Education Device Question

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networkn

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#207796 13-Jan-2017 23:24

Next year my 7 Year old son will be in a BYOD classroom.

They have recommended a Chromebook, and last year they were all the rage. However in 6 brochures I've just opened, only 2 have them, and only 1 each. Everything else are Windows 10 Devices with this A+ which says for all schools.

I don't want to upset the Apple Cart at his school by my son having a different device than is recommended, esp if they are going to teach him using Android Apps which a Windows device won't run, also if he runs something different to his classmates etc...

Anyone have experience?

blakamin

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#1703013 14-Jan-2017 00:07

My daughter has used a chromebook for the last 2 years of primary (since byod started really) and is about to take it to college.

She's had a school google account for 3 years.

yitz

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#1703017 14-Jan-2017 00:38

Brochures (as in Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming ones?) could just be generic ones the school has decided to pass on, I doubt those stores would produce specific marketing material for individual primary schools (perhaps they would for colleges).

And if you really mean next year as in 2018, I would wait until further communication from the school, perhaps ask for examples and see how teachers use BYOD in the classroom. Who knows if they are still early on in the trial stages there may even be a change in the type of recommended device.

Jase2985

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#1703029 14-Jan-2017 06:36

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/byod-primary

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/byod-2017

BarTender

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#1703094 14-Jan-2017 12:05

My view is speak with the school extensively about their BYOD plans. In 2 primary schools my kids have gone to have been rather vague about "We use iPads but Chromebook/Android tablet should be fine" is rubbish. They were exclusively iPad as 80% of the apps they planned to for the school year were only for iOS devices. I spoke with the Principal at both schools and called them out on this and they changed their policies to clearly state to all parents the reason why they were going iPad was due to the availability of Apps. Much as I hate to admit it and dislike the Apple world they really have cornered the market on developers for Primary and to a degree intermediate school apps.

Intermediate my eldest has just moved to an Mac Book Air as that is the lightest fully capable device on the market. IMHO the device itself is less of an issue in Intermediate / Secondary as really all they need is full computer rather than a tablet with a decent keyboard + light + battery that will last the full day and then some to run an office productivity suite. For me the deciding factor was weight and battery life and to a lesser degree peer pressure (most of her peers have Mac Book Air/Pro). I went for the 8GB / 128GBSSD Air as the SSD Storage is easily upgradable and 8GB of ram is plenty for everything I could think of today and for the next few years. Again pained me in philosophically and financially to go the Apple path but for me the weight + battery life was the deciding factor. In all school environments you need a device that will run for at least 10-12 hours without charge as that is vitally import as no teachers want to be running power cables for devices. And that's actually that long without charge vs what is on the brochure. PBTech is the cheapest place for Apple gear in NZ, so I waited until their Black Friday sale where they had 11% off Apple from memory which is pretty much unheard of so I purchased all my kids gear then.

The thing I dislike about the Chromebooks is the are willfully underpowered CPUs so really they are a glorified browser device with a keyboard. Don't expect them to do any coding on them. I would also quiz your childs teacher + principal on their abilities with using the devices and what their "pedagogical outcomes" will be using the device. If they are vague about it then don't have high expectations on how it will go.

nathan

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#1703156 14-Jan-2017 13:25

Bluestacks is a popular way to run Android apps on Windows.

lapimate

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#1703573 15-Jan-2017 15:24

nathan: Bluestacks ...

Might also consider AMI DuOS. I prefer its charging model. It can provide direct access to Google’s Play store; zoom in/out etc on non-touch screens is supported.