Laptops - do you deploy them to teachers?

[msi_school]

So you log in, load up your lesson plan, and you've somehow managed to a) teach the teachers to use hyperlinks, b) only use websites were direct hyperlinks work (so not sharepoint), c) kept them up to date, and d) not used any sites that require logon?

 

You've also got hyperlinks to load files, which are on onedrive or gdrive, so aren't synced yet, and for onedrive, when they are end up with the username hard coded, so now you have to teach the teachers what environmental variables are?

 

And you've made sure every computer has every piece of software on?

 

Excellent work.

 

I just say "plug in this usb-c cable", seems easier.

 

All good reasons for using a laptop the main reasons against are staff can't just plug in a USB C cable and they don't want to.

 

I don't believe either option is correct it depends on you school and staff.

[mavhc]

Get better staff, if they can't plug in one cable what's the chance they can teach properly?

[msi_school]

Get better staff, if they can't plug in one cable what's the chance they can teach properly?

 

I have worked in 10 schools over the last 22 years and I have used both fixed classroom desktops and staff laptops, personally I have found that staff find it easier to move between classrooms with fixed computers than to move a laptop between classrooms. @mavhc obviously has had a different experience.

 

I believe the lesson we can take from this is that each school is different and you need to work with the staff to find the correct option for the school.

[sigma]

Get better staff, if they can't plug in one cable what's the chance they can teach properly?

 

I briefly worked as a contractor in a primary school and got called to a classroom because a Smartboard was no longer interactive. I removed the usb cable from the network socket of her laptop and plugged it into the usb port, tapped the board with the pen and it worked. The teacher then removed the usb cable from the usb port and put it in the network socket telling me that that was the socket it had always worked in and that I needed to make that work. I explained that it should be plugged into the usb socket, but she wasn’t having it and complained about me. She was ignorant, inarticulate and rude. I have no idea how she qualified as a teacher.

[Rob_D]

I briefly worked as a contractor in a primary school and got called to a classroom because a Smartboard was no longer interactive. I removed the usb cable from the network socket of her laptop and plugged it into the usb port, tapped the board with the pen and it worked.

To be fair, I've had that with desktops. Without the crazy complaining part thankfully.

[nikaso]

I briefly worked as a contractor in a primary school and got called to a classroom because a Smartboard was no longer interactive. I removed the USB cable from the network socket of her laptop and plugged it into the usb port, tapped the board with the pen and it worked. The teacher then removed the usb cable from the usb port and put it in the network socket telling me that that was the socket it had always worked in and that I needed to make that work. I explained that it should be plugged into the usb socket, but she wasn’t having it and complained about me. She was ignorant, inarticulate and rude. I have no idea how she qualified as a teacher.

 

 

I couldn't help but think of this.....

 

[Iain.Faulkner]

Get better staff, if they can't plug in one cable what's the chance they can teach properly?

 

I've been asked to provide a "cheat sheet" to explain to staff how to plug their laptops into the Promethean screens. All classrooms have a dock installed and it's one USB C cable

[mavhc]

Probably the same teachers who just show netflix on the screen for their "lesson"

[sigma]

Probably the same teachers who just show netflix on the screen for their "lesson"

 

Grief, it’s against Netflix’s t‘s&c’s. I’ve wielded my ban-hammer on all those personal accounts for video streaming.

 

In answer to the original question. We have a teaching desktop in the classrooms and teaching staff get laptops they can take home too.

 

I have mostly worked from home since Feb 2020 and have 2 school laptops!

[MartinT]

I've been asked to provide a "cheat sheet" to explain to staff how to plug their laptops into the Promethean screens.

 

Make it a one-liner with very big letters. Job done!

[psydii]

I've been asked to provide a "cheat sheet" to explain to staff how to plug their laptops into the Promethean screens. All classrooms have a dock installed and it's one USB C cable

 

Often these things are just performative, but like homeopathic remedies, their existence helps some people. Some of these people are Important People (who we need as allies).

[jthompson]

IME people don't generally read instructions, so I've found that a little "Laptop" flag label does the heavy lifting on that front.