Essa Academy: Bookless school where everyone has iPad

[Gibson335]

At my last school we were hailed as one of the AAL leading lights, and if you went by all of the school, Microsoft and various educational articles, AAL was the best thing since sliced bread. But I recall being interviewed, and when asked about problems I related several thorny issues to them...and it came as no surprise that none of these comments made the final copy. Sandwiched between the apparent Utopia of Essa on one hand, and the pile of rubble at Honywood on the other, lies the real truth I suspect.

[Meldrew]

Why do they keep giving the kids who insist on breaking them devices? Why let KS3 pupils take the devices home or keep them in their bags? If they are getting the exam results using the devices then maybe the answer is to look at discipline and policies rather than saying they are too expensive because some kids might break them?

 

Surely the school doesn't have any option but to give them back to the student? if they are supposed to be 1:1, then not giving them to students who breaks them means they are not 1:1 and the teacher has to make a separate lesson plan for those students without a device, which they'll hate.

 

If the students don't take them home, when do they get a chance to recharge the device? Fit 30 power sockets in all classrooms beside the desks?

[tmcd35]

As with any significant change to how a school operates the iPads are not the only thing which will have had an affect, so it is often difficult to say that x technology has made the difference. The closest you can say is that x technology has contributed to the difference, either directly via the specific use or indirectly by facilitating change in other areas of the school (removing printing, forcing greater use of online resources, etc).

 

Something I suspect, but not sure how you would prove, is that the use of tablet devices encourage a change in learning/teaching style that in turn is what is possibly effecting the end results. I think the real move is not towards 1:1 devices but away from victorian rote based learning by osmosis. The 1:1 devices are effectively saying to a student "you are in charge of your own education". The student dictates and decides what to research not the teacher (obviously within boundaries (that the more able would push against) set by the teacher). There may be other way of achieving the same results without using technology, but there (to my mind) is something about tablets that just encourages this paradigm shift.

[synaesthesia]

One thing I do like is the head's insistence that (obviously on top of their filtering) they are teaching the students to make a conscious decision about the time they spend with their iPads and how they use them. It's not really any different to teaching kids that it's their future and they should be learning from their coursebooks rather than drawing hats and moustaches onto the sperms in their biology book. This is something I'd like to see pushed more.

 

Again though, looking at the "stereotypical classroom" shown in that video, I don't think you could apply those values to every school - it's not a one size fits all setup, certainly. I wonder if it's worth firing off a FoI request to them to get some more detail - ok they've saved on coursebooks, physical media etc but what's the cost of licensing, the replacements they use on the devices, cost of ICT support, maintenance, warranty/insurance etc and no doubt there's something I've missed.

 

As said, it would be lovely to see the full picture. The trouble is, none of us can really make a full judgement (and let's be honest - should we be?) until we've got that.

[GrumbleDook]

Something I suspect, but not sure how you would prove, is that the use of tablet devices encourage a change in learning/teaching style that in turn is what is possibly effecting the end results. I think the real move is not towards 1:1 devices but away from victorian rote based learning by osmosis. The 1:1 devices are effectively saying to a student "you are in charge of your own education". The student dictates and decides what to research not the teacher (obviously within boundaries (that the more able would push against) set by the teacher). There may be other way of achieving the same results without using technology, but there (to my mind) is something about tablets that just encourages this paradigm shift.

 

There is some research into this and I would refer folk at this point to NAACE and MIRANDANET as places for this. There will be some talks around this at BETT so I'll keep an eye out for anything that might be handy for folks looking into things, but remember that most research is a) aimed at other academics, b) focuses on the educational benefits / change rather than the techie side of things and c) is like reading Proust at times! ... a lot of stuff, in a strange language (at times) but there are some good nuggets in there!

[techie08]

For me, coming from a school that finds it a daily struggle to keep the IT running due to very low budgets, I find this a complete waste of money and a bitter pill to swallow. Not sure where they would find the money to fund it all as well! They also say that they have gone from 80k to 15k on photocopying, but our photo copying and printers combined only comes to 8k! Edited January 8, 2013 by techie08

[vikpaw]

In theory i like the idea, but i'd say approach with caution.

We had enough wifi issues before BYOD was trialled, and Y6 just started bring your own tablet. Mostly it went the ipad direction. Staff initially wanted android but soon gave those back and swapped for ipads. Just getting them on the wifi is a big enough challenge, and we don't even have access to an education store here, so restricting ourselves to free apps at the moment.

With the new iPad mini coming in at around £200-300 it's not bad, and the size may make it less likely to be dropped by teh young uns

 

I just fear that we're going down the same route as we did with Interactive Whiteboards not so long ago. First we got one to try out then maybe a department and soon every classroom had to have one. There were still staff who couldn't use a mouse, but all rooms had interactive whiteboards.

I'm sure you've still got staff who think the projector IS the whiteboard. How many are actually using them interactively ..?

 

I can see tablets as the next step for sure, especially for differentiation, but it's only going to work where there is already a base of interactive teaching going on. It's very rare you see the whiteboard being used as anything more than a glorified screen.

I don't mean to generalise, but if people jump on the bandwagon too quick, without planning i just see it as a waste of money.

Do the staff actually want to use the technology? I've met a teacher who denies there are any useful educational maths apps out there.

The cost saving aspect should be an indirect benefit of the greater good being done, not necessarily a focus.

[SPM]

BBC News - Essa Academy: Bookless school where everyone has iPad

 

Apparently they have reduced the printing costs dramatically, i wonder how much they ended up spending on the iPads, and if they factored in that they would need replacing often, maybe completely in a couple of years when all the apps only work on newer models.

 

 

We have been trialing a few here, and they have been a nightmare to support.

 

iPads are personal devices and aren't really built for centralised management. Getting apps correctly installed and wiping and reinstalling apps with each new year is tedious on an iPad. I think Chromebooks are a much better choice for schools. They are eminently shareable and easily centrally managed. With Chromebooks you could have less than 1:1 deployment if you likes with students sharing Chromebooks, and/or a Chromebook trolley to collect Chromebooks so kids don't take them home if this helps reduce breakage or loss, and pupils could still work at home using a Chrome browser on their home PC if they wished unlike iPads because Chromebooks save all user data, and settings in the cloud, and the apps are in the cloud.

[ittech]

does anyone know what ESSA are doing about controlling what apps students can and can't use, we are having a nightmare here, even down to things like puffin browser. which uses cloud based servers to handle the traffic and therefore bypass our content filtering. We can't block SSL traffic on ipads either because we have to let them go out transparently. The reason for this is that if you have to have the ipads going out with proxy settings in, those proxy settings only get passed on to an app if a developer has built proxy support into their app.

[mattx]

I'm just trying to imagine little johnny has done a nice drawing / painting on his shiny ipad but they can't print it off, so he can't show off his creation to his mum and stick it on the fridge......

[synaesthesia]

Course they can print it - can use wireless printing easily enough, and manage via papercut.

[SchoolsBroadband]

I must admit I was a little sceptical about it all, however I've actually been to this school and I think it's fantastic. Everyone with a "can do" attitude and it's quite amazing how they're all drawing on walls (all walls are basically whiteboards) and have apple tv's hooked up all over the place to beam lessons from a teachers ipad.

 

The place was practically paperless.

 

Oh the best thing though is that they also use one of our fabulous 1GIG Internet connections, much faster than the old LA

 

Dave

 

 

BBC News - Essa Academy: Bookless school where everyone has iPad

 

Apparently they have reduced the printing costs dramatically, i wonder how much they ended up spending on the iPads, and if they factored in that they would need replacing often, maybe completely in a couple of years when all the apps only work on newer models.

 

 

We have been trialing a few here, and they have been a nightmare to support.

[Python]

Hi,I am a student who attends Essa Academy and would like to start by saying that the whole thing is a show.

When visitors such as the BBC, heads of other school, etc. come to our school and take a look at out lessons, students as well as staff must put on a show and demonstrate the use of iPads and technology. Teachers have been given a telling off after the visitors have gone if the IT was not demonstrated during lessons and also, a the SLT have said to the staff: "The students are not important. The visitors have more importance than the kids."

 

The 3D Theatre rarely get's used. In fact, the only time most students have ever been in there is when we first moved into the new build and a demo of the 3D Theatre was shown.

 

Books are not used as much as before but still are used very often.

 

iPad's can be helpful at times but they act as distraction's as many of us students play games/message on the iPads during lesson. The iPads have Mobile Device Management software installed on them (via Profiles) which allows staff to view all the information they need from our iPads. iPads do get confiscated but only when a teacher physically sees someone doing something which they're not supposed to be doing.

 

The iPads rarely get damaged as the school has provided us with a case and a bag.

 

The reason why results have slightly improved is not because of the iPads, but because of strict discipline which causes a change in our attitudes and things like compulsory after-school revision sessions.I'll be happy to reply to any questions or comments!

Edited January 31, 2013 by Python

[mattx]

Just about says it all really. Thanks for the posting.

 

Hi,I am a student who attends Essa Academy and would like to start by saying that the whole thing is a show.

When visitors such as the BBC, heads of other school, etc. come to our school and take a look at out lessons, students as well as staff must put on a show and demonstrate the use of iPads and technology. Teachers have been given a telling off after the visitors have gone if the IT was not demonstrated during lessons and also, a the SLT have said to the staff: "The students are not important. The visitors have more importance than the kids."

 

The 3D Theatre rarely get's used. In fact, the only time most students have ever been in there is when we first moved into the new build and a demo of the 3D Theatre was shown.

 

Books are not used as much as before but still are used very often.

 

iPad's can be helpful at times but they act as distraction's as many of us students play games/message on the iPads during lesson. The iPads have Mobile Device Management software installed on them (via Profiles) which allows staff to view all the information they need from our iPads. iPads do get confiscated but only when a teacher physically sees someone doing something which they're not supposed to be doing.

 

The iPads rarely get damaged as the school has provided us with a case and a bag.

 

The reason why results have slightly improved is not because of the iPads, but because of strict discipline which causes a change in our attitudes and things like compulsory after-school revision sessions.I'll be happy to reply to any questions or comments!

[featured_spectre]

Sounds more like a disgruntled tech than a student to me...especially with the passion in the post.

[rich_tech]

I can believe that a lot of it is for show though, it seemed obviously staged when it featured on the BBC, I would wager that its "Top Students" only to face the cameras

 

Does seem to be an interesting idea though, possibly a trailblazer in terms of schools for their area, though costs must have been pretty eye-watering.

[zag]

Hi,I am a student who attends Essa Academy and would like to start by saying that the whole thing is a show.

When visitors such as the BBC, heads of other school, etc. come to our school and take a look at out lessons, students as well as staff must put on a show and demonstrate the use of iPads and technology. Teachers have been given a telling off after the visitors have gone if the IT was not demonstrated during lessons and also, a the SLT have said to the staff: "The students are not important. The visitors have more importance than the kids."

 

The 3D Theatre rarely get's used. In fact, the only time most students have ever been in there is when we first moved into the new build and a demo of the 3D Theatre was shown.

 

Books are not used as much as before but still are used very often.

 

iPad's can be helpful at times but they act as distraction's as many of us students play games/message on the iPads during lesson. The iPads have Mobile Device Management software installed on them (via Profiles) which allows staff to view all the information they need from our iPads. iPads do get confiscated but only when a teacher physically sees someone doing something which they're not supposed to be doing.

 

The iPads rarely get damaged as the school has provided us with a case and a bag.

 

The reason why results have slightly improved is not because of the iPads, but because of strict discipline which causes a change in our attitudes and things like compulsory after-school revision sessions.I'll be happy to reply to any questions or comments!

 

Thanks, thats actually quite good feedback.

[kerchung]

Would love to see how they've integrated the iPads into administration roles. Using Avaya phone system?

[mthomas08]

Sounds more like a disgruntled tech than a student to me...especially with the passion in the post.

 

Has a lot of truth though, bit too much to be a disgruntled tech.

 

Sounds like some one who wants to put the truth out there without getting sacked, reminds me of the person who was involved with the whole BSF thing. Got the sack because he told us the truth.

[Quackers]

Hi,I am a student who attends Essa Academy and would like to start by saying that the whole thing is a show.

When visitors such as the BBC, heads of other school, etc. come to our school and take a look at out lessons, students as well as staff must put on a show and demonstrate the use of iPads and technology. Teachers have been given a telling off after the visitors have gone if the IT was not demonstrated during lessons and also, a the SLT have said to the staff: "The students are not important. The visitors have more importance than the kids."

 

The 3D Theatre rarely get's used. In fact, the only time most students have ever been in there is when we first moved into the new build and a demo of the 3D Theatre was shown.

 

Books are not used as much as before but still are used very often.

 

iPad's can be helpful at times but they act as distraction's as many of us students play games/message on the iPads during lesson. The iPads have Mobile Device Management software installed on them (via Profiles) which allows staff to view all the information they need from our iPads. iPads do get confiscated but only when a teacher physically sees someone doing something which they're not supposed to be doing.

 

The iPads rarely get damaged as the school has provided us with a case and a bag.

 

The reason why results have slightly improved is not because of the iPads, but because of strict discipline which causes a change in our attitudes and things like compulsory after-school revision sessions.I'll be happy to reply to any questions or comments!

 

How come your profile location says Germany?

[Python]

Sounds more like a disgruntled tech than a student to me...especially with the passion in the post.

 

 

Has a lot of truth though, bit too much to be a disgruntled tech.

 

 

Sounds like some one who wants to put the truth out there without getting sacked, reminds me of the person who was involved with the whole BSF thing. Got the sack because he told us the truth.

 

 

Definitely not a 'disgruntled tech'. Just one of the <900 students who doesn't agree with the school's fake fame and how us kids and most teacher's get treated.

 

 

 

 

How come your profile location says Germany?

 

 

Sorry, I am behind a VPN/Proxy as a precautionary measure as many of us have already been told off for voicing our own opinions about the school on our personal twitter accounts. Don't want to take any risks

Edited February 4, 2013 by Python

[Python]

Also, within the past 2 weeks, 8/9 iPads have been stolen from students as they walk to and from school. Fortunately, police and senior staff now patrol the streets whilst we all come to school and when we all leave.

[marekbrad]

Some interesting debate going on here. The postings by python IMHO may have some truth, but....

I have recently spent a goodly amount of time with both the Essa NM (Not the managed Service techs) as we are implementing a 1:1 solution ourselves using iPad Mini.

He was happy to admit that it was not all rosy in the garden but .. like us, they are moving to a Lightspeed MDM solution, allowing much greater control of the devices. Their network load is mainly web traffic as most services are now cloud based apart from a Citrix env for SIMS access. Staff laptops, student devices etc are not tied to traditional corporate networking ie most IT users in the building do not login to pull shared drives etc..

My first tour was the corporate thang, however further visits have been more informal and info gathering, and it is for me at least, the fact that on the further visits it is evident that the tech is a means to an end and not "on show" proves that the approach can work.

Guys this is about pedagogical change and transforming learning . It has to be led by a well planned strategy stemming from an SLT that is committed to making these changes through careful planning and delivery. A great deal of time in planning and prep has been taken here and wether right or wrong education cannot stand still. Yes not everyone is convinced, yes not every member of staff will use the technology to its limit

"If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow" John Dewey

[zag]

I'm all for innovating but its a complete waste of money this early in the technology cycle of tablets.

[CamelMan]

Guys this is about pedagogical change and transforming learning . It has to be led by a well planned strategy stemming from an SLT that is committed to making these changes through careful planning and delivery. A great deal of time in planning and prep has been taken here and wether right or wrong education cannot stand still. Yes not everyone is convinced, yes not every member of staff will use the technology to its limit

 

This is a big point for me - I have seen several forum entries previously with "The school / Head/ SLT/ has just bought.." or "I have just been told to order.." - There appears to be a case of "we are a school - we have to have ipads!" rather than - this is the problem and the IPad is the most appropriate solution. Evangelists are targeting Heads and SLT and telling them that they have to go down this approach - often citing Essa - and they are then blindly obeyed. There appears to be no evaluation, planning, product research, testing or financial feasibility study involved.

 

I have no problem with innovating or changing approach on things if needed - but I am seeing more and more "get the shiny thing in and make it work" rather than we have this problem / we need to do this - what is the best solution.

 

If IPads are the ideal solution for you then great - however there appears to be this myth in education that everyone has to have IPads to learn in the modern era.

 

We seem to be bringing in a device because of what it is then altering or installing all the systems around it to make it work in the way we need - as opposed to identifying what we want to do and tailoring the solution into our existing system.

Edited February 5, 2013 by CamelMan