[Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 studentin northern victoria primary schools

Wed Mar 25 08:50:31 EST 2009

Hi Bill

Here are a few responses to your queries...not as detailed as I would
like but don't have time at this stage. I'm very happy to try to answer
more questions as they come up and will probably be asking a few
myself...

There is a wiki that has been set up to support the trial and you will
find the answers to almost everything you have asked on it.

Go to http://netbooktrial.wikispaces.com
<http://netbooktrial.wikispaces.com> 

If you go to http://netbooktrial.wikispaces.com/Key+documents
<http://netbooktrial.wikispaces.com/Key+documents>  and download the
Sample Policy document and go to Section 10, you will find the list of
software

Students are allowed to download and install software and in almost all
cases will have administrator rights. These are personal computers that
can be used at home and at school. Students and teachers are being
encouraged to manage the netbooks themselves and while we provide
limited technical support we are trying to upskill students to take over
as much of this management themselves. We do have a repair button on all
the netbooks which means that as a last resort this will restore/repair
the netbook to school settings in the instance of corruption or
crashing. Students know about this but will only be asked to so this as
a last resort.

All students and parents sign an acceptable user agreement which clearly
outlines appropriate and acceptable use. Individual incidences will be
dealt with at a school level although of course we would offer advice if
requested. Because the netbooks are to be a fundamental learning tool
for students for the duration of the trial and hopefully beyond, long
term confiscation of the netbook would only be in the most extreme of
circumstances.

The netbooks are self insured by DEECD but parents have to pay $100
excess for loss and non-warranty repairs. We have an agreement with
Lenovo of a 3 day turnaround on repairs.

My understanding is that most of the initial work and forward planning
has been done in conjunction with Bruce Dixon, Anywhere, Anytime
Learning http://www.aalf.org/  as you have mentioned already. He has
done preliminary work in 2008 with all stakeholders, principals and
teachers involved in the trial  here and he has also presented to Year 7
teachers and principals from those schools this year. The netbooks will
be going with the students to the secondary colleges next year.

The eLearning Branch team has worked tirelessly to get all of this ready
to go for the trial and they have done all of the work regarding the
support documents that you see on the wiki.

The vision is based on much of the work that Bruce Dixon has done and we
are guided by the 21 Steps process as well as the Blueprint for
Education and Early Childhood development. Far too big a topic for this
reply though.

Very little resistance so far and I would say overwhelmingly positive
responses in the classroom and at the leadership level in schools.
Having  attended a few parent information evenings over the past few
weeks, parents are generally positive however there are some concerns
about the management and safety of internet access at home and at
school. (parents are advised that students do not have to have internet
access at home for the purposes of the trial, although if they already
have broadband then the netbooks can be configured to access at home) I
had one parent ask about internet addiction too. There are isolated
incidences of parents who refuse to be involved. Some concern about kids
carrying netbooks to and from school and being targettedKids are very
excited and can't wait to take them home. 

Ultranet coaches who have been instructed to focus on the netbook trial
for this year are reporting a highly positive response by both teachers
and students. 

Anne Baird

Project Manager,

1 to 1 Netbook Trial

Loddon Mallee Regional Office

Havlin St East

Bendigo 3550

Ph. 54403107    Mob. 0417340276

Wiki - http://teaching-with-technology.wikispaces.com/
<http://teaching-with-technology.wikispaces.com/> 

Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/anne_loves_pink/
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/anne_loves_pink/> 

My bookmarks - http://del.icio.us/annieb3525
<http://del.icio.us/annieb3525> 

Skype - annieb3525    Twitter - annieb3525

From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Bill Kerr
Sent: Tuesday, 24 March 2009 9:55 AM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Cc: lindsay.winen at woodvillehs.sa.edu.au; Simon Newbury
Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6
studentin northern victoria primary schools

thanks for information, Anne

software:
I'd like to see a full list of the software installed, if possible (is
there scratch, etoys, logo,  gamemaker, inform 7, inkscape, opera
browser to display svg animations ?)

wrt the users agreement:
Are students allowed to install their own software? (it would seem
difficult to prevent this)
Are they allowed to install games, any restrictions here? (ditto)

Some worst case scenarios, what happens:
Are there any circumstances where some students would be banned from
taking the computers home? (eg. repeated damage to machines)
What happens when porn or other inappropiate material is found on the
machines?

consultants:
Has AALF  involved in the process up until now? They recently presented
in South australia
http://www.aalf.org/

educational philosophy:
What is the big picture vision? Or is there one? (such visions do exist,
eg. Papert, alan kay, greg whitby - catholic ed NSW has led the redesign
of school architecture, see
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/21st-century-school.html)

teachers:
Has there been resistance? Teachers and the community in general has
different attitudes to technology in general. Some see it as a
potentially liberating force (I'm in that category), others as potential
dangerous (dehumanising, anti social or time wasting), others see
computers as just useful but limited tools). I would expect some
resistance or reluctance at least but I suppose my real question is the
perceived balance b/w those 3 broad groups and how that evolves as the
project evolves and runs into a variety problems which may or may not be
solved. 

cheers

On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 8:24 AM, Baird, Anne P
<baird.anne.p at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:

Hi Bill

I am managing the netbook Trial in our region, Loddon Mallee, Victoria.
(also Rob Costello's region) We have rolled out 4,400 netbooks to date
which gives every Grade 6 student and 40% of Grade 5 students access to
a netbook. All the Grade 6 students are leasing the netbooks from the
schools and DEECD for $52 per year and will take them from school to
home each day therefore  having 24/7 access. The netbooks are Lenovo S9s
and come with an image that includes Vista as the OS, the MS suite of
tools, Kahootz and a wide range of open source educational software. At
the end of 3 years, parents/ students will have the option to buy the
netbook with their final lease payment of $52. A total of $156.

DEECD and the regions are providing a range of professional development
opportunities for teachers in the trial. We are using a range of
research strategies to assess and document the trial. There are three
other regions who are participating in the trial as well. With the other
two country regions  trialling with Grade 5 students. Our netbooks will
go with the students to secondary college next year so we have the added
challenge of supporting the Secondary teachers as well.

I hope this helps and let me know if there is anything else you would
like to know.

Anne Baird
1-to-1 Netbook Project Manager
Loddon Mallee Region

-----Original Message-----
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Costello, Rob R
Sent: Mon 3/23/2009 10:23 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List

Subject: RE: [Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6
studentin northern victoria primary schools

HI Bill

its been on the cards for ages and seems finally official

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-pare
nt-brochure.pdf

i've seen the models  (or at least the same model and software image
that one of the schools here had prepurchased) - Lenovo - i don't know
the exact brand - 1.6 Ghz chip i think
running vista and seemed suprisingly responsive

afraid i'd choose them, and the software image, over the XO / OLPC sugar
environment that might have indirectly influenced the design of the
netbook market

cheers

rob

 _____

From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Bill Kerr
Sent: Mon 3/23/2009 12:04 AM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6
studentin northern victoria primary schools

netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 student in northern
victoria primary schools

press release
http://candybroadcountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/hi-tech-mini-netbooks-to-b
oost-learning.html

brochure to parents (pdf)
http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-pare
nt-brochure.pdf

Anyone have more information about this? I'm preparing a talk about the
potential of netbooks for my school staff and for the CEGSA conference
in July (I'll post my notes somewhere in due course, still at the
research stage)

--
Bill Kerr
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/
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Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by 
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Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
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