Student device provisions

[TonyOlivander]

Hi all,

 

This is my first post on Edugeek, so please excuse me jumping straight in and asking questions!

 

I work for a school that doesn't have a one to one device scheme and doesn't encourage BYOD. We've started to notice an increase in the number of students who claim not to have access to technology at home, and as a result, the IT department are required to provide them with laptops for home use on a fairly ad-hoc basis. We can do this for small numbers but if the need continues to increase, it will become unsustainable.

 

Would anyone be able to share their current solutions and views on this? For example, do most schools now have BYOD or some form of one to one device schemes? Is it more normal to simply direct students to homework clubs if they need access to computers to complete their coursework? Do school's support families without technology by supplying them equipment in some way?

 

I appreciate this is a fairly open question but it would be very interesting and helpful to get a feel for what goes on elsewhere.

 

Thanks in advance.

Tony

Edited April 7, 2022 by TonyOlivander

[Rogueleeder]

I'd be interested in some info as well. My Independent school is looking at Student IT Provision in the next year looking towards going to some sort of BYOD, School Leased Option. It's gonna be real tricky I suspect, but worth it to get rid of Citrix remote access!

[dhicks]

We've started to notice an increase in the number of students who claim not to have access to technology at home

 

For home access, pupils will need a device of some sort, an internet connection, and a place to sit and work. If all their remote school work can be accomplished through a web browser then the device part of things can be fairly simple / affordable to take care of - second-hand equipment is available in bulk, although brand-new Chromebooks and similar for home use really aren't much more (£150-ish). I've found that, for re-purposing second-hand equipment, CloudReady / ChromeOS installed on older devices works nicely if your pupils have Google accounts. If you want something that just boots into a web browser, no login needed, then I find that Raspberry Pi OS works well. If you have some available monitors, then a Raspberry Pi might be an option - they need a bit more elbow room to use than a laptop that can be put away after use, though.

 

If a noisy home workspace is an issue, then a cheaper pair of noise-cancelling headphones (£30) might be an idea.

 

How you go about dealing with internet access for households currently without is a whole other issue. I'm not sure if some of the access arrangements set up over lockdown are still in place, although I suspect not.