Today’s schools are preparing their students for a technology centred world. But to take advantage of the exciting range of teaching and learning tools that are transforming the classroom, students need consistent access to personal learning devices. The challenge for schools is to put the latest devices in the hands of their students, without impacting on their budget, resources or infrastructure.
Teaching and learning on tap
Technology is opening up opportunities for students to have a more engaging learning experience than ever before. The proliferation of learning apps in recent years is supporting students of all ages, enabling them to develop their coding skills, learn languages and collaborate on project work.
Homework, research and revision is easier to coordinate with a personal learning device and using technology in their day-to-day school life prepares young people for the technology-driven world of work.
Level playing field
Primary schools, secondary schools and multi-academy trusts are looking at ways to ensure their pupils don’t miss out on the benefits that the digital revolution can bring to education. However, it can be difficult for schools in disadvantaged areas to equip their pupils with the IT equipment they need to make the most of the digital age.
Insight’s 1-2-1 scheme opens the doors of digital learning to all students, whatever their background. The scheme enables schools to provide their students with their own device, which they can use to access study tools, design creative documents and work with their classmates.
Through Insight 1-2-1, parents can buy devices for their child by means of a flexible payment plan, and with affordable repayments and no credit checks, the whole school community can benefit from a market leading laptop or tablet regardless of their circumstances.
Parents are keen for their children to benefit from the latest IT, and through Insight’s 1-2-1 scheme, they can log on and purchase a device for their child with payments that can be as low as £10 a month. Accessibility is important when it comes to student technology, and some schools are able to support disadvantaged families by allocating their Pupil Premium funding to help deliver the scheme.
A fresh approach
In recent years, the education sector has increasingly recognised the advantages of creating a learning environment which all students can access through a personal device. To achieve this, many schools have followed the lead of the business world by introducing a bring your own device (BYOD) policy. Although this system is well established in the workplace, it can present a number of challenges in a school environment.
School leadership teams may be reluctant to specify a single device requirement, for instance, as the cost of the selected device may be out of reach for some families. Likewise, having students with a wide range of devices with different specifications, design and price points can be problematic when the aim is to get all students working on the same projects.
However, a scheme such as Insight 1-2-1 can bring much needed consistency to a school’s IT, by allowing the school to offer one device type, or a limited range of devices, to their students. When teachers know that everyone in the class has the same laptop, they can easily connect students to a geography GCSE app, or a maths learning tool, confident that all the students have the knowledge to use it.
One of the key concerns that schools have with their BYOD policy is security. When schools are in control of equipping students with devices, it greatly reduces the risk of security breaches which could compromise schools’ infrastructure.
Supporting schools
In times of tightened budgets, schools are looking for a cost-effective way to do the best for their students with the resources at their disposal.
With this in mind, the Insight 1-2-1 scheme removes all the risk from a school, by providing an end-to-end solution. Parents log onto a portal where they can order a device and set up their payments, and the child then receives a device with a protective case.
Today’s younger generation are more at home with technology than any other demographic, but issues can arise, and with insurance to cover any eventually, managing the scheme removes any headaches for a school’s IT Manager. If a student drops their laptop, it’s covered by accidental damage insurance. If the dreaded blue screen appears, the warranty will take care of it. And if the child’s parents find that circumstances arise and they are unable to make the repayments, gap insurance safeguards the school from incurring costs.
For schools looking to do more with less, having a scheme that takes care of students’ devices can free up budget to spend on other IT projects, such as infrastructure development, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology or interactive technology.
No two schools are the same, and any technology scheme needs to be flexible enough to meet a school’s changing needs. Some schools start by equipping a specific cohort or group of cohorts, such as their Year 10s, or the sixth form. This way they can plan for the students to use the devices over the years that they are studying for their GCSE or A Level courses.
Insight can provide as much or as little support as required, from initial research to determine which devices best suit the needs of students and teachers, to marketing collateral for the launch of the scheme, with a fully branded portal for parents to use.
Some schools opt for asset tagging, imaging and enrolling in mobile device management (MDM), and these services can be rolled into the overall cost, and spread over the payment period.
By providing students with personal devices in an easy, flexible and no-risk scheme, schools can give their students a head start in their education journey.
Insight’s 1:1 scheme helps you put the latest devices in the hands of your students. To find out more, contact us at education@insight.com
