1000 brochures and 3 people answering questions by phone.

 

Calculate the cost of doing the thing without any computers...you're welcome.

 

So if I replace a computer, people magically disappear?

 

[thimon]

So if I replace a computer, people magically disappear?

Reincarnation?

[mavhc]

No, if you add an extra computer.

 

Of course computers are a commodity now, what you really need is the people who can make them do your bidding, automate the tasks. Write the website that allows one teacher to teach 10000 students, test the students at their level, give them hints, and automatically mark the work. Use machine learning to copy the human marking of 100 essays to 10000.