1:1 Scheme

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Have a leaflet on my desk from a company that provides 1:1 schemes.


I couldn't help but read through it and see how much is actually true:

• Gives students the latest devices
• Minimal cost to the School
• Fully managed and funded by parents
• Affordable
• Easy to launch with minimal admin from the School
• Brand builds trust

It's actually strange when you see how much of the above is true through our own experience.


Gives students the latest devices - WRONG
To pre- empt everything and make sure you have some what of a smooth sailing, you will need to be testing the device of your choice 1 year before launch.  This gives the School, staff and students time to see if the device choice is correct.  It will also take months to correctly get parents aware of the scheme, how to sign up and pay for the devices.  Once every parent has signed up it will take 1-3 months to collate everyone and get the devices shipped and ready for students.


This can be up to 1 year, possibly at least 8 months.  Depending how long you run the scheme after a year of the students owning them they are potentially 2 years out of date technology.  When you can have a scheme going for a few years, they fast can become outdated.


Minimal cost to the School - WRONG
When you work out the man hours we have spent on this scheme, the parents who have returned devices and the students where the School has had to help.  The costs run high, potentially adding from £15,000+ a year.


Fully managed and funded by parents - WRONG
We deal with shipping, delivery, failures, sign ups, finance planning, advertising the scheme and assisting the parents.  This has been an endless flurry of work where my team has had to "fully" manage everything to not only protect the school but parents too.


Affordable - Right and Wrong
This depends on your device choice.  If you choose an android tablet straight away the costs are low but when you add insurance, warranty, cases and any app purchases the costs run high.  Paying £10 a month may not be a lot but over 3 years that money adds up, the interest is also high.  Considering that the insurance doesn't cover everything and nor does the extended warranty, parents can end up being furious over the whole thing.  If you choose a good quality device designed to last more than 2 years of 3+ hours a day, you fast move in to the high cost territory.  If you consider laptops, netbooks or high end iPads again you run in to high costs.  When you include the whole package of everything you get, it becomes very pricey.


East to launch with minimal admin from the School - WRONG
If you plan everything ahead of schedule, to make sure parents sign up as early as possible and payments start.  The devices will arrive a few months later when parents have already done at least 3 payments.  If there is delay in those devices arriving at the School, I can assure you parents will not be happy.  You should not release the devices to students right away (make sure they are fully aware of what they are being given).  The admin work as mentioned has become 1-2 technicians spending most of every day doing work for the scheme.  The finance office still has to make sure invoices, payments and everything for the auditors is correct.


You can of course read through more of what I have posted but it is not smooth sailing. 


BYOD Schemes


A piece of advice is to have a pure BYOD - where the School holds no responsibility at all.  You essentially provide a spec or type of device and parents are responsible for repairs, failures, controlling, software glitches and day to day maintenance.