Decisions Decisions!

Over the last few weeks we've had a number of meetings with suppliers to help us make our purchasing decisions for next year. Not only do we have the normal replacement of some classroom PCs in Key Stage One, the laptops used around the gym have come to the end of their shelf life and need to be replaced. Our new Year 7 cohort also require laptops for the 121 programme we run at secondary.

We have been looking at the possibility of implementing tablet PCs for our Year 7 students, but have pretty much discounted this idea, mainly because of concerns over cost and durability. However, it's likely that a few tablets will make an appearance at Kellett next year as there is clearly a use for the level of interactivity these machines offer, for example, as teachers or students model writing. We have had three tablets for evaluation recently, two from HP and one from Dell. Some teachers have used them in the classroom and a number of pupils have had a go at using the character recognition. Personally I like the look and feel of the Dell, but the character recognition of the HP seems much more efficient.

Later this week we will be receiving a couple of HP Mininotes to trial. These are currently being considered for Year 7 use in 08 along with two models from Dell. I hope that the current Year 7 will be able to use them for a while and offer their feedback in relation to the Dell laptops they have been using.

Thanks to Ddraig-Goch for passing on this helpful evaluation of the Mininote.