By July 2021, the UK will have experienced 2 disrupted school years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with schools being closed, exams being cancelled and remote learning becoming the norm for students of all ages around the country.
Remote learning has been a challenging adaptation for many - teachers and staff have had to change the way they teach, providing lessons through video conferencing tools and never really knowing if the students are engaging with the content on the other side of the computer.
Meanwhile, students are having to try to motivate themselves to keep the habits they would have if attending school, while also missing out on key social interactions they get from spending time with classmates.
Technology is playing a huge role in how schooling functions right now, and it highlights how digital devices could have an increasingly important role in schools in the future. EdTech (Education Technology) is a topic that has been discussed for a while now, but the pandemic (as it has for many industries) has brought to light just how important technology can be.
“Across all phases of education, we are committed to supporting both the education sector and the EdTech industry to build on existing good practice and drive further innovation.” (Realising the potential of technology in education, UK Department for Education)
While there are signs of the pandemic easing and some normality returning, schools and educational institutions around the UK are looking to source suitable equipment for staff and students to be able to continue teaching and learning - here’s what to look for when procuring laptops:
1) A super-secure devices
Laptops are a fantastic piece of equipment for schooling - they can become a students source of educational materials through content management systems and online lessons as well as a way to interact with the teacher and classmates. But they have to be secure!
The last thing anyone wants is students not being able to access lessons and teachers struggling to provide lessons because of bad-actors and security threats.
Equally, your school’s IT department may not have the resources to keep laptops secure against malicious actors, or in most cases, inadvertent security breaches by students. Look for a super-secure device option, such as HP’s secure line of laptops that provide hardware and software which automatically / proactively defends itself. Plus, look for management tools that provide secure browsing with options to block certain websites, in the same way that you would on the school network!
2) Analytics for teachers, parents & students
Find a solution that gives useful analytics for how students are using their devices. It can be important that students aren’t staring at the screen all day, but equally, it’s good to know that they’re engaging with online learning and are still doing the work they should be.
Teachers and/or parents may find it helpful to view analytics dashboards of activity & time spent on various apps, services and websites.
3) Easy to deploy for IT and quick to adopt for users
If the technology you provide is frustrating to use or difficult to set-up, user adoption will become a challenge for the team and it could impact how teachers and students use the devices.
When sourcing new hardware such as laptops and the software to go with it, consider how easy it will be to deploy to everyone and how quickly users can adopt it - look for hardware/software that is easy to use and has a highly-rated user interface. Ideally, you want minimum disruption to all involved.
4) Next Day Onsite Break-Fix
Devices can get damaged for a number of reasons, from software errors and inadvertent viruses to hardware issues - this becomes another challenge for IT to deal with, and they have enough going on as it is!
Reduce the burden on in-house IT teams by leveraging a managed service infrastructure that ensures devices are fixed and replaced as and when needed in as short a time scale as possible, preferably the next day to keep continuity.
5) Scalable so you can flex up and down as requirements change
With continued disruption and teaching changing from the classroom to home learning, it’s vital to be able to scale the number of devices and service as requirements change. As classroom learning continues in the future, it might be that you scale down slightly, or even scale up with new students and staff joining the school.
Scalability ultimately means you only pay for what you need and can avoid unnecessary costs. For example, Xenith’s HP Device as a Service offers fully managed devices on pay monthly contracts that are between 12 and 36 months.
6) Useful once the pandemic is over
It’s really important to consider devices and laptops that can still be used once the pandemic eases off and classroom teaching becomes the norm once again. While you may not have the same need for every student to have a laptop, teachers can continue to benefit from the devices day-to-day and depending on the level of education, they might continue to be useful for students as well.
If you’re currently trying to source or procure laptops for a school, including teachers and students, whether it’s for remote learning or education with technology approach to learning, it’s important to consider all of the above points.