tmcd35

Should the success of failure of these devices be linked entirely to academic results? Can they not bring other value, enriching the learning experience, that's not so easilly measured by three levels progress, EBacc, or other flavour-of-the-month league table?

I beg to differ, regardless to how Gabe wants to spin it. Windows has an enormous user base already, a very large number of whom happen to use Steam amongst other content providers. Ignoring SteamOS which isn't really out yet so can't really have an installed user base, what is the current numbers for unique Steam installation on Linux systems? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Steam succeed. I've just no faith in Valve's business model for the project.

I took @X-13's statement to be less an inditment of Nintendo and more a statement on the Wii-U's user base. In that case, I can't see many AAA's being to over whelmed by SteamOS at this point either unfortunately. If the Wii-U had a solid enough user base I can't see meny AAA's not finding a way to work with them, not as if the Wii was lacking for software (features, graphics, dlc - yes - but the games where there while it lasted).

Personally, I'd go Plex. Forget about putting a front end on the HTPC. Go for a £10 Roku box from Sky Now. Best of all worlds

Exactly this. Which is why I'm actively slowing the conversation down here and asking - how do we currently use ICT? How do we want/expect to ICT? What impact will any changes have on existing ICT?

Nintendo's great downfall IMHO, was letting Microsoft get their hands on RARE, followed by letting Square Enix suck up to Sony. Looking on Wikipedia (fountain of all knowledge) this profit warning is a blip and they do have a fair bit of cash to throw in the right direction. They're a company in need of new IP. A few stratigic purchases I think are in order. A couple of promising up coming indie developers and maybe an old hat IP rich concern like Capcom. Update the Wii-U's GPU and Ram and they are good to go. I often wondered what a Nintendo-Sega tie up might look like? Not sure if it'd be a good match but immagine the leveraging power on that combined back catalogue!

This is the discussion I'm currently having with the DH. I can't easilly envisage a would where a solution would be "instead of". Which in turn leads to the questions - "how do the devices augment the existing ICT?", and "how do the deviced effect existing ICT" - like you say more/less dedicated computer suites, managed wireless, etc. But before you even go there, there's the murkey issue of end user expectations. If they are expecting content creation devices and you give them content consumption devices then project is doomed to failure. This is why I shy a way from the one device fits all scenario. But however well meaning, other solutions can't have the same impact as 1:1 devices. I don't think in a 1:1 scenario a teacher should necerssarilly be planning lessons around the devices themselves. The devices shouls almost become invisible, and just be there ready and waiting as the needs arise. The costs of providing both a more diverse range of content creation devices and 1:1 consumption devices is very prohibative, probably even with parental support. I think it's at this point BYOD starts to look attractive.

Lol, not at all! And I am getting your meanings, proably being abit obtuse in my replies Actually, as I said above, we are just starting to open up this whole can of worms again so I value these kinds of discussions. Helps me get my own mind on the subject in order! If it was up to our DH we'd go out an buy 800 iPads tomorrow. I'm forcing a more slowly-slowly approach. My first response it to define the problem we are trying to solve, define the outcomes we are wanting to achieve and only then look at matching a solution and $devices to the schools needs. But I do, personally, see real ad-hoc benefits in 1:1 devices that other solutions can't accomodate for as easilly. What's been particuarly interesting in this thread over the past few pages is we seem to have gone from - rubbishing the school in the OP for a bad purchasing decision, the whole iPad/Table bad thing, through the put up as meny barriers to the solution as we can think of, and are now actually talking issue to be solved and solutions. It's not that it's a bad idea and can't work. I just anybody going into it should go in eyes wide open. I can't believe any school doesn't. When you think of the costs involved, this is not something that can be done on a headteachers whim or a single SLT membet championing a scheme. We're talking about governors approval and high value tender processes.

What about making their back catalogue available on Playstation Now and/or Steam?

@Garacesh, I think I did answer your question. For the most part it remains a pastoral issue. What do teachers do now if a child doesn't bring in a pen, their text book or a calculator? Where does personal responsibility and school expectations fit in to the discussion. Should a teacher expect the technological answer you are looking for? - "we'll have x number of spare devices on charge just in case". Does the teacher abandon a planned lesson because of 1 twerp forgot is $device, or continue the lesson for the other 29 students and deal with $twerp seperatly? Ask to share with a friend? Pen, paper and ye-olde-fashioned text book? What do we do know if 1 computer is not working in an ICT suite? Are we always fortunate enough to have pre-built direct replacement spares on hand? What do I do? Whatever is reasonable and in my power to gift at the time. If that means planning a small number of spare devices as part of the overall solution, then that needs thinking about in the overall price. To my mind, if the school is wanting to implement a 1:1 policy. Then their should be an expectation on the students to arrive at the begining of the day with the device fully charged and ready. Those who don't should be dealt with through the pastoral system. That said, it does highlight why a straight 1:1 scheme my not be the best overall solution. I'm still favouring advocating a mixed approach with netbook trollies for departments agumenting a BYOD solution.

Is it? Didn't stop a 100bn Yen profit turning into a 35bn Yen loss! (ouch). No doubt they have the financial reserves to get through it, but do they have the products? Smartphones are getting cheaper. All of my nieces and nephews over the age of 8 have smartphones now, none of them play with their 3DS's any more. The one thing they have going for them is their back catalogue. I think they need to look a new ways of leveraging that.

I agree with the OP. Parents should congratulate the school on their blue sky thinking and in roads into collaborative learning Why does technology have to provide the answer to every problem? Is it unreasonable to expect children to bring in their devices charged? If the school is spec'ing devices for a school day, should they not be looking at battery lifes? A 6-8hr battery will last an entire school day. Charging can't be that difficult to manage outside those hours - can it? Theft/Damage? Depending on what part of the issue you are looking at it's a combination of a pastoral/head of year level problem, police problem, and insurance problem. WebDav? Why are personal documents being stored on the device at all? Not really, I'd call it bad planning. Ill thought out solution rather than "a different set of problems in the shape of a solution".

BBC News - Nintendo forecasts loss amid weak Wii U sales Nintendo issues profit warning. Do they have 1 more console left in them? Are they the next Sega? or Will they be bought out/merge with a rival?

No, that was an example of how a content only tablet device might be more suitable in a given situation than a full blown 15" laptop. It's also a problem that can be solved with either a printer, classroom specific devices or 1:1 student devices. Which is the right solution is the wider question that school need to grapple with. To a certain extent. But in broad strokes we should be able to offer up some generic ideas, no? It's all to easy to shout 1:1 is a bad idea without having to offer up alternatives. Mine isn't the only school that's grappling with these issues. Other schools have worked solutions without going down the 1:1 route. I'd be interested in hearing what they choose to do. More ICT suites? More laptop trollies? Chromebooks? Virtual Desktops?

But a laptop would require more desk space. Have a shorter battery life. Maybe even want a mains connection. Not very practical in a food room being used to display a recipe (yes I know - print the recipe before the lesson and use paper ) Only if the expectation is to use them to store personal data - e-mail accounts, etc. The device doesn't need to know whose currenlty holding it to run Safari.

Do we need creation devices in all instances? Or do we need a mixture of consumption and creation devices? hence the question on uniform and the vountary-(but-not-really-voluntary) nature of it. How long would a school accept a child turning up in smart black trousers/white shirt - without the rest of the uniform - not because the parents can't afford, but they don't want to pay for a particular tie, blazer, pe kit combination? So what does that different approach look like?

Interesting response, not against the idea of payment, just the overall price? Would a one off £50 contribution (an idea we were floating here at one time) be more acceptable? I also wonder how close the average teenager, with ther innate ability to grow when parents can least afford it, could get to £300 in 3 years on uniform? Given one off costs of things like Blazers and shoes, PE kits, etc? I for one would be happier moving away from the anti-tablet/Apple side of things and focusing on finding solutions/answers to the tech side.

@Gibson335, I agree entirely - which is why I resist all suggestion that I could be an ICT Instructor. I know I couldn't do certain part of the job. But then, the answer to your point is - what are the SLT doing about poor teaching standards? Surely an effective SLT would have a view on a teachers ability to monitor a class and whether asking ICT support to monitor the class for them is correct behaviour? Technology is not the answer to all problems; bad teaching/management practices are not reasons against using using technology... Out of curiosity. What is your view on school uniforms, pencil cases, calculators and homework diarys?

And rather belatedly, that's were I entered this thread. I'm not so certain 1:1 iPads are the solution either, then again I'm not completely convinced they are not either. We know technology moves forward at alarming pace. We know they way kids are using technology has changed radically compared to say 5 years ago. We agree that there are some legitimate needs. The question then is how do we meet those needs? What are the alternative models? And how will those models hold up in 5 years time? I don't know what the right answer is, but I'm interested in finding one because I know this school needs it. @localzuk, I'm not trying to suggest that every school has poor ICT implementation strategies - far from it. I'm guessing the starting point of schools like the OP probably wasn't far off ours. Either that or the head is a technofreek with too much money to spend and no time for proper market research (I've meet some). For me, it's about defining the expected outcomes, the end goal, uses. I see no reason why BYOD can't be part of a solution, and personally I think it's being soft on teachers to suggest that effective classroom management isn't a legitimate answer to some concerns.

@localzuk, I think we'ce probably been round the block on this one time to meny With respect, nothing you listed there as anything to do with whether or not the Internet is a valuable resource that should be closer to the pupils rather than locked in a cupboard, and whether or not these device, or others, are the right means of achieving that. What they are is ligitimate implementation concerns. Anyone embarking on such a project should be doing so with your four concerns their near the top of the list. They are mostly either policy decisions or require perfectly feasible technical solutions such as an MDM. As for point 4, you are quiet right not every lesson needs Internet access. But on the other hand should student be told - you have 1x 1hour slot in four weeks time to do any necerssary Internet research on this project? There needs to be a happy medium. With 1:1 device where does teacher responsibility and classroom management (back to policy decisions) come in to play? Why can't a teacher start a lesson by saying "no iPads today, put them in your bags"? @Garacesh, interesting response, I agree with most of what you said. Sorry if I come across as "this is a universal" struggle, not my intent! I'm very aware every school is different and will have different challeges/solutions - which is the whole point really, isn't it? The core challenge is the same everywhere though. How to provide enought ICT resources to meet the communities needs, and how to define what those needs are. It's sounds to me like you already have your solution and to be honest it's one I'd like to mirror here. The problem with the Internet as a resource, is that you can't totally predict when it's going to be needed. If you don't have 1:1 devices then although at times none of the available ICT resources are being used, at other times Year 8 French have to go without because Year 9 German are using the devices this lesson. The question should be "how do we meet these needs", rather than asking "are these needs legitimate". In my mind too meny are asking the later rather than focusing on the former.

As meny of you know I've been following these threads for a while and am a keen advocate on some aspect of BYOD/1:1 devices. We've been looking at this technology here for some time but so far serious discussions at SLT level are yet to start. Our Deputy Head is keen on 1:1 iPads and I'm just starting the process of a proper consultation with staff and reviewing our current ICT infrastructure. Skim-reading this thread I'm taken (as ever) how black and white some views on the subject can be, and find my self asking - is the negativity because of a) Apple, b) Tablets, c) 1:1 devices, or d) they could be Windows 7 netbooks and still get the same negative responses? Asking HoD's their views on our existing ICT Infrastructure and the number 1 concern I'm hearing is lack of computer availability. The number 1 required use of computers, Internet research. Teachers want more access to ICT for Internet research. We have 4 bookable ICT suites, two are near perminantly block booked due to ICT lessons. 800 pupils, 5 years groups, competing for 2 ICT suites. Whats the right answer to the problem? Stories like that in the OP come from needing to find an answer to this, not because "iPads are cool and we want every child to have one just 'because'". For my part, and what I'm begining to advocate here, I see a more mixed approach rather than a 1 device fits all solution. Some departments like music may have a mix of iMacs and iPads. We'll probably always need a couple of ICT suites. Bookable laptop trollies for each department may not be such a bad idea. Add allowing students to BYOD into the mix and I think you may get a more pratical set of solutions. As I said in a previous thread recently, the real key really is getting the Internet into the hands of students when they need it - not limited to when a teacher can book a limited resource like an ICT suite. I'm amazed at anyone who thinks in this day and age that giving students unlimited access to such a vast and important research resource is not/cannot have benificial impacts on teaching and learning. In fact I think it's very closed minded. EDIT: In an early discussion here, after a similar presentation from a leasing company, we talked about parent contributions and meny of the issues around "state funded", "free education", "low income", etc did come up. Although everyone else at the meeting disagreed with me, my general view is - we expect parents to purchase a school uniform, Blazer with school logo on. It's not optional. Why can't these devices be part of the school uniform?

You've met the local wildlife then? Visit Norfolk...The land of Zombies. We've got the beautiful North Norfolk Coast, Stunning Norfolk Broads, 6-fingers on each hand, and the survival reflexes of lemmings ("Oh, No!"). Sod that! I'd sooner be eaten alive by Zombies.

God, if that happened around here there'd be a massive jump in IQ's!

Living in Norfolk I can confirm Zombies are real! 98% of the local population appear to infected.

Would something like DosBox or Bochs fit the bill?