With regards to the materials used for educational purposes, a number of questions arise. These imply a subtle analysis of the problem to be addressed.

• Does the material in question belong to the school, the teacher or the student?
• Should it be fixed or mobile?
• Will we have to work in a network, use the internet connection with high bandwidth requirements?

As we indicate With regards to the use of tablets, schools are acquiring various materials. The Pôle website is compiling and sharing experiences with tablets from its own surroundings as well as those that are brought to the attention of the editorial team. The Pôle website is relaying experiences in its surroundings which are suggested to the editorial team. Our wish is to be able to present interesting practices, regardless of the materials, supports or environments which are used, be it Windows environments, OSX, Linux or Android or iPads tablets.

Do not hesitate to share your experiences or practices used in various environments. The Pôle is not intended to be linked to a particular brand or an environment. It strives to be open and resolutely “pedagogical”.

Fixed or mobile?

In a number of schools “computer labs” have been developed. If one was to caricaturise the use of these computer labs, one could say that, for a long time, they have been used the same way that school manuals were used:

Open your books at page 17 and read chapter 3!

The idea was to give all students access to the same thing at the same time. The computer lab, whose “towers” were connected to a cable network, undoubtedly offered a fast access to an interesting network interesting as well as reliability to a certain extent.

However, working in a computer lab lead to issues related to classroom management. All the students were “hidden” behind their screens and the hardware could malfunction, leading to the class being disrupted…

The increasing use of interactive whiteboards in schools has already transformed teaching practices. When everyone needs to see the same thing at the same time, the interactive whiteboard is used.

Labs have therefore become places where students are mostly working individually on different topics, at their own pace, and where the teacher provides individual assistance whilst navigating through the classroom.

The generalization of high bandwidth Wifi networks within schools and the development of digital work environments (connecting classes between themselves as well as the school and home) are resulting in various practices, which are particularly rich and promising:

• Mobility, nomadism.

• Collaborative works.

• Inversed classroom practice.

Since the generalization of Wifi and development of digital work environments, schools find themselves with several other options:

• Each student brings his/her own computer “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD)

• The school provides a personal laptop to each teacher and/or student (One to one)

• These resources “remain” at school or are carried between home and school (Nomadism).

These options will also determine the choice of equipment, for example the use of either computers or tablets.

A very comprehensive document from Versailles Academy - in French (2015)The Versailles academy is particularly active in the fields of New Technologies Applied to Education (TICE) and pedagogical innovation.

Guide for recommended computer equipment in primary and specialized schools (Fri-Tic - State of Fribourg- in French)
October 2014.

Dossier: Teaching with digital means (eduscol)A key element of the school reform, the spreading of digital practices in teaching is representing a powerful modernisation, pedagogical innovation and school system democratisation lever. It is also an amazing tool to include children with disabilities. The direction of digital in education ensures the development and the deployment of a digital educational public service. It encompasses a general ability concerning navigation and development of information systems. From its origin, ambitions, missions and organisation it encompasses the digital strategy of the ministry. This is a major consideration for the success of students.