edde Who are edde? edde Limited work in the education sector in the UK. The company commenced trading in September 2015. However, prior to that the company traded as the education division of WestWon from January 2013. The company is based out of two offices in the UK. The finance team are based out of […]
iPad insurance for schools A simple search on Google will illustrate that there are a number of companies offering policies for iPad insurance for schools . One interesting website we reviewed was www.money.co.uk. If you take a look at http://www.money.co.uk/gadget-insurance/ipad-insurance.htm, their page on iPad insurance, you will notice there are nearly ten companies that will […]
edde brings technology into the classroom Our E Learning Funding Schemes and compliant Lease facilities help manage and control costs of ICT in the classroom, making Digital Learning more accessible and manageable. Spreading the cost of a school’s expenditure is becoming more attractive as budgets are squeezed. Knowing your spend for the next 3 years allows better management of funds. |
| Some Key Benefits • Fully complaint lease facilities
There are several areas edde can assist in to ensure that your technology refresh does not become a headache, from finding the right IT Partner for your school to funding the project. Please contact us to discuss your ICT needs. |
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Classrooms increasingly need technology to bring the power of the internet into teaching. These are known as 1:1 Learning programs or e-Learning schemes.
Parents and teachers are keen to bring even the youngest students into the digital age. There are more opportunities than ever to use the web and apps to aid the teaching of Numeracy, Literacy and all the other subjects. But how does an entire class of 30 students move forward together? Clearly it’s no good if half the class have digital devices and the other half doesn’t!
The answer lies in e-Learning schemes. These are designed to put an individual tablet, laptop, iPad or other device into the hands of each child. Hence 1:1.
What is a Chromebook?
A Chromebook is a laptop running Chrome OS as its operating system. The devices are designed to be used mainly when they are connected to the Internet, with most applications and data stored in “the cloud”. This make chromebook for school an ideal choice.
Cost effective and competitive on pricing
You can buy a Chromebook for under £150. Chromebook can save you PC maintenance costs because it has minimal data stored in so you do not need any extra purchase of Antivirus and backup software. In addition, you do not need to worry about hardware upgrades because all of your work can be done by Chrome browser and web apps. Therefore, admin can easily configure Chromebooks and manage all user accounts centrally through the internet.
Speed
The Chromebook boots up extremely fast, from switching it on and it’ll be running in less than 10 seconds. Quicker than the average Laptop
Google says ‘within seconds, you’re on your favourite sites and apps.
Efficiency and battery power
One main feature of Chromebook is its all-day battery life which is great for using in the classroom. No need to bring a power charger everywhere as these devices offer you a long 8.5 hours superb battery life compared to normal netbook which normally provides 3-4 hours of battery life.
Cloud Friendliness
Because your files are saved online rather than to your actual laptop, you can access them from any device anywhere – all you need is an internet connection.
Reliability
Your Chromebook will automatically update with the latest anti-virus and other software so you do not need to worry.
Each time you switch on your Chromebook it will check for updates and install any that come up. This means you’ll always have the latest version of the OS. It does all of this at no extra cost too.
If you would like to know more about chromebook for school or other devices for your school give us a call 01494 611 465 or visit our resources page.
So last week I was called in to school, where I am on the governing body, for a finance meeting to discuss the budget for the next 5 years. It wasn’t an easy meeting and even though the team have done a fantastic job of making the books balance there are tough choices to make. ICT for Schools Technology is not top of the list when you are looking at where to spend your limited funds so how are you going to build it in?
There looks to be a number of ways that you can make the money go further and definitely the big technology companies are stepping up. Google have announced in the last week an iPad trade-in scheme where schools can get up to £120 for their older iPads when buying a Chromebook. This means a brand new Chromebook for school would cost around £30, partners like YourCloudWorks have been quick to get this out to schools in planning for the summer.
HP have also started their subscription program which allows schools to rent technology instead of having to pay outright for the devices. This means it is far easier to build an ICT technology budget that is fixed and delivers from day one what you need to transform your teaching. The cost of renting is often cheaper than buying outright in a 3 year rolling program, so definitely worth looking at.
We are looking at a number of ways of supporting schools in being able to deliver the technology they want to their students today. Whether it is parental contribution, funding, subscription or trade-in schools are going to have to box clever over the next few years with the squeeze on budgets coming!
Working daily with institutions that are looking at ways to increase the number of students with devices in their hands, the focus is on those students and the teachers. Rightly, they are the key focus for using technology to aid teaching and learning but there is another very important group here…Parents!
Parents, the people we are looking to encourage the children in the home, the people a growing number of schools that are asking to donate to get the devices in to every child’s hands. They are a key group for us to get buy in from, if these schemes are going to be a success, what is the benefit to them? If it isn’t clear the child is going to have the technology integrated totally in to the schools ethos then what value is there? The school are driving the use of technology but still have to send home letters in the school bags, should we not practice what we preach?
Recently, I have seen some great solutions like the Virtual Activities Environment from CHQ and School App from Apps Central that drive this parental engagement. Both are focussed on communicating with parents, giving them instant access to their children’s activities at school, changes to schedules, sign up to classes or activities and other helpful info. This is of real value and improves the schools communication to the parent, they are getting the benefit of the schools drive with technology thus increasing their buy in. Another good example is the Educational App Store that can support a school approved parent portal, guiding parents to suitable apps and how to use them with their child in line with the curriculum.
In my experience, you forget the parents at your peril, they are likely to help support your scheme now or in the future so make sure they see the value as well as the staff and students!
So we have seen many attempts at trying to bridge the digital divide, the haves and the have nots with technology. People such as the E-Learning Foundation have done a lot to raise awareness here and with campaigns like “Mind the Gap”, there has been progress. Are we really getting to the nub of the issue though?
According to the ONS 74% of people in the UK access the internet every day however 66% of them were on mobile phones, access on the go! So looking at internet access to the home doesn’t tell the whole story anymore does it?! My favourite statistic of last year was that on average in the UK every child has access to 4.5 connected devices and that is only going to increase. A child at home chooses the right device for the job so why are we so prescriptive when delivering education?
I was interested this week to read up on the new free schools to be opened by Ian Livingstone in London and Birmingham. The focus in these schools is very much going to be on STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) with a blended learning approach. Not being the most engaged child at school this really appeals to me. This will include the setting up of mock businesses in school, using the skills learnt in real life experiences. In retrospect, 5 months in to my experience setting up and running a business, what I would have done with being able to learn, then put into practice the skills needed when I was at school!
So BETT has come and gone for another year and what have I learnt? Well not being stuck in a meeting room for 3 straight days, only let out for food and water periodically when I was starting to show signs of exhaustion, was much more pleasurable! Getting to see what vendors, resellers and the competition are doing is very useful for someone trying to differentiate in a new business. Read more