[Informatics] Any Schools without Computer Labs???????

[Colley, Elizabeth E]

Hi
My school here is BYOD with no labs.
At year 12 it's tricky, probably because it wasn't BYOD when the kids started.
Their computers seem to be a bit poor in quality, and can take a while to load.

The year 7s though are better trained, because it's their own device they take more care of it. They all download office 365 from the department at the start of the year which  means they have all the MS office suite in full.

For SACs my y12s had to turn their wifi off, and I used USBs for them to complete the work on. They had to submit it at the end of each session, kept in secure area.

I taught in labs in the UK for a long time at year 12 equivalent, to be honest, I miss them - kids PCs can take a while to log on, but there is no way the kids can now say they forgot to take their files with them. They also have more flexibility in downloading freeware on their own devices. But they do need to be reminded to take backups.
If I had a lab of 24 computers in with only 12 students in, then it did feel a bit of a waste of resources.   Location and availability of printers is something that is a bit annoying too so could be a concern. And then there's the power supply issue. Our kids are not allowed to charge during school, so if you teach last period, it can be frustrating.


Liz Colley

Year 7 Assistant Educational Year Level Leader
English and Computing Teacher



From: informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Pascoe
Sent: Monday, 15 May 2017 11:50 AM
To: Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List <informatics at edulists.com.au>
Subject: [Informatics] Any Schools without Computer Labs???????


HI,



Sorry for the off topic post, and for any cross posts.



My school is looking at getting rid of our computer labs entirely in favour of a school wide student laptop program.



I was wondering if anyone else has any experience in this, especially in terms of software compatibility issues and authentication of student SAC tasks.



What should we be looking out for?



and finally if anyone has any compelling arguments for not having any computer labs at all in a school, other than to save the school opersating expenses money.  Eg. Is there anything "Beyond the Balance Sheet" to be gained by getting rid of all of the labs?



Thanks


Paul Pascoe

St Francis Xavier College
Beaconsfield

ppascoe at sfx.vic.edu.au<mailto:ppascoe at sfx.vic.edu.au>



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