CRN Notebooks Special Report: Case Study

Challenges

Rolling out this many notebooks in a state as big as WA brings many challenges, and not just pure logistics.

One of the biggest hurdles is to keep track of communication between the teachers, the schools, the vendor, Winthrop and the DET.

Many of the teachers now participating in the refresh project have moved schools. “Three years ago when we first did this project we may have gone to 50 or 60 schools and made an offer to these teachers for notebooks. But now when we go back to refresh, they’ve moved around, and to make sure we’ve contacted all those teachers, we have to cover 800 schools,” Celestine says.

Having done the NFT program once before, the second three years should be easier, but not so says Heale.

“The added complexity for the second stage is the fact we now have to recover the original notebooks [the ones issued in the first three years]. So while we’re rolling out new ones to the teachers, we’re also recovering the old ones and returning them to the lease organisation. In terms of logistics it’s three times as hard. You have to be very well set up logistically for that part of the contract,” he says.

Asset tracking is critical, he says. You have to have the back end working efficiently or you will have no way of controlling and recording where the notebooks are and who has what and at the appropriate time in the refresh cycle. “It’s a difficult process but through smart logistics, process and delivery and collection it all really comes together. Acer and [Winthrop] have some pretty smart software packages that we use and it’s a matter of working together and communicating with all parties,” Celestine says.

There is less training required in this second phase of the program compared to the first rollout of notebooks three years ago.

“As far as the training is concerned, in this refresh we’ve re-offered training to teachers but we’re finding that not many teachers are needing training this time ’round. They’ve got a new notebook, and while it may be a different shape or have a few new features, there’s nothing dramatically different about it,” he says.

However, there will always be some training required. As one teacher put it, “Notebooks are not going to make teachers faster and more efficient in their work unless teachers learn how to use the computer and have some skills in typing”.

Outcomes

The original concept from the Department of Education was to make the teachers more aware of the ability to use technology to teach, says Heale.

Teachers can have their notebooks with them 24 hours a day and the more you use something the better you get at it.

“They can take it home with them, they can take it to the staff room at lunch time. Take it to classes with them, rather than take the kids to the desktop in another room. It also raises the tech literacy of teachers … They’re actually going home and creating things on their computers for the classrooms,” he says.

Notebooks offer mobility and flexibility so teachers can do their lesson plans or reporting at home with internet access rather than being stuck at school doing it. Celestine emphasises one of the keys to the success of programs like NFT is having the right partner. “Acer has a strong presence in the education market and has dedicated people that focus purely on that market,” he says.

Pick a partner that has experience, expertise and a long track record of operating in the sector you are focusing on, whether it be health, education or finance, Celestine continues.

“You’ll know when you’re engaging with these people and talking with them, the level of commitment they have to your market.”

The fact that a core team of four people -- one each from Winthrop and Acer and two from DET -- remained unchanged throughout the duration of the whole NFT program was crucial to its success, he says.

“Obviously we have scores of people underneath us that run around and do stuff as well, but the key to this successful project is that there’s a core of four key players for the past four years. That kind of stability is hard to find in IT projects,” he says.

Conversely, there are some things to avoid doing as well. He says some resellers become complacent after winning a large contract and say, “Ok we’ve got it and don’t have to work to keep it”.

“That’s a mistake, you do have to work to keep it,” Celestine says.

Also, do not agree to any service you know you cannot provide and do not oversell your expertise if you don’t have it in a particular area.

“Don’t try to be everything to everybody, all things to all people. That’s a mistake.”

“Focus on your core market and go after that market only, and build and foster relationships.”

Heale agrees, adding that while the successful rollout of the first three years helped claim the second phase, it is crucial to hold a strong relationship right up until the end of the contract as it is at the beginning.

He says some people have a good relationship right at the start but then they tend to forget when it comes to the second half.

“You have to treat it as a full-term project, not like it’s great at the start but don’t worry after that.”

Heale says the key to the success of the first three-year term was maintaining the level of support and service throughout the full term of contract. “That probably was critical in terms of us being chosen to renew the contract for another three years,” he says.