[Yr11 Information Technology] Laptops in use in schools

[Alexakos, Zach Z]

Hi Chris,

If you can afford it, go the Macbook Air.
iPads are good from the point of view of marketing but issues with them after warranty runs out, e.g.: Battery life.
Also some students can’t help themselves and trash them constantly.

Also can’t program with iPads, can’t run Xcode, which is why I don’t have one.

Actually I still use a 2009 Macbook, has SSD and 6GB of RAM and runs Yosemite no problems.  But the Mac Air comes in handy due to its size and weight.

Desktops are also good value for money these days, just not ‘marketable’.




Regards,
Zach Alexakos



From: <Lydall>, Quentin C <lydall.quentin.c at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:lydall.quentin.c at edumail.vic.gov.au>>
Reply-To: Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <yr11it at edulists.com.au<mailto:yr11it at edulists.com.au>>
Date: Wednesday, 29 July 2015 11:34 am
To: Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <yr11it at edulists.com.au<mailto:yr11it at edulists.com.au>>
Subject: Re: [Yr11 Information Technology] Laptops in use in schools

Hi Chris,
We have iPads 7-10 and BYOD 11 & 12.
IPad pros:
Very versatile, lots of apps, buy in bulk to get apps half price. Kids mostly love them, all maintenance except paid apps provision and network connection is up to the families. We have Apple TV AirPlay in most classrooms so kids can easily project and share their work.
Cons: kids misuse them unless it is carefully controlled. We have processes which I'll share if you want more information. Not great for senior years. We use Google Drive with mixed success, mostly because some staff are wary of technology. Difficult devices if you use USBs currently, but there are solutions. Other issues: the screens break if they drop unless they have a really rugged case. Broken devices can take time to get fixed so we have some iPads that can be borrowed from the library. Other issue is iPads can't run Flash.
Staff have a mix of Dept Lenovos and macs. The first of our two labs has been switched to mini macs this term and most of the issues have been resolved.
Hope this helps. Ask if you want more info.
Quentin Lydall
Teacher
Lara Secondary College
34 Alkara Avenue
Lara, Victoria 3212
P: 03 5282 8988 F: 03 5282 8188
E: lydall.quentin.c at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:lydall.quentin.c at edumail.vic.gov.au>
www.larasc.vic.edu.au<http://www.larasc.vic.edu.au>

On 29 Jul 2015, at 11:04 am, Paragreen, Chris J <paragreen.chris.j at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:paragreen.chris.j at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:


Hi colleagues,



It was nice to see some of you at the DLTV conference on Friday.



I’m on a working party at my school to investigate devices for students/staff for next year. If any of you could provide me with some feedback on what devices your school currently uses and their pros/cons, I would be very grateful. Further, do your staff and students use the same device? Why/why not?



Regards,



Chris Paragreen

Kew High School

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