Someone dropped a bombshell about devices for staff and students - What do you do?

[Warwick_Tech]

So without going into too much detail someone dropped the concept of 1:1 devices on my lap and wants a report ASAP;

 

These would all be devices for use outside the classroom (home) and ideally they would take them with them when they go elsewhere.

 

If you have a similar situation, can I grab some pitfalls? I know you can now link Azure with Google Services, Apple etc. and I was tempted to go down this route.

 

How do you do it?

 

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Edit, I would also be keen on hearing MDM solutions, I know there are several but it's a minefield out there!

Edited January 10, 2022 by Warwick_Tech

[simpsonj]

There is a major amount of admin work for a 1:1 scheme to work (marketing, chasing parents, keeping on top of financial work) alongside the IT stuff. Make sure that whomever is taking this on is aware of that and they have the capacity because you don't want that to fall on your shoulders as well!

 

We're 4 months into our scheme, and it's working out reasonable well. Some tips:

 

1, Make sure you have a lot of spare devices, students forget theirs, or forget to charge them a lot.

2, Have a system in place to charge the devices, don't give out chargers, they never come back!

3, Have a good repair/replacement system with whomever you go with. Not a week goes by without a student damaging a device enough that it needs repair.

4, Know what happens when a student leaves or joins mid-year.

 

As we're using Chromebooks, there haven't been too many technical pitfalls. We have SSO through RM Unify so that works pretty well tying AD, O365 and Google together with one username and password.

[mthomas08]

The way isn't it.

 

Someone has a bright idea of 1:1 devices and GO.

 

We had something for a number of years and it was terribly planned and executed, and even after all the work we put in to try and improve it.. still was a mess.

 

Ours were windows netbooks to keep things tied to like for like software for some depts. No MDM solution so that didn't help.

 

Great idea on paper:

Parents pay for it

Kids can take it home and do as they please

Insurance and extended warranty

Loans available when necessary

Could replace some IT suites

Cuts down printing

 

Good luck is all I can say.

[foofighterjim]

With the information you have provided, the approach is the wrong way around; what issue is the proposal trying to solve? What other solutions are there that could also achieve this (and more)? What is the success criteria of the project?

 

Other things such as the platform you would use, device type, software etc. would depend on aforementioned, not the other way around.

[hardtailstar]

What do the students need to use?, no point in giving them Chromebooks if they need to use Office.

 

I'd look at what software etc they use and work out what it works on.

[Warwick_Tech]

What do the students need to use?, no point in giving them Chromebooks if they need to use Office.

 

I'd look at what software etc they use and work out what it works on.

 

Can they not use O365 via the web?

[Brimstone]

What do the students need to use?, no point in giving them Chromebooks if they need to use Office.

 

I'd look at what software etc they use and work out what it works on.

 

This is absolutely the wrong way to do this...

 

If you are looking at going down a 1:1 technology path below are four key areas, all of which can be applied whichever technology you choose...

 

Vision - A clear vision and mission statement captures your schools aspirations for learning with technology, with technology there to support your vision and goals. Needs to come from your SLT and not IT.

Learning - What is the learning going to look like? How do we build more personalisation, creativity and critical thinking skills into everyday learning

Teaching - Teachers need to have the right tools supported by regular CPD to foster new learning opportunities for their students. Teachers can use easy and simple tools to integrate technology into everyday teaching practices. Teachers have the ability to innovate in the classroom to stay relevant.

Environment - A dynamic and reliable network environment is required for successful mobile learning (if you are going down this path), this is designed to encourage students and teachers to explore new approaches for learning and teaching.

[the_quick]

Exactly what @Brimstone has said. It can't be just landed ad IT/Network manager and just sort it out.

 

We have not progress to implementing it, but we had a look at options and what we want to achieve this. This was arranged with management team, people were assigned task to research learn etc.

 

For us the main thing was a structure of how we lead this, how we train staff and how this devices going to be used daily. I was working with one person on knowledge/training needed and tools we can use. We already use heavily Google Classroom, all teachers use it now. But there are still gaps in knowledge. Using other school experiences, we proposes to create structure of Google Gurus - people that are highly trained in use of G Suite and can teach/help others.

 

The whole process is progressing slowly and I don't think we will be going ahead even next year, but I welcome it. We have plenty of time to look at different options and learn from others. It is a massive decision and should not be rushed.

[localzuk]

We have been running a school funded 1:1 scheme for the last 3 years. It was supposed to be a 1 year pilot, followed by analysis but then Covid hit...

 

So, the question has now come up - is it worth the money and time? Does doing this improve attainment? Or is attainment not the target of your scheme?

 

One of my tasks this month is to get the headteachers of the schools we implemented this in to tell us if us spending £70k a year on Chromebooks is actually worth it. As it stands, the numbers don't support it.

[Ironside]

A: What's going to be run on these things, what's going to be done by the students? Make sure you pick a platform that is both compatible and effective for the task at hand. I wouldn't use iPads unless you already use them in class a lot and they're the primary IT device used. Use Windows or Chromebook where possible, these have solid foundations for MDM (Intune, GSuite) and apps (O365, GSuite). Don't bother with Android tabs, Chrome OS has pretty serviceable android emulation if you desperately need it - really the issue is just getting apps that scale properly on tablets, and I think that's universal on all android tablets - could be wrong though!

 

B: Who's going to do the chasing up and the wrangling to ensure that devices that aren't paid up on the leasing scheme don't go home with the kids and devices that do go home come back? If it's IT Support, that's lots of overhead for the IT guy, especially in a big school. If it's teacher's job to monitor this, then make sure SLT knows to hammer that home or it will not be done.

 

C: You're gonna need an MDM. Lightspeed was used by my previous job for iPads, but I don't have experience actually using it myself - had to call my boss to get actions taken. Afraid I haven't much knowledge on this.

 

D: Web filtering. Make sure you have a system for monitoring what is done, because I think this is now necessary per DFE guidance surrounding remote learning devices.

 

E: Charging trolleys. Some kids either won't have a leasing scheme set up or won't take it home because of missed payments, make sure you can charge up devices internally.

 

F: Repairs and Replacements. You probably want insurance on the devices you purchase and pick devices with good replacement part availability.

[slugshead]

Surface Pro for teachers.

 

Enforced BYOD for students. (We tell them as part of admissions to buy a laptop/tablet of XYZ spec).

 

We did toy with the idea of incorporating a suitable device into the school fees, provide them with 2 years o365/adobe cc then they keep the device at the end. But that didn't work out.

[Bev]

We have had 1-1 iPads for6 years, it has been a success here.

 

We started with Year 5 (we run years 5-8), and then added the new year 5s in each year, so it took 4 years to get it fully 1-1. We had 3 teachers in Year 5 who were keen to use the iPads in the classroom which really helped to launch the scheme, and over the first 4 years the other staff saw what they were doing and we also offered training. We did have an old class-set that other classes could use before we were fully 1-1.

 

We offer a choice of lease, provide your own (not BYOD exactly, as it has to be registered on our systems to be used in school), or school will provide one. We have about 10% using a school device. School iPads have a lot of limits on their use, no personal apps etc, they are only used for schoolwork. Personal iPads have more freedom on the use outside of school hours. All iPads have the same school layout applied during the school day.

 

I agree, you need a set of spares as they do get forgotten or broken.

 

You will need a good lease scheme including insurance as they do get broken. I send away approx 2 iPads a week for repair.

 

Your lease provider should recommend an MDM - we started with Lightspeed but have now moved to JAMF - I prefer JAMF but they all work pretty much the same.

 

We don't have charging trolleys, each classroom has a USB multi-charger and a number of cables in it.

 

I really wasn't keen when it was presented to me as an idea, but I can see that it has transformed the way our school works. The iPads are now integral to everything we do. And it made that first lockdown very easy - everyone already had an iPad, and google classroom, so we were able to get started straight away. Hopefully it won't be an issue going forward, but it was a huge bonus for us.

 

If you have any questions, I am happy to help. I was very sceptical but I am a convert!

Edited January 19, 2022 by Bev