[Offtopic] School laptop policy

[Jim Maunder]

At 04:00 PM 15/05/2008, you wrote:
>Not meaning to be derogatory!  It's just there are always competing 
>interest when it comes to these sort of issues and it sometimes 
>helps to know which point of view the poster is coming from.
>Cameron
>(Teacher, ICT Coordinator and part time technician if they are busy)   :)
>
>Cameron Bell wrote:
>>Can I please just get a clarification? Jim are you a teacher or a 
>>technician? The slant I am getting from your reply is certainly not 
>>one from an educational point of view, rather a technical and 
>>administrative view.

Hi Cameron -

I took no offence at any of the posts/rants in response to my comment 
about recalcitrant students. Here I have to straddle the counter a 
bit - while my main job is to ensure the kids can use their lappies 
effectively (ie they can do what the teachers want them to do, can 
print, log on etc) I try to do it in an efficient way. As far as I 
can see, I'm valued here because I'm cheerfully helpful to the 
students and staff. I look after the students interests first, then 
the staff, then the administration. My shortcomings in the last are 
tolerated because of what I do in the other two. I work in a nice school.

If a recalcitrant student brings a MacBook (contrary to the school 
policy* which I helped formulate), I will frown and maybe growl a 
bit, check to see if Windows is running properly, then do my best to 
set it up for our network.

rgds
long winded Jim

* I think the policy implies that lappies must be able to run Win XP 
well, so a properly setup dual boot Mac is tolerated. The anti-Mac 
grumble is a carryover from pre-Intel days.

"To ensure all students can access and benefit from learning 
programmes and activities provided by Ruyton staff, laptops used 
within the learning programme should comply with School 
specifications as issued annually and should be IBM PC 
compatible.  The School operates within this system and provides no 
technical backup for alternate platforms.

Machines purchased through the School recommended agent are provided 
to students configured for the Ruyton network and operating 
programmes.  Costs of these laptop include costs of license fees for 
software.  Where parents source IBM PC compatible machines outside 
this School arrangement, a charge, determined annually, is made to 
facilitate the set up of the machine by the School Information 
Technology Technicians.  Additional costs for software include 
Microsoft Office and anti-virus software used by the School."





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Views, opinions, etc. expressed reflect those of the author and not
Ruyton Girls' School
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Jim Maunder
Ruyton Girls School
Melbourne, Australia