Tag Archives: laptops

IT Provision in Secondary Schools in 2011

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Another what’s the best way forward? blog post where I try and dissect my own thinking on what IT provision should look like in a Secondary School in 2011.  Continue the current mix of laptop trolleys and IT suites or move towards a 1 to 1 environment of tablets or laptops?

iPad at age 2

Are tablets the answer?

Financial Planning

This year so far has been all about planning ahead for me. We’ve started the process of planning two completely new courses to deliver to our students in ICT, and I’m delighted that both GCSE Computing & Creative iMedia have enough students interested for me to run both courses next year.

Next on my hit-list is managing & planning our IT provision across the whole site for the next few years. Our school has always been relatively cash-rich for a variety of reasons. This is not the case going forward.  Despite Michael Gove & the Conservatives’ claims that they would not cut school budgets we are receiving less money this year than we have previously. This is after we take into account the pupil premium (and being situated in Central Manchester we have an above average percentage of Free School Meals). All of this at the same time as costs are increasing thanks to the Government’s removal of the Harnessing Technology Grant. Historically the IT Support team has been given a fairly modest budget with which they maintain the existing equipment and add some provision each year.  Replacement of entire suites / trolleys etc have then been funded by ‘Summer Projects’ funded from surplus school cash. I am acutely aware that the surplus school cash may well not be here next Summer and it is time we plan and budget ahead carefully for the next 2-5 years.  And so I come to my current position where I am left impressed at the cost of continuing as we are, yet thinking there must be a better way…. Continue reading →

SSAT #NC10 – Sugata Mitra

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Bio

Sugata Mitra is currently Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University.  He has spent many years in a huge number of research posts.  With regards to education he is most famous for his Hole In The Wall Experiment whereby he put an Internet enabled PC in the wall of an Indian slum in 1999 and left it there for anyone to use.

You can see the talk here, or watch his similar TED talk here.

Reflections

Sugata was charming and engaging.  The driving message that he had was that given some time and an Internet connection, children are quite proficient at teaching themselves.

He first discovered this in his now famous Hole In The Wall experiment.  I won’t go over the details of that here as you can watch the videos above or read about it in detail on Wikipedia or it’s own dedicated website.  Sugata explained that he did not go looking for this effect, however his experiments demonstrated that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Sugata calls this minimally invasive education. Continue reading →

Digital Leaders Update

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This post is a bit of a diary / mind-empty on my progress so far in launching a Digital Leaders programme in our school.

Poster

As per my previous post, Kristian Still asked me to become involved in developing the Digital Leaders idea into my school and others in collaboration with Vital.   Continue reading →

Digital Leaders

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I am excited to have been invited by Kristian Still to be involved with developing the idea of ‘Digital Leaders’ in school.  Digital Leaders is an initiative started by Kristian Still at Hamble College in Southampton.

To quote Kristian: “The Digital Leaders are a group of students from Hamble Community Sports College that lead innovative ICT practice and regularly meet as part of the Digital Media and Gaming Club. They contribute to ICT innovation and curriculum development and contribute to school ICT policy.”

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Questionnaires Take 2 with Twitter, Google Forms & Wallwisher

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I had an observation lesson today and decided to pull out all the technology tricks!  We happened to be at a point in the scheme of work looking at data handling and collecting data in particular.  I decided I’d develop the Questionnaires lesson which I used at interview last year.  60 minutes should be enough to do it more justice.

So here’s the plan:

  • Discuss data quality based on previous lesson
  • Tweet a link to my questionnaire and a Wallwisher for feedback on the questions
  • Fill out my questionnaire full of deliberate mistakes in class
  • Look at the live data spreadsheet
  • Groups look at the data for one question, suggest problems with the data collected, and suggest improvements to the data.
  • Discuss findings, looking at key points of: Leading Questions, Bias, Open/Closed Qs, Personal Qs, Options Boxes, Group boundaries etc.
  • Look at Twitter feedback on Wallwisher, compare to our own thoughts
  • Each team leaves one learning point on our own Wallwisher.
  • Compile new Qs into anew Questionnaire

Continue reading →

Home Access – Free Computers & Internet for Low Income Families

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Gordon Brown finally announced the Home Access programme last week. Organised by Becta this scheme will provide 270,000 households with a voucher that is redeemable for a computer along with 1 year’s Internet access, a suite of software and also support.

Families will be eligible if they have a child in Years 3-7, they have not been beneficiaries of a similar scheme in the past and they are entitled to Free School Meals or a range of other Income based benefits.

The scheme is independent of schools, although they can organise to bulk apply for the packages (I have heard this results in delays).  Parents need to call the Home Access Grant Helpline on 0333 200 1004 for an application form, they will be told over the phone if they are eligible.

All of the packages on offer include ‘Assistive Technologies’.  I saw a presentation on these at BETT last week and they do look impressive.  The base package consists of a piece of Mind Mapping software, Mind View3; Text Help Read & Write software that includes spell checking, grammar suggestion and text to speak capabilities and finally issist iZoom screen magnification software.

The second package includes specific hardware solutions such as trackballs, high contrast keyboard stickers, larger keyboards, trackpads etc..  The third package which is not ready to go yet, is for those with more specific physical needs and will include home visits and assessments if necessary.

Although not run through our school I am keen to ensure that every child that is eligible for this benefits from it, so we will be sending a letter home to all of our Year 7-9 pupils encouraging them to apply.  I will then run some form-filling drop-in evenings at school.  Over half of our pupils have English as a second language so I’m sure some of the parents will appreciate the help in completing the forms.  I’ll also be liaising closely with my SEN department to ensure that those with additional needs benefit from the assistive technology packages.

I spoke with a representative from Becta about this package.  Many of our pupils benefited for the laptops for pupils scheme a year ago, so won’t be eligible for the new schme, but would certainly benefit from the software package.  He confirmed that the package will be available in all of the approved retailers and should be under £50 which represents a considerable saving.  They are also looking into making it available to schools for their own systems.

Further details and promotional materials for schools are available from the Home Access website if you register as a school, however feel free to borrow my letter.

And also check out @simonhaughton ‘s Etherpad of ideas: http://parkfield.etherpad.com/4?

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Google’s New Operating System

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So today Google announced that they will be introducing their very own Google Chrome OS.

This follows in the wake of excellent the Google Chrome web browser which was released last year.  Designed initially for netbooks, it appears that the OS will effectively be little more than a web browser.  The beauty of this is that it will be incredibly quick and run on relatively underpowered/old hardware.

Continue reading →

Netbooks – Ready for Education Prime-Time?

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As net-books continue to outpace the rest of the PC industry, prices falling and specs improving, are they ready for prime-time use in schools?

I have dallied with eeePCs back in the day, I was impressed then, unfortunately school didn’t back that up with a permanent wireless network and they have been little used since.  Back then the main issues were small screens, small keyboards and small batteries.  All of these features have been greatly improved over the past two years.

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5 reasons to love a MacBook

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I have a confession to make, I used to love my PC, but, now I think I love my MacBook sooo much more!

I finally took the plunge and bought it last week, I had planned to buy a laptop on a forthcoming trip to New York, but the exchange rate has gone so far south it makes little sense to buy it abroad.

I have owned a PC as long as I can remember, and I still use it, but increasingly just for my vice of computer games.  I looked at Windows based alternatives, believing Macs to be over-priced for their given specifications.  But you know what?  They’re not.  Look for a similar specced Windows laptop that met my requirements: a 12-13″ screen, rugged build, not underpowered (I’m looking at you – oh so pretty netbooks that can’t run much at all!), <2kg.  There’s not much out there, I looked at the Dell XPS 1330 and a few others but nothing came close.  I will be lugging the laptop to school and back each day on my bike so it needed to be light and able to take a bit of a beating.  I was tempted by some of the 1st Gen MacBook Airs that are available at quite a discount, but despite it’s gorgeous form I decided that the power and upgrade-ability of the MacBook made sense.

So here are 5 reasons I love my Mac and you should try loving one too:

  • It’s all so nice!  Apple’s design runs throughout the machine and the software.  I know it’s a cliche, but everything just works, and works well.  I should’ve known this after my last gadget love – the iPhone.
  • Spaces.  I didn’t understand the need to have four separate desktops, after all you can alt-tab between apps easily enough.  But it’s just so slick and I know exactly where I’ll find Firefox, my Twitter client and even XP if it’s running.  Here’s a Youtube vid if you don’t know what I’m on about.  Combined with Expose, which turns the corners of your screen into hot-zones that bring up Spaces etc it’s a killer.
  • It runs Windows!  Sacrilege I know, but I need Windows for my archaic school applications.  By using a piece of software called VMWare Fusion you can run XP or Vista (assuming you have licenses of course!) in it’s own application.  I followed these two guides to cut my copy of XP down to the very basics before I installed it.  You can set up the MacBook to ‘dual-boot’ into either Windows or Mac OSX, but for my purposes this worked fine.  Set to full screen on one of the Spaces windows you can quickly switch from one OS to another.
  • The little things.  For instance, when browsing through your files, if you hit the space bar a preview of the selected document pops up perfectly rendered without loading the native app.
  • Multi-touch.  I’d grown accustomed to this on an iPhone but it’s taken to a whole new level with the MacBook.  The trackpad is MASSIVE for starters, and there are no buttons.  The whole pad will ‘click’ although I found it a bit strange and changed the settings so that a tap registers as a left-click.  Before you know it you’ll be swiping 1, 2, 3 or 4 fingers in various directions across the pad to activate various shortcuts. Youtube.

I could go on, and on, but I’l stop there.  All I can say is buck that credit crunch and get yourself a Mac if you’re in need of a laptop.  And don’t forget that Apple give you an educational discount on-line and in stores. :)

What are your favourite things on your computer of choice?

‘Computers For Pupils’ rolls out

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The £60m 2-year DCSF project has kicked off at our school.  For the uninitiated this is a government funded scheme to put laptops into some of the most disadvantaged homes in the country.

To quote:

Computers for Pupils

Computers for Pupils is a £60 million, two-year programme (2006–2008) aimed at helping some of the most disadvantaged secondary school children improve their education and life skills by putting a computer into the home and providing internet connectivity. It aims to narrow the achievement gap between those children and their peers. Up to 100,000 pupils in England are expected to benefit from the initiative.

108 local authorities are involved in the programme, with funding allocated through the Standards Fund Grant. Local authorities identified as having eligible schools and pupils attending in their area have been given funding to make this happen. They are also receiving help and advice covering all aspects of the scheme.

Our school has been allocated 270 laptops, which is obviously a fantastic thing.  However we have nearly 900 pupils so it has also become a somewhat divisive issue.  The allocation has taken into account a number of factors, including something of a post-code lottery.  Explaining to one pupil why they have a laptop and another why they haven’t has been awkward today.

With the possibility of  internet access also being provided in the near future this is overall great news.  We have been making good headway with online homeworks in Maths, using MyMaths and Achieve, and this will dramatically cut the number of pupils who cannot complete these at home.

I haven’t seen the machines yet, as ever with technology I suspect that had they will have missed the boat with the range of excellent low cost laptops that are seeping onto the market such as the eeePC.