Best IT Solution For a Brand-New School?

Iain writes "I'm a teacher at a British 'City Academy' (ages 11-19) that is going to move into a new building next year. Management is deciding now on the IT that the students will use in the new building, as everything will be built from scratch. Currently, the school has one ICT suite per department, each containing about 25-30 PCs. My issue with this model is that it means these suites are only rarely used for a bit of googling or typing up assignments, not as interactive teaching tools. The head likes the idea of moving to a thin client solution, with the same one room per department plan, as he see the cost benefits. However, I have seen tablet PCs used to great effect, with every single classroom having 20-30 units which the students use as 'electronic workbooks,' for want of a better phrase. This allows every lesson to fully utilize IT (multimedia resources, Internet access, instant handout and retrieval of learning resources, etc.) and all work to be stored centrally. My question is: In your opinion, what is the best way for a school to use IT (traditional computer lab, OLPCs, etc.) and what hardware is out there to best serve that purpose? Fat clients for IT/Media lessons and thin client for the rest? Thin client tablets? Giving each student a laptop to take home? Although, obviously, cost is an issue, we have a significant budget, so it should not be the only consideration."

Comments

Create a portable lab

[Anonymous Coward]

The old lab model is dead. Take your 20-30 computers, make them laptops, and available for any classroom use the teachers need. If demands becomes such that you can't meet demand, then you buy more. Add wireless throughout the place, and you should be set.

Re:Create a portable lab

[Tobenisstinky]

Nooooo! We deployed wireless as a solution w/laptops...worst decision ever made. Wireless is fine for the home with 1-5 clients, but with a classroom full, speed is pitiful. Unless you plan for 5-6 access points per room, don't do it. Also battery life is fine when the units are new, and there are also issues with users remembering to recharge them when done, theft, damage, etc. Desktops are much better. On that note, the iMacs are great. All in one unit, and you can 'secure' everything with one cable-tie IMHO

Re:Create a portable lab

[hattig]

Damn right.

I don't think there was a problem with blackboards and chalk for learning, computers were for IT lessons, not for every lesson. They are incredibly distracting machines.

The teachers should have one, to find and get resources for lessons. Indeed a projector + screen for each classroom makes sense, under the teacher's control. I suggest Linux + OpenOffice for presentations, or Macs + iWork (KeyNote), because a teacher cannot risk Windows, cannot risk the chance of getting bad software like that poor teacher in the US that got fired and nearly got 40 years for using a hijacked computer.

Re:Create a portable lab

[johnw]

IT as a subject in British schools is deeply flawed.

You're not kidding. ICT (as they call it) as taught at GCSE level is an almost totally made up subject. If you went in to an exam with, say, just 20 years of experience in software development then you'd pass but you wouldn't get a top grade. To do that you need to learn the parallel world of the ICT examiner.

An example question - sorry I don't have the paper here so I can't quote it verbatim, but the essence is correct.

"Given a computer and an Internet connection, what else do you need to be able to access the web?"

First thoughts about this question tend to come up with all sorts of possible answers. You can be silly and say "a monitor", or "a mains lead for the computer", but then you settle down and try to think of sensible answers. Discarding, "an operating system" I settled on "a web browser".

Trouble is, it was a multiple choice question and that wasn't one of the options. I can't remember all the options now but I can tell you that the right answer (in the parallel world of GCSE ICT) was, "An ISP".

Huh! Hang on a minute - you said I'd already got an Internet connection. Apparently not - in the parallel world of the examiners you can have an Internet connection without having an ISP, and said Internet connection won't work until you identify an ISP.

It's a very silly subject, and teaches practically nothing about real IT. It's more a training course in how to use Microsoft Office.

This is a waste of time and money.

[onion2k]

I'm UK taxpayer. This question highlights what I think is an endemic problem with the UK teaching system, and frankly the whole of the civil service:

This sort of thing shouldn't even be up for debate.

Developing this sort of infrastructure on a school-by-school basis is incredibly stupid. There should have been a central government review of the options prior to the latest run of school building, and a proper IT spending policy should have been worked out then. Having the decision made by the headteacher and a couple of staff (only one or two of whom are likely to be remotely qualified to understand all the options) means one school ends up with a much better or worse IT system than another. That is plain wrong. It's not fair on the kids.

To answer the question, for the love of God find out how the other schools near you have faired with their systems and copy the best one. Do not do go it alone (or alone with lots of Slashdotters).

Re:This is a waste of time and money.

[stranger_to_himself]

Developing this sort of infrastructure on a school-by-school basis is incredibly stupid. There should have been a central government review of the options prior to the latest run of school building, and a proper IT spending policy should have been worked out then. Having the decision made by the headteacher and a couple of staff (only one or two of whom are likely to be remotely qualified to understand all the options) means one school ends up with a much better or worse IT system than another. That is plain wrong. It's not fair on the kids.

I diagree. At the moment it is not possible for the government to decide and enforce a policy, because the evidence is simply not there (regarding which way would be best) to do it.

We need newish schools to develop and evolve their own systems so we can see what works, and ONLY THEN roll it out nationwide.

This government is usually too quick not too slow to implement policies in healthcare and education at a national level without letting them work themselves out first. This is the real waste of money.

Re:This is a waste of time and money.

[amclay]

This should be decided school by school, because each school may have a different demographic, and that could quite possibly change the type and quantity of technology used.

That being said, your suggestion at looking at other school districts and finding out what has worked for them is a great idea. Our school recently put in "Elmos," which are mounted digital cameras for projectors which were put into each room.

Most of my teachers started using them, and they saved a lot of time, because they could show the class the pice of paper, and not have to look/get a transparency of the paper. It also gives them more options as far as showing short clips, or powerpoints, or stuff like that.
So review:
1) Teacher workstation in each room, with projector and an "Elmo."

2) Computer labs, with thin or fat clients, depending on your needs.

3) Laptop carts, so individual classes can use a set of laptops if needed.

Tablet Cart, plz

[shbazjinkens]

I don't have as much faith in a computer for every student, in every class.

If it's anything like my college courses in the states, a lot of time might need to be devoted to keeping students on task, instead of checking social networking sites during class. Maybe things are different in Britain, though.

In my High School we had a rolling cart with 30 laptops inside it, a central charging supply, a printer and a wireless network. This was maybe the best idea our IT department ever had because when the computers were necessary they could come to the classroom where they were needed without the logistics of moving a couple of dozen teenagers. When they're not needed, they can be put in buffer or sent to where they are. The downtime you'd normally see of computers in class is not wasted and the budget is more effectively applied to all of the classrooms. It sounds like my school was a lot smaller than the one you're serving at, so maybe a lot more carts are needed than just the one, of course.

Re:Tablet Cart, plz

[nine-times]

I don't have as much faith in a computer for every student, in every class.

I think the big problem is that people don't necessarily ask and answer this question before they begin implementation: what are we trying to accomplish with these computers?

I remember when they first started the "computer in every classroom" initiative in my state. It was during the tech bubble of the '90s, and there was a great sense that computers were the new thing, they were a big deal, and the kids should be exposed to them in education. Put them in the classroom, and students will be magically enriched by the experience.

So they put a single computer into every classroom, and they sat there. There were occasional instances where students were allowed to use them to look something up online, but a few kids went looking for porn, and so next thing you know, students weren't allowed on the computers. Most of the teachers didn't really know how to use them, either, and the computers didn't have anything useful for the teachers anyhow (e.g. computerized grade books to test-creation software). So the computers just sat there and did nothing.

I don't want to suggest that computer *can't* be useful. Obviously they're good for writing papers. I'm still keeping an eye out for stories about using textbooks with open licensing and digital distribution, which seems like a great direction for us to take over the long term. The potential is tremendous.

I just believe that projects will generally be much more successful and efficient if you start by formulating a set of goals (and also perhaps things you'd like to avoid), and then figuring out what's necessary to meet those goals. Starting with a set of tools (which is what the computers would be) and then trying to figure out what you might be able to do with those tools tends to end less well.

Why?

[willoughby]

Tell me why throwing computers at the students will educate them "better" than having a professor standing at the front of the room moving a magnet along a glowing glass tube filled with argon showing them how the magnetic field "collapses" the light into a ribbon, with the students first entranced and then eagerly scribbling notes. And then in the next class having the students find the flaw in a mathematical proof covering two blackboards which "proves" that 2+2=5.

Stop thinking about computers & start thinking of the students.

Old School?

[peterofoz]

I vote for paper, pencil, and flowchart templates. That way beginning users don't get confused by all the tech stuff and learn how to think. Nothing makes you think and plan ahead like drawing flowcharts by hand.

Beyond IT uses for the computers, I recommend the following rather than their computer simulations:

• Real wood and clay for art classes - get dirty
• Real books to curl up with by the fireplace for literature
• Real test tubes, worms & fish, and magnets for sciences
• Real slide rule, pencils and rulers for math.
• Real track, field, balls, and gym for physical education