tooplanx

Thanks for this. Yeah, by the end of Y4 or even Y3, I'd expect them to be able to navigate the file browser reasonably well and many can, but there are always many pupils who struggle (mainly just following instructions). In KS1 it is very difficult for them and so they come up to LKS2 without even being able to login to their computers without adult support. I teach Y3, so I have the battle of trying to get them from pretty much 0 up to a reasonably proficient state, all with limited time, trying to fulfil the curriculum, teach them the basic skills, and get evidence of work! Fun times. I think if the basics of saving were much easier for the kids, it would encourage the teachers to get the kids on the laptops more (that's what I'm pushing for), but when the simple task of saving something or sharing a file is a nightmare, teachers are understandably reluctant.

I like the sound of the first option. I will try to get our IT support to make that happen! So there is a teacher accessible class folder on the server that then has shortcuts (junction points) to each of the pupils' Documents folders? So it's possible to access pupil 'personal' documents folders somehow? They currently sync with OneDrive, but I thought they were otherwise saved locally to the laptop they are using. Or do you have to create junction points so their individual Documents folders redirect to folders on the server? Thanks!

We have separate class folders on the StudentShared drive, which is the best option we have found. We (I) had hoped that we would be able to move over to an integrated Onedrive/Sharepoint/Teams, as the plan was to completely get rid of the onsite server. However, that seems like it just doesn't work that well yet. So, using the StudentShared drive seem the best option like you say. The issue we have with that is that the StudentShared drive takes several jumps to get to: Navigate to 'This PC' Expand This PC Scroll to bottom of window to 'Shared' drive and double click Select StudentShared folder Navigate to their class folder and any subfolders required. This may not seem like much, but only about 80% of the class will successfully complete each step without 1:1 support, so the likelihood of getting to the end is low! I would like the Student Shared folder, or the network class folders pinned to Quick Access, but our IT department says that's not possible!

Thanks for the reply. The issue is that teachers need to be able to easily access the saved files themselves. As I understand it, if the file is saved in the pupil's own OneDrive folder it isn't accessible by anyone other than the child. Is this correct? Is there a way around this?

Hi all. We have a nightmare trying to save files at school. Nothing seems to work properly and be easy enough for pupils to be able to reliably save work. So, how exactly do pupils save work at your school? For context, we have multiple possible options in our school: We have a student shared drive on the server We have Sharepoint / one drive with sso for the pupils We have MS Teams The problem is that none of these seem to work in a suitable way: First off, Teams just doesn't work. multiple errors, not loading, needing updates etc. etc. Second, pupils can't access sharepoint drives. Sites is in office, but there are no folders viewable / accessible. Third - Student network drive - the best option at the moment, however it takes about 20 steps for the pupils to get to the folder to save things in. Getting 30 kids under 8yo to successfully go through these 20 steps is nigh on impossible. What easy method do your schools use? We need to be able to save office projects, scratch projects, 'paint' projects online (e.g. downloaded files), audio projects etc etc. Thanks!

I would like to wade in with my own, personal experience of Geobooks. I have a Geobook 3x which I got for about £90, and it is fantastic for the price. The eMMC storage is pretty sluggish, but it had a slot for m.2 so upgraded with 128gb ssd and it great for almost anything 'normal'. Only time it feels sluggish is if I have loads of tabs and programs open or have a very complex and large office document and try to move multiple objects at once. Just thought I'd give a different opinion!

Brilliant, thanks for all the feedback. If anyone has any recommendations for laptop models that fit this bill then that would be a bonus?!

That's what I thought. So you think they are suitable?

Would the cpu just go kaput over time? Aren't most Chromebooks passively cooled?

Hi all, My school (primary) is looking at getting new laptops for the pupils. Initially they had looked at traditional clunky, heavy laptops with cd-drives, 15" 1366x768 screens, and traditional fan cooled cpu. In 2020 I feel that this kind of laptop is pretty archaic, even considering cost. My own personal laptop is a passively cooled (fanless), m.2 ssd, optical driveless, 1080p lightweight 13" laptop and it is perfectly capable of most things I throw at it. And was very cheap too. In my mind this kind of laptop is much more preferable than the old style as I feel they are lighter, more robust, more power efficient, and most websites nowadays are clunky when viewed at 768p (Scratch particularly). Has anyone got any opinions on these kind of laptops for pupil use? They are basically Chromebooks but with Windows... Thanks in advance.

The move would have to be carried out and set up by our IT support company. They should be capable of this but from experience they seem to not be too familiar with school systems. I should be able to maintain and monitor the filtering. That is currently our situation anyway. I could probably do the firewall as well if given the correct access to our systems, but we could easily get the IT support to set that up. The only thing still provided through the LEA is the phone lines and proxy. All our emails are done through Office 365 which I / IT support manage. We are still in a transitional phase so we're not 100% certain what things we'll have to keep or replace that are linked with the LEA. This is part of the problem at the moment- 'the powers that be' decided to drop county IT support without really thinking it through and took on a IT company which I told them wouldn't meet our needs. We are now in the early stages of being in a MAT and nobody seems to have a clue what they're doing. Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep our ICT infrastructure up and running while trying to scavenge details from people who don't really know anything and don't seem to care We're in a urban area surrounded by modern residential estates. I'm not sure how far away the nearest cabinet we are but I'm fairly sure we could atleast get 40Mbs FTTC, if not a cable connection. Nearest high-school is a fair way away, but there is another primary school about 1km away.

That Untangled looks EPIC! to quote another popular phrase. Thanks for the heads up. I find our current Smoothwall to be rather lacking.

Thank you. This is all great info!

You'd have thought, right? I'm not 100% sure but I feel like I'm the closest thing we have. Our own school got rid of county IT support and use a private company now, but the're pretty useless - I pretty much have to explain to them what is wrong and how they should try to fix it... I think the other two schools are in, or heading towards a similar situation. In schools there seems to be a massive disconnect between the needs of a school, the understanding of school staff, and the understanding of IT profs as to what is actually useful to schools...

That business FTTC would probably be more than adequate! As part of an academy we could probably share a filtering service to reduce the cost (?) Do you know who supplies your back up FTTC connection? Unfortunately, we're one of those schools that needs to have fund raising days just to buy some new glue-sticks!