MANAGING ICT
The Netbook
revolution
Kevin Bennett and
keyboards, which for younger pupils may not be a styles of teaching and learning? Is cost the driving are. In addition, as the price continues to fall there will
major issue, but may take some getting used to. factor for the selection of the equipment? Is it simply to be an ever-increasing number of pupils who will have
Paul Ainsworth discuss
The size of the screen also needs to be considered increase accessibility? Is space an issue, both in storage a Netbook in their bags, and schools will have to think
carefully from different aspects. First, the screen size and on pupils’ desks? about how they can make best use of the resources.
of most Netbooks is around nine inches. Without It is important to discuss their use with curriculum What is certain is that since that ASUS first appeared
Netbooks and mini-laptop
giving pupils insight into how they can view items at leaders and teachers to find out what their IT two years ago, school ICT has not been the same. SecEd
different sizes and resolutions, this may be too small to requirements are and see what style of computer is most
devices, and the benefits
allow effective work to be carried out on them. Certain suitable. The only way of really being sure is to have • Kevin Bennett is assistant principal and Paul Ainsworth
applications may not be appropriate for use on such a test sets so that teachers can compare how effective they vice principal at Belvoir High School in Leicestershire.
they can bring to schools
small screen due to their graphical nature.
Also, if the devices are to be used for long periods
of time then this could cause a risk to pupils’ health,
Union address: ASCL
so sustained use through the school day may not be
T IS strange to think that until the January advised. Some newer models are addressing this issue
I
2008 BETT Show at London’s Olympia the and providing larger screens of about 10 inches in size.
Netbook was a thing from the future. This may help a little, but still might not be enough for
‘Flawed and unworkable’
Two years ago, the Netbook by ASUS took some pupils.
that year’s show by storm and everyone was The battery life on a standard battery for most of
desperate to get their hands on one. The new these devices can limit the use during the day; many could well turn into a whingers’ charter for the more
small form factor mini-laptop device wowed will run for around two hours continually with wireless
Dr John
litigious parents to complain, first to the head, then
everyone, due to its size, portability and cost. Nearly on from a single charge. Again many manufacturers to the governors, then to the Local Government
two years on, and the majority of manufacturers have have considered this and larger capacity batteries are Dunford says the Ombudsman service, which was created in November
now followed suite and launched similar devices. Along available for most devices and with battery technology through the previous education Act.
with different offerings from different manufacturers improvements, the working time for newer products
proposed Pupil
This will create an immense amount of work
have come many different varieties of the products are increasing. for school leaders, who are currently trying, with
offering entry-level products up to more substantial The operating system on the device may also be an government encouragement, to create more productive
versions. In fact you can’t walk along the high street area where caution might be required. Many run various
and Parent Guarantees are
relationships with parents.
without seeing one for sale in mobile phone shops or different versions of Linux, which while being more The guarantees are based on the assumption that
one being used in Starbucks. cost-effective, may cause issues with running specialist
seriously flawed
parents want the best for all pupils in the school and
applications which schools are already running but that all children want to learn, which is regrettably not
So why consider Netbooks?
which are not available on this platform. always the case. Parents rightly want the best for their
The two main advantages to these Netbooks are their THE CHILDREN, Schools and Families Bill going own child, but that may be sometimes at the expense
size and price. With many of them the size of an A5
Curriculum issues
through the House of Commons is the Labour of others. School leaders have to make decisions
textbook, this lends them to being carried to and from It is interesting to consider how the needs of different government’s 12th education Bill since 1997, being based on what is best for the majority of students. In a
and around school easily, allowing them to be slipped pupils and curriculum areas affect whether Netbooks announced just a week after the Apprenticeships, time when funding is becoming tighter, they will have
into school and book bags along with all the other are appropriate or if standard-sized computers are Skills, Children and Learning Act was passed. to prioritise and the reality is they will not be able to
necessary items pupils carry with them. required. For less able pupils, the screen on Netbooks It reads more as an election manifesto than a give equal weight to every aspect of the guarantees.
The cost of a basic device is under £200, bringing may be too small, but the solution to this is similar to piece of coherent legislation, being dominated by the We have made our views known to all parties
them into budgets for many schools and parents as a that for pupils who have reading difficulties – enlarging promise of a Pupil and Parent Guarantee. However, as and debate so far in the House of Commons on the
way to increase access to the ever-growing number worksheets and so on. we have pointed out, the guarantees are both seriously guarantees has been vigorous. The Liberal Democrats
of electronic and online resources available for pupil In mathematics, teachers may also feel that the flawed and largely unworkable. initially proposed an amendment to defeat the Bill,
learning. screen size is an issue when pupils are using graph- The Pupil and Parent Guarantees outline specific which they said “adds hugely to the bureaucratic
The real benefit to using this type of device in plotting packages. Also, when students are completing entitlements a school must provide and a means of burdens on schools and colleges without improving
school is the flexibility that it offers in and out of the large amounts of continuous writing, such as for redress for parents if these are not met. This includes, real opportunities and educational standards for
classroom. The size of the device allows pupils to use English coursework, it can be found that not only among other measures, catch-up support for any pupil pupils”. The amendment was defeated by just 288
them alongside their normal classroom resources and are the keyboards too small for rapid typing, but also who starts secondary school behind expectations in votes to 211, with many Conservative MPs joining the
books, as a way to support more traditional learning the size of machine does not facilitate comfortable reading, writing and maths. Lib Dems in voting against the Bill.
methods. working. It is easy for the government to “guarantee” specific In the Commons debate, Conservative shadow
This opens up the use of the internet and school’s However, in subjects where there is a requirement rights for pupils and parents when ministers aren’t the secretary Michael Gove recognised that while almost
virtual learning environments to be integrated into for pupils to be able quickly access the internet for ones who have to deliver. However, as school leaders everything in the guarantees is desirable, many schools
every lesson without the need for drastic changes to research then Netbooks can be an ideal solution. The well know, it will be their jobs on the line if they don’t are already delivering them.
teaching styles. This then starts to allow investments teacher can have the Netbooks out in the classroom meet the guarantees. We have repeatedly said that if Liberal Democrat shadow secretary, David Laws,
schools have made in such technologies to become on the tables and there is space for pupils to also have the government is going to make a guarantee on behalf stated in the debate that: “The Association of School
more cost-effective and widely used in every area of their other resources on the table too. Some devices are of schools, it must provide the means, including the and College Leaders is right to criticise such measures
the curriculum. Pupils are able to use these devices designed to switch on very rapidly and that can make funding, for schools to deliver on all these items. and to say that they could open the floodgates to
in different environments around school and at home. them ideal in this situation. Raising so many aspects of education to the increased litigation and that the problem in so many
It could be that they are needed as part of a science status of a guarantee will have the effect of making areas is that they are not meaningful, not always
experiment, or geography field trip, or when the pupil’s
Conclusion
everything quasi-statutory. It will take statute into deliverable, and not rationally designed.”
space in their bedroom at home is limited. As more devices become available in different formats realms it has never previously covered. Instead of the The Bill still has several hurdles to clear in
Storage space is also a big benefit obviously and at different price points, it becomes more difficult increasingly diverse system that the government has Parliament and, with an abbreviated session, we may
and many of the laptop trolley manufacturers have for schools to make a decision about which way to go. often said that it wants to encourage, England will yet hope that the Pupil and Parent Guarantees never
responded to the popularity of Netbooks and built In making such decisions, it is important to consider have one of the most centrally prescriptive systems in see the light of day.
products specifically designed to store them. what the school’s vision for ICT is and what it is trying the world. Researchers have stated that English heads
to achieve with the different products available. are among the most autonomous; these guarantees tell • Dr John Dunford is general secretary of the
What are the drawbacks?
Some products lend themselves to different a very different story. Association of School and College Leaders. Visit
As these devices are so small this can also be their applications and so this is an important factor to We have repeatedly warned that the guarantees www.ascl.org.uk
Achilles’ heel. The majority have smaller than normal consider – are the devices to support more traditional
12 SecEd • January 28 2010
12-13 Lang-Maca copy.indd 12 25/1/10 10:25:08
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