david ross education trust chooses chromebooks and multi...

At a Glance

What they wanted to do• Rapidlyimprovestudentandteacherengagementinnewacademies

• Allowacademiestochoosetheirownsoftwareforteachingandproductivity

• Eliminateisolatedtechnologyrooms,andinsteadbringtechnologytoclassrooms

What they did• AddedChromebooksandGSuitetoclassroomssostudentscanshareworkwiththeirpeers

• Choseamulti-platformapproachforgreaterflexibility

• Addedavarietyofwebsoftwareresourcestoeachschool’sChromebookhomepage

What they accomplished• Teachersdevelopcreativeideasforincreasingstudentinvolvementintheirlessons—suchasencouragingstudentstocommentoneachother’swork

• Individualacademieshavethefreedomtoselecttechnologyresourcesthatworkbestfortheirstudentsandteachers

• ITstaffmanagefarfewersupportticketsforChromebookscomparedtoWindowsdevices

• Schoolscanadoptclassroomsandotherspacesforotheruses,sincethey’renolongerneededforcomputerlabs

• Schoolscanmakesignificantchangesintechnologywithouthighcost,orintenseprojectmanagementandtechnicalsupport

BackgroundTheDavid Ross Education Trust(DRET)manages33primaryandsecondaryacademiesacrosstheEastMidlands,YorkshireandHumbersideandtheEastofEngland.Asafirmbelieverineverychild’srighttoanoutstandingeducation,DRET’smissionistosupporteachofits12,000studentstoachieveahighstandardofacademics.

ChallengeAsschoolsjoinDRET,expectationsarehighforrapidtransformationoflearningstandardsandprocesses.“Whenyouhaveachangeinstatusforschools,peopleexpecttoseemomentum,”saysGuyShearer,DRET’sHeadofIT,notingthatthetrusthasbeeninaperiodofrapidgrowth.“Wewereonamissiontoimproveourschoolsasfastaswecould.”Inmanycases,arrivingschoolssufferedfrompoorITinfrastructure,includingcomputerlabswithoutdatedequipmentthattendedtoisolateteachersandstudents.

TheproblemwasparticularlynoticeableinDRET’s23primaryschools.“Weknewthatchildrenprobablyhadaccesstotechnologyathome,butnorealwaytolinkthattechnologytowhatstudentsweredoingintheclassroom,”Shearersays.“Wewantedtomakeitpossibleforstudentstotaketheirlearninghome.”

“ All of the feedback from teachers and students on Chromebooks is incredibly positive.” — Guy Shearer, Head of IT, David Ross Education Trust

Complicatingthechallengeofimprovingaccesstotechnologywasthateachschool’steachersandadministratorshaddifferentpreferencesforsoftwaresolutions,whichwouldinevitablychangeovertime.“Wewantteacherstousewhatworkswellintheirschools,”Shearerexplains.Thetrustdidn’twanttodictatechoicesabouttechnologyorteachingphilosophy,soShearerhadtochoosedevicesthatwereflexibleenoughtoallowfordifferentclassroomapproaches.

David Ross Education Trust chooses Chromebooks and multi-platform tools to raise student engagement and teacher creativity

SolutionTobringaboutfasttransformationyetalsoallowschoolstheindependencetochoosetheirowntools,Shearerneededdevicesthatwouldworkacrossplatforms.SomeschoolsusedGSuite,whileothersusedMicrosoftOffice365.AnydevicechosenbyShearerandhiscolleagueshadtobeflexibleenoughtosupportbothplatforms.In2013,ShearerbegantestingChromebooksinDRETprimaryschools.C-Learning,aGoogleforEducationpartner,helpedDRETwithinitialteachertrainingforChromebooks.

ForschoolsusingGSuite,theadoptionofChromebookswassimple:StudentsloggedinwiththeirGSuiteaccountandaccessedalloftheirusualassignments.ForschoolsusingOffice365,DRETcreatedacustomkioskfortheChromebooks.ToaccessOffice365,studentsuseasinglesign-onplatformandarethenauthenticatedtouseresourceslikeOffice365.

“Forusthishasmeantamassivesimplificationofourhardwaredeploymentefforts,”Shearersays.“Weknowthataslongasanytooloronlineresourceworksinabrowser,thenitwillworkforeverystudent.WhetherstudentsareinschoolwiththeirChromebooksorathomewiththeirowndevices,whattheyseeinthebrowseristhesame.”

TohelpstrengthenadoptionofChromebooks,Sheareridentifiedspecificclassesintheschoolwhereteacherscouldabsorbthefullimpactofadeviceineverystudent’shands.“It’sreallyeasytosuperficiallyallowpeopletotrytechnologyforafewhours–butweneededtoletpeopletryitlongenoughsothattheycouldworkouttheissuesandproveitworks.”Shearersays.Inevitably,onceteacherstestedouttheChromebooks,they’dsay,“CanIhave20Chromebooksformyclass,please?”

Soon,wordspreadquicklythatstudentsweremoreengagedandimprovingtheirperformancewithChromebooksandthatteacherswerecomingupwithinspiredideasforusingChromebooks,GSuiteandotherapplications.

“Earlyon,wehadonestudentwhowasareluctantwriter,”Shearersays.“WithaChromebookandGSuite,herealisedhecouldwritestoriesandsharethemwithhisfriendsintheclass.Writingforhisteacherdidn’tmotivatehim,butwritingforhisclassmatesdid.”

JohnMurdin,anow-retireddeputyheadandyear6teacheratDRET’sEastfieldAcademy,foundthatthesharingcapabilitiesofGSuite,GoogleClassroomandChromebooksenabledgreatercollaboration.Forexample,Murdinaskedseveralstudentstotakeondifferentrolestojointlydevelopawrittenassignment.Onestudentwrotetheroughdraft;anothereditedtoaddmorecreativelanguage,andathirdservedas“grammarguru,”double-checkingforgrammaticalerrors.

“ You can lead people in a certain direction, but if they’re not happy about where you’re taking them, they won’t go. The good thing is that teachers are not perceiving that the change to Chromebooks is the end of something – but more like the beginning.“ —Guy Shearer, Head of IT, David Ross Education Trust

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“Thiswasexactlywhatwewerelookingfor,”Shearersays.“Studentswouldreadwhatotherstudentswrote,thenthey’dgobacktotheprojectandworksomemore.Itmadestudentspauseandreflectontheirwork.”

BenefitsChromebookshelpDRETmeetthetrust’sgoalofallowingschoolstochoosewhichsoftwareworksbestfortheirstaffandteachers.TheChromeoperatingsystemprovidesaccesstoGSuite,Office365,andotherteachingandproductivitytipsontheChromebookhomepage–customizedforeachschool.

“Wedecidednottoadoptasingleplatform–wedon’twanttotellschoolswhichproductstheyhavetouse,”Shearersays.“Everyschoolcandiscoverandusetheirownweb-basedtools.”All12,000DRETuserswereaddedtoadirectorymanagementsystem,sostudents,teachers,andadministrativestaffonlyneedasinglelogintoaccesstheirhomepagewithalloftheirapplications.Forexample,DRET’sMalcolmArnoldAcademyreliesonapplicationsusingtheWindowsoperatingsystem,viaChromebooksrunningCitrix.

ChromebooksbringanumberofbenefitsforITstaffatDRET,too.Inadditiontobeinglesscostlythancompetingdevices,Chromebooksareeasiertosetup,sotheywerequicklydeployedatscale.TheyalsohelpreducetheworkloadforShearerandhisDRETITcolleagues.Forexample,staffmanage50timesfewersupportticketsforChromebookscomparedtoWindowsdevices.Thestaffalsodoesn’thavetospendtimetestingaccessibilityofappsandonlineresourcesacrossplatforms.“Puttingthingsoutonthewebissorapidnow,”Shearersays.“Deployingapplicationsiseasier,soittakeslesstimetobringservicestoallstudentsandteachers.”

Today,DRET’sschoolsareusingthousandsofChromebooksinclassrooms.“AllofthefeedbackfromteachersandstudentsonChromebooksisincrediblypositive,”Shearersays.Toincreaseengagementbystaff,schoolsinvitedstudentsfromthepilotgroupstoleadtrainingfortheirteachers.“Astudenttalkingtoateacherandexplaininghowhewantstobetaught–that’spowerful,”Shearersays.

TheadoptionofChromebooks,andteachers’willingnesstotestnewwaysofengagingwithstudents,areevidencethatDRET’schangesareworking.“Youcanleadpeopleinacertaindirection,butifthey’renothappyaboutwhereyou’retakingthem,theywon’tgo,”Shearersays.“ThegoodthingisthatteachersarenotperceivingthatthechangetoChromebooksistheendofsomething–butmorelikethebeginning.”

About G Suite for EducationGSuiteforEducationisasuiteoffree,securetoolsthatincludesGmail,Calendar,Sites&Documents.Useitforcollaborationandcommunicationnomatterwhereyouareorwhichdeviceyou’reusing.Over60millionstudents,faculty,andstaffinschoolsaroundtheworldhavegoneGooglewithGSuiteforEducation.Youcanlearnmoreandsignuptotryitoutbyvisitingourwebsite:

www.google.com/intx/en_gb/edu/products/productivity-tools/

About Google ChromebooksChromebooksaredesignedtohelpstudentsandteachersgetthingsdonequicklyandeasily.Devicesstartat£159andaresimpletomanageatscalethroughawebbrowser.Withseveraldevicestochoosefrom,it’seasytofindaChromebookthatmeetsyourstudents’needs.Youcanlearnmorehere:

www.google.com/intx/en_gb/edu/products/devices/chromebooks.html