Windows 10 in schools.

‘One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them’  Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkein

An article in CWuk by Charlotte Gee ‘Government seeks suppliers for £300 million education ICT tender’ awoke me from my deep educational  Smaug-like sleep. This framework replaces the defunct 2010 BECTA framework: yes BECTA!, how I miss them. But what stirs? Where has all this treasure come from and who will get the gold from the mountain?

First a bit of background. School ICT has been moribund for many years, over 60% of schools have officially deprecated XP PCs and battery-less laptops. No one is spending on ICT and even if you wanted to upgrade (as they used to charmingly call it..it’s actually code for ‘buy a slower computer’) you will find that Microsoft will not now sell you Windows 7 or 8..that’s really true.

Meanwhile every kid and granny has a tablet computer, a Facebook account and a smart phone. Schools are left with grandad trousers and threadbare corduroy jackets. Not the image a £200,000 a year Academy principal wants to go with his/her Beemer.

If they buy a tablet, which tablet? Is it ‘compatible’ say the ICT technicians who cannot really believe that they still have jobs tending the olde networke. The problem actually was solved ages ago: sign up to Google’s education cloud, buy Android tablets/phones and Chrome OS...dah dah all done. Low maintenance, cheap and cheerful. I worked in a college that has done just that, so I know it works.

Now back in the real world. ICT is supplied to schools largely by outsourced mega service companies such as Capita, RM and Northgate.  They are by historical necessity purveyors of all things Microsoft and it would be a surprise if they were not amongst the suppliers for the new £300 million framework.  What will they flog to the unfortunate be-suited saps responsible for ICT procurement? Will they make wiser decisions this time?

Yes, Windows 10 is about to arrive. It will ‘work’ on everything:  a smart watch ( think PE department); a phone (think no-one at all) a tablet ( aka make-up mirrors); laptops and desktops PCs ( Think network technicians). We need a Cloud to store all the kids work. Oh yes and Azure G-Cloud.

What a bundle, what a spending spree, what a lock in!. It makes me so nostalgic. Bring back BECTA