[Closed] Lock down learning (IT advice)

if you have a spare monitor, or even a tv with HDMI, i found a raspberry pi brillant for home learning. the pi 4 can handle all the websites the school suggested for online learning, it can access Microsoft teams for work and chat. I have set up the browser with a white list of websites, so i feel happy leaving my 8 year old alone with the computer online.

Chromebook? £250 should get you something usable (my personal day to day browsing device is a 5 year old Chromebook that cost £230).

What do you need to run the learning? Will it all run in a browser?

2nd hand ipads is what our kids use. All the online apps they've needed are compatible with the older ios versions so no need for anything brand new.

For a six year old an iPad would probably be sufficient. My primary kid did all of her home learning last year on an iPad, although my eldest is now at secondary and is using the family Macbook.

I picked up an ex-corporate Thinkpad for this. X series are the slim/light/small ones - got a X230 with reasonable CPU, 8GB RAM, 128Gb SSD, fresh win10 licence for under £180. Well built, swappable battery, easy to swap parts if anything breaks. Actually runs everything fine, if it wasn’t for the lower resolution screen I’d be happy using it myself for everyday use.

thanks all. All learning appears to be from web based platforms. Would a kindle be able to handle this? For those with tablets / Ipads / Thinkpad / do you use a protective cover?

Kindle Fire maybe, regular Kindle unlikely.

If "tough" is your primary criteria and it's wholly web-based, I'd be tempted to go "expendable" instead and take the RPi route as someone else suggested.

You can get a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse bundle for £20 and there are cheaper options.

You can get a Pi 3 for like 20 quid, you've got to factor in SD card, case, PSU, monitor, and bigger Pi models are more money. But then the bits likely to get broken are isolated from the rest of the kit. Junior knocks a can of Fanta over the keyboard, big fat hairy deal it's £20 to replace.

I suppose thinking about it, what I'm actually recommending here is [anything] and an external keyboard / mouse.

I would avoid an Amazon Fire tablet. I have one and it works well but they are locked into Amazon's ecosystem and appstore (bypassable but not without issues). Android updates are not regular and it wouldn't be good if one of the apps is only on the Play Store or gets updated and only functions on the newest android versions.

Pi is a very good shout but something portable will probably be more conveninet. Any standard android tablet or older second hand laptop would be my choice.

Sweajnr has just this morning had his first google classrooms experience. He's also 6 and one thing I've already seen is that he's terrible with a mouse (lack of practice) but touchscreens are intuitive to his age.

We're using an old (I'm going to say 8 years perhaps) Samsung all in one monitor & PC with an external keyboard for the odd bit of typing. Almost everything he's doing is touchscreen based though (e.g sort the odd and even numbers on a ppt template into "pots").

Whatever the teachers are using. Might be an idea to ask if teachers will be setting work on ipads/chromebooks/laptop etc.

I was setting work on a chromebook for pupils who were using ipads and there were things that didn't work because even through the "same" app the functionality is different. I now am doing things on chromebook then testing it on the ipad before setting it.

@simon_g where did you get the X230?

Thinking of getting something similar.

Looked up, was actually an X240.

This lot: https://ebay.co.uk/usr/newandusedlaptops4u

They’re often in the eBay 10/15% off deals if you’re not in a hurry.

We have the type of case linked below on a hand me down laptop that we were given and the kids use for all sorts. Also use a screen protector.
It has lasted a couple of years of regular child use so far although some of the rubber outer bits are getting a bit picked now but it's still functional.
I guess similar would work on most tablets.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-Tough-Rubber-Kids-Shockproof-Case-Cover-for-iPad-mini-1-2-3-Gen/383442349445?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5946f1ed85:g:9sMAAOSwdIleWoMl&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkxFtV7J5P58ubuVigtBH%252Fe%252FUnkUMOVXgiO8Qi%252FIEdqaR0Znh5Fbi3PnOH5IxyxmiBuYtUd2OGPlnlPV4DSTLDskWa6B84vvw5Y891Htmgg3sUp0mGMSvcpYbhiyvz7QlQgjgf4THfBFwDEkxjd2%252FHCID4fXycz0vyMhROtoPvMSWuNLmns%252FA1qOrLiZvi%252FMefCiXYjIUALlZUnfsBLrMKI1YHV9pRHobUVCriP%252BPD2JgLy46Xw%252Fn7PKFntjDb5a%252Bj2oRV1EHgUSPT11%252F37nrm45mkUhaT8AowS7HzAQFcEBhUutiyYTKe5SfFnFRr%252BILoIpmBiFzS01K6H6qPc5L%252FraT2AbASil%252B%252FeLtK%252BSf4AEAh%252B%252BRLyoOM2QEWlfZQdIKoPQTGI%252Bp776njisQdL24eah0TQ%252B5Ktlx2GQcjWN6iuoIYTJlDcpfvzADBO0UbN7T6BVw8y3NzLrRMIVosieNxGwrHu%252Bdirh1NNSZP93PV0RJFv93r8e%252FYDuhVmgixWTtWq6BfFFF3psaj96DoPmidnGCWEfT18Np6cd6WjjhAwQroF0O7HTE6lHGLa9Is7Ld%252FMpMAZLtQwInrnWH9rApaLVwpRzWXIRtx27XktIy9FIjnfFQ6zU6vWmHNQ%252B5cLKu0iZ6%252BHelWecD4Us78gWEZqg4W3%252Bt9CAuYkrmP3DYScY%252FFtYaOq%252BYRTuI3J7UjxHRO1uFDFYV37aAmS3eQG6NO%252BbKSe4SXfHautom1MgNYizVE6n%252BTmeP6T2cPI6JBZdT05yg47cvLN6PvcwUbUi%252Bj8A%253D%253D%7Ccksum%3A383442349445434cbdd712ea438680976c77dcca8a6e%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524