A Mile stone

Today is mile stone in the project.
100 Samsung q1's arrived this morning from Lanway (Samsung's supplier). The next load of 150 will be arriving in 2 weeks. So we have a lot to do.

We are now creating an image to be installed onto these and get the serial numbers recorded.
For JKK -
Samsung Q1b, Via Processor, with the full accessory park and 2 batteries. We are standardising with XP as advised by our Local Authority, Argyll & Bute

Technorati tags: Islay, argyll, eduation, scottish education, tablet PC, umpc, Samsung

UMPC Text Entry

I have found some great video's from Craig Pringle from New Zealand. It shows some of the use of text entry on a UMPC

Another interesting thing which I picked up was in PC Pro Magazine. A small filler on the fact that the writers at the magzine have been buying Graphics tablets to use with Vista PC's. The reason for this is that Vista has tablet ability built in. Therefore they get full inking with a cheap graphics tablet

 

Technorati tags: islay, inking, education scotland, umpc, tablet PC

The International views

I have been looking at resources and reports from around the world of schools using Tablet PC's or UMPC's.

A simple Google search produced so many reports that it has taken me a while to sift through them.

I am going to attempt to summerise the some of the ones which stood out to me.

The Vermont Slate

This is a small Vermont boarding school which is using Tablet PC's extensively. Mark Payton has been Blogging on the project since March '05.

I have found the questions, thoughts and solutions here to mirror my own and have even pre warned me about problems that I hadn't considered.

Eschool News

I have found this to be a bit of a Mine. Lots of digging produces some Diamonds, like Ray Kurzweil's interview

Tablet PC's in Singapore Schools

This is a full evaluation of tablet PC's in 2 Singapore schools.

Toshiba

Its no wonder that one of the big names in Tablet PC's has its say too

Do you have any more?

Technorati tags: Islay, scotland education, education, tablet PC, glowscotland

Choosing Tablets

Tablet PC's are much more expensive than an equivalent laptop. So why not just get a load more laptops?
The reason for going for Tablets is that they are the main computer for that member of staff. The teacher can prepare work, simplify the administration, as they can do with a laptop but with a Tablet PC they can use it for a secondary job.
We decided to use the tablet to act as an interactive board (Along with a projector of course). As the teacher writes on the the tablet it appears on the screen. The teacher is not in the way of the projector and the image can be as big as the screen allows. The teacher can bring in video, sound ........ in fact anything that the interactive whiteboard can do a tablet can do as well. With the added advantage of not being limited by the size of a board.
This then makes the total cost (Tablet and Projector) less than the cost of an IWB (Interactive Whiteboard), projector and computer to run it. It also means that the technology much efficiently used. Less time sitting switched off as its used for more than one purpose.
Our next stage is to install wireless projectors. These will then mean that the signal from the tablet will be carried to the projector without a cable. Freeing the teacher to be anywhere in the classroom.
Once the pupils have the UMPC's then anyone's work can be put up on the screen.
A truly interactive, collaborative school?
del.icio.us tags: Islay, argyll and bute, Scotland, interactive white board, IWB, Tablet PC, UMPC, education
Technorati tags: Islay, argyll and bute, Scotland, interactive white board, IWB, Tablet PC, UMPC, education

Islay High School - A future?

This post has been transfered over from http://islayian.spaces.live.com/
Well I have finally admitted that I DO need to Blog about what is happening in Islay High School (I think its rapped Andrew)
As a School of Ambition and Excellence we are some way down the route of these 4 strands
1. Developing the leadership potential and capacity of the whole school, Staff and Pupils
2. Introducing Vocational Courses to the curriculum
3. Removing the age and stage restrictions from the certificated courses.
4. Developing the use of ICT to support the curriculum
I am heavily involved with the ICT strand so that is what I will be talking about mainly. Though, of course, the other strands will be brought in as well.
So what are we planning in the ICT Strand?
Every Teacher has a Tablet PC
A wireless network
Wireless Projectors in every teaching area
A presentation space in the Assembly Hall
A Media Server
A Class Server
Existing courses digitised
S1 'Benchmarked' for IC3 Giving them individual curriculum in S1/2
Once these are in place then give every pupil a UMPC computer
All of these are in Partnership with Microsoft and Dell. Maybe more partners in the future
We have just started down this route. I am sure we will have lots of challenges ahead.
I am hoping anyone who reads this will come forward with ideas and suggestions.
So what do you think?............
Ian

Technorati tags: glowscotland, school, education scotland, technology, umpc, microsoft, dell, handheld, islay