Costly hi-tech kit lies unused in schools, says study

[beeswax]

Interesting, primary or secondary?

 

Secondary

[TechMonkey]

As has been touched on by a few people, I thinking the issue is technology is changing how we CAN do things, teaching hasn't really changed at all. You get one or 2 teachers who want to do things differently but end up having to conform to the school standard. Add to that lovely blue sky thinking that some consultants get paid huge amounts to carry out and confusion reigns. The idea that every child has a mobile device to interactively participate in a lesson, submit work in realtime, peer review and research in groups and individually sounds fantastic but how many teachers could actually handle all that happening? So you end up with half way houses of incremental upgrades or intermediate tech. Think of visualisers being used to show text books and voting systems to engage students. Once the "wow!" has worn off and the teacher and/or students realise that they are really doing the same old stuff with either no real benefit of a bit more work then it gets shoved in the cupboard!

 

The solution? No idea but I doubt we'll be consulted if it comes along

[sted]

we all know of stuff that was bought without any real thought (which is why if im in the loop i try and get the school to buy 1 or 2 not 20 give them to people who i know/feel will get use of them and if they are used/usefull then go full scale you will probably have a few teachers using them who will promote the idea to other teachers better than you can). Voting systems are my bugbear they seem to be used for a week or two then in MOST cases consigned to a cupboard luckily the schools i have with them diddnt equip every class with a set but bought 2/3 and shared them round. Similar with visualisers some teachers make great use of them others dont even turn them on

 

my 2p worth on tablets for what its worth

ok for research just give them to a class and tell them to find out about x but as you can get a netbook/cheap laptop for less im not sure they actually add anything other than complexity. Now im sure there are some great apps but for the cost of a tablet and the app i would guess in lots of cases you could buy a site licence of some similar software and some netbooks/laptops.

 

ms surface may change my mind esp the cheaper atom based win8 pro devices giving the best of both worlds but atm its back o the managing them issue the provided tools are not up to the job yet

[mthomas08]

As the old saying goes, if its not broken dont fix it.

 

"Costly digital technology that has the power to transform education often sits in boxes because teachers do not know how best to use it, a study claims"

 

Sadly for us this half true, technology here does not sit in a box unused, instead its often abused. I am always happy and willing to try new things even though I will voice my opinion. We went through a time when staff wanted students to use laptops, they didnt have a clue how much work or cost involved. They also wouldnt believe how badly abused they would get. A fter spending a lot of money buying about 50 laptops - we ended up getting only 7 back working and the rest wrecked. Only 1 student got pulled out for a damaged screen yet every other kid got away with it. Like it or not they are kids, they struggle to look after their own stuff so why should they look after a piece of kit from the school?

 

Its like iPads, you dont need an iPad to see what the world is using. Most of the kids can figure it all out after 5 minutes. If a kid can get a new mobile every 6 months and use that right away I am sure they will manage in life. Gadgets are becoming so easy to use which is why staff push for them on site because they think getting kids to logon to an iPad and get their drives/programs and everything will be instant.

 

Cost, you also have to consider cost - like it or not schools have had budget cuts and are fighting for survival and enrolement. Is it worth spending 1000's of pounds for some devices just to access the internet? There is a difference between preparing them for work life outside of School and Personal life. Most companies/business's and even educational sectors will not provide iPads let alone laptops, instead they will have systems in place where you get what your given and only what you need not what you want.

 

We here know that portable devices will be purchased again, we will voice our professional opinion - this includes work load/cost and what you will get not what you think you will get. Will they accept that no, will they listen no, who will they blame when we turn out to be right - us. The last person to walk in that door and say they wanted an iPad for work, we pointed them to something cheaper and less prettier and does the same thing - they didnt want to know.

 

Some staff just simply do not understand the concept of Domains compared to Home Networks - that is one of the biggest problems. IT people are usually accused of not "bending" to something different yet the staff who want the iPads are not willing to look anywhere else for the same product because it is less pretty.

[broc]

Technology continues to be perceived as some sort of 'silver bullet' that is somehow going to 'transform' education.....

 

It won't. If anything will, Teachers will... by improving their own performance & by observing and sharing best practice with their colleagues & overcoming one of the biggest problems for teachers... motivating students. Sadly some 'experts' in teaching seem to think that giving students shiny toys like iPads will somehow motivate them to learn.

 

My sympathy is with the teachers who have technology thrown at them.

 

Fix the problems with lack of student motivation (easier said than done) by making lessons more interesting & learning more relevant & above all shift away from schools being exam factories, then we won't need to keep on installing shiny new technology that nobody wants/needs/knows how to use.

 

Nobody has mentioned training ICT staff to use/support the new technology either. Too often we are given just enough kit to meet the perceived classrooom need without any test equipment or any spares & sometimes without any dedicated teaching staff equipment either.

 

At my school we were given 30 iPads for a 'project'. No devices for teachers, none for ICT support to familiarise themselves with. No money for storage or charging facilities, no budget for apps, no thought about managing these devices in a Windows client server environment...... no thought about training ICT staff unfamilar with Apple products..... in fact no thought beyond 'here are 30 iPads.....'

 

Needless to say as a project it has been less than successful in it's goals (where there any?) & has totally failed in hitting any targets in the timelines proposed (there were no discussions with ICT staff before the timeline was established). It would make a first class case study in how not to manage a technology project

[jinnantonnixx]

 

IMHO staff don't even use the inactive whiteboards properly and we have had them for years.

 

There. Fixed that for you.

[LeMarchand]

Nobody has mentioned training ICT staff to use/support the new technology either. Too often we are given just enough kit to meet the perceived classrooom need without any test equipment or any spares & sometimes without any dedicated teaching staff equipment either.

 

Don't be silly! Surely you've worked out that IT staff are supposed to "just know" how anything vaguely IT-related works.

[tmcd35]

Don't be silly! Surely you've worked out that IT staff are supposed to "just know" how anything vaguely IT-related works.

 

I do - vaguely!

[TotalGeek]

As the old saying goes, if its not broken dont fix it.

 

"Costly digital technology that has the power to transform education often sits in boxes because teachers do not know how best to use it, a study claims"

 

Sadly for us this half true, technology here does not sit in a box unused, instead its often abused. I am always happy and willing to try new things even though I will voice my opinion. We went through a time when staff wanted students to use laptops, they didnt have a clue how much work or cost involved. They also wouldnt believe how badly abused they would get. A fter spending a lot of money buying about 50 laptops - we ended up getting only 7 back working and the rest wrecked. Only 1 student got pulled out for a damaged screen yet every other kid got away with it. Like it or not they are kids, they struggle to look after their own stuff so why should they look after a piece of kit from the school?

 

Its like iPads, you dont need an iPad to see what the world is using. Most of the kids can figure it all out after 5 minutes. If a kid can get a new mobile every 6 months and use that right away I am sure they will manage in life. Gadgets are becoming so easy to use which is why staff push for them on site because they think getting kids to logon to an iPad and get their drives/programs and everything will be instant.

 

Cost, you also have to consider cost - like it or not schools have had budget cuts and are fighting for survival and enrolement. Is it worth spending 1000's of pounds for some devices just to access the internet? There is a difference between preparing them for work life outside of School and Personal life. Most companies/business's and even educational sectors will not provide iPads let alone laptops, instead they will have systems in place where you get what your given and only what you need not what you want.

 

We here know that portable devices will be purchased again, we will voice our professional opinion - this includes work load/cost and what you will get not what you think you will get. Will they accept that no, will they listen no, who will they blame when we turn out to be right - us. The last person to walk in that door and say they wanted an iPad for work, we pointed them to something cheaper and less prettier and does the same thing - they didnt want to know.

 

Some staff just simply do not understand the concept of Domains compared to Home Networks - that is one of the biggest problems. IT people are usually accused of not "bending" to something different yet the staff who want the iPads are not willing to look anywhere else for the same product because it is less pretty.

 

Hear! Hear! I have a fantastic Domain based server/client network! and NTLM secures my internet access!

 

My old school went down the iPad route 1 year ago so I left to go to somewhere where the management are listening to me. To be fair to my old school they have made a good stab at it since I left.

 

However once windows 8 pro beds down I'll be buying a set of (Transformer like pads) which will be linked to my AD and therefore my gpo's.

 

Complete access to files with file security and any printer in the school will work. It will have a clip on keyboard and usb ports. Adobe flash will work, Most old programs that staff have built there curriculums around will work and gradually IOS apps will appear in the windows market place for the fun things that can be done with these devices.

 

Because of this staff will know how it works it will be correctly managed and therefore it will not become another mothballed experiment.

 

It is such a waste of money when management go for the latest fad rather than listen to their tech wise IT staff. It almost makes me sick when I think of all the cuts being made to EMA etc; etc;

 

Apple are making a mint and their marketing is so slick you don't even notice it. When kids go out into the coporate world they will not be using apple devices because the will work in organisations with Domains!

Edited November 28, 2012 by TotalGeek