Eaquals Members’ Meeting November 19-21, Nice, France

Managing Technology on a Large and Small Scale

Beata Schmid & Federico Mari

EF Boston & EF Rome

The View from the Top:

Initial Considerations, Costs, Set-Up, Lessons Learned

Beata Schmid

EF Boston

Who are we?

• Intensive, year-round schools with continuous

enrollments

• 30 English language schools, 14 schools

teaching other languages

• Small, mid-sized and large schools (80 to

1,000+ students)

• Proprietary teaching materials including

textbooks, language learning software and

other media

30 English language schools worldwide; 14 schools teaching

other languages

Our thought process

BYOD vs. 1:1 (i.e., one device per student during lessons)?

• Historic: started long before BYOD was a concept (~2004), so there was no choice

• Proprietary learning software integrated with textbooks and other media -> difficult to run on different platforms

• Storing personal proficiency data

• Development relationship with Apple

• Lesson planning functionality

• Network security issues

• Bandwidth & infrastructure concerns in large schools

So, …

… we went for the (rather costly) option

of providing each student with a device

during lesson time (1:1).

Wireless AP Wireless Controller CORE Switch Switch Firewall Support & Updates UPS Dell PowerEdge R420 - Server iLab Dell A3030 computer iPads iPad Box Patch point Server Rack Network Cable Internet Line Backup Internet line NAS Drive

Quick Overview of Minimum Hardware Needs

Higher-end cost for a school of 300 students

Quantity Euro TOTAL

Wireless AP 4 502.00 € 2,008.00 €

Wireless Controller 1 730.00 € 730.00 €

Switch 2 915.00 € 1,830.00 €

Switch 5 470.00 € 2,350.00 €

Firewall 2 1,510.00 € 3,020.00 €

Support & Updates 2 2,750.00 € 5,500.00 €

UPS 1 365.00 € 365.00 €

Dell PowerEdge R420 -

Server 1 2,470.00 € 2,470.00 €

iLab Dell A3030 Per

computer 18 915.00 € 16,470.00 €

iPad 18 389.00 € 7,002.00 €

iPad Box 2 315.00 € 630.00 €

Patch point 18 27.00 € 486.00 €

Server Rack 1 470.00 € 470.00 €

Network Cable 30 2.75 € 82.50 €

Internet Line 1 730.00 € 730.00 €

Backup Internet line 1 365.00 € 365.00 €

NAS Drive 1 275.00 € 275.00 €

12,698.75 € 42,775.50 €

Lower-end cost

37,395 Euros, including one lab and one set of

tablets

Why?

• Certain features, like firewalls, a server, etc.

are unavoidable to prevent the compromising

of institutional data.

• The largest costs are the lab computers and

the ipads.

• Without those, costs are lowered to about

12,800 Euros and then you have the setting

for basic BYOD.

Wireless survey for access point

Network diagram

Network diagram

Highly recommended: an ISM (infrastructure service manager)

Each School has a dedicated ISM who is

responsible for the complete IT setup and

performance (not necessarily on site)

Each school has a nominated IT person in the

school to help on the ground with support

from the ISM (on site)

Wireless controller

The wireless controller allows us to control the bandwidth given to each network (SSID).

Each school has 4 main SSID’S:

EF Class (unlimited bandwidth; for iPad lessons only)

EF Staff (unlimited bandwidth; for staff only)

EF Students (for students with any kind of device; bandwidth capped at 1.5 MBs)

EF Mobile (for staff members’ personal devices such as smart phones and tablets, capped at 768 KBPs)

The View from the School

Technology at EF Rome: a brief run-through - tech equipment - daily use - positive effects: cost and performance efficiency - staff training

Federico Mari EF Rome

Daily use of technology at EF:

Attendance, Evaluations, CRM, Schedules:

Daily use of technology at EF: Ilab, ipad, ppt lessons, multimedia:

Technology set up in classroom

Audio system or Video: Computers IPads or mobile devices

Daily use of technology: a classroom example

In a blended learning context, we integrate textbook materials with online

materials.

Aims: students gain awareness on Italian culture and society

Objectives: expand vocabulary, use of the impersonal form of verbs

Audience: a class of 12 adult students, level A2

«Traditional» version: 1 - the teacher wants to show students some images/photos about stereotypes on Italy and Italians and start a discussion; she will need to print 10 big photos in colour 2 –the teacher also needs students to read some small text on the lesson’s topic; she might as well have an image-text matching activity (12 b/w copies) 3 – the teacher needs an exercise to focus the attention on the verbs used and/or vocabulary in the lesson (12 b/w copies – back and front), some extra exercises for homework / writing

Daily use of technology: a classroom example «Tech» version: 1 - the teacher wants to show students some images/photos about stereotypes on italy and italians; she will need a computer connected to a projector/screen or give students the link to a video on a youtube video (or slideshow prepared for the lesson)which they can watch in pairs with ipads or on their personal devices 2 – image-text matching activity: she can send students the material or show it with the projector 3 – exercises: push the content to the students’ devices. They can either send back their homework or write it down on their notebook

Daily use of technology: a classroom example «tech» vs «printed»: why choose «tech» ? - Proven positive effects on education: more motivating, real –life use of technology; blended learning is here to stay - Efficiency in administration : How many schedules, registers, logs do we have to hand out to staff and students? - Cost consciousness: How many times per year we have similar lessons, for how many students? How much can we actually save in terms of costs and time? - Environmental awareness: do we really care? Yes! Especially in an educational context!

Daily use of technology:

«tech» vs «printed»: training, training, training! Of course, in our «tech» school we must focus on the constant development of specific skills for our teachers: -1) Daily use of devices – knowledge and best practices leads to confidence in their use -2) Deal with technical problems/issues: «always have a plan B» -3) Optimize the use of our devices for learning purposes: create and adapt lessons to use technology in a meaningful way

-

Daily use of technology:

1. Make sure that every new staff member is properly trained. You may want to have shared documents, small handbooks for your staff to consult anytime they are unsure or if they fail to remember some functions.

2. and 3. Technology in education is still a novelty for some teachers and staff. Our staff meet regularly and share experiences and best practices, face possible issues and give feedback. A typical training session lasts 60 minutes: we offer something new as well as feedback from previous meetings; we share ideas and collectively find the best way to address challenges. -

Daily use of technology:

With this much technology on the schedule, , we need to train our students as well:

-1) motivate and manage the presence of devices in classroom

-2) tell them that they’re going to have a double learning experience:

language and technology. And make it fun!

-3) «digital divide»: be ready to give extra support to learners who are not so

familiar with learning technology; encourage peer support in class.

Limiting your scope

“It’s no use worrying about what you have not got, work

with what you have.” Experienced EF Teacher

“They designed the iPad so they can teach you how to

use it in a 30-second TV ad.”

Experienced EF Teacher

“If I’m not careful, this thing will steal my job! ”

Novice Teacher

Knowing what we know now…

Are we happy with our set up?

• BYOD or 1:1?

• Pros and cons

• Every organization will have to weigh the

factors for and against each scheme.

Are we happy with our set up?

• BYOD or 1:1?

• Pros and cons

• Every organization will have to weigh the

factors for and against each scheme.