Quickly deploy devices in your classroom with the new Bretford Caddy. Designed in collaboration with Higher Ground®, industry leaders in technology protection for the classroom.
How to Safely Transport Classroom Devices
by Natalie Schlueter
Classroom devices are one of the most expensive investments a school district can make. And if you are about to purchase a large fleet of devices or have just invested in some, you might be wondering how you can safely transport these devices from classroom to classroom. There are some major considerations about managing children and device protection. Below are some of the ways to prevent unnecessary breakage, loss, or theft, and preserve classroom devices for years.
Properly Label Devices for Classrooms
It is imperative that each administrator, educator and other faculty member in a school, or district, knows exactly how devices are assigned with a clear system in place to manage these devices over the course of the school year and for years to come.
A few questions to consider while developing a strategy:
- How will the devices be managed by the student through their years in the district? Who will have oversight of this?
- How will administrators in the district know where the devices go when first deployed?
- How can the process be streamlined and clear to manage expectations and prevent miscommunication?
- Where will the devices go once inside of the classroom? How will students utilize the devices (take home every night, leave in the classroom, etc.)?
- What measures will be taken to safely transport devices to and from classrooms, student homes, device repair areas, etc.?
These questions can be key to determining what solutions will be needed to safely transport devices from place to place and ensure the longevity of such an expensive investment. These questions are the basis for a successful strategy to manage devices for a long time in individual schools, or large districts.
Consider Student-Use in Classrooms
Classroom devices do not necessarily live a luxurious life. They are used for everyday learning and consistently get used by young students. While the modern learner is in tune with how to properly carry and use a device, the lack of ownership over using a school-owned device might make for more accidents to occur.
Educators have to manage upwards of 30 students in a classroom at once, each with their own device. Even if the most care was taken, devices have a high possibility of breaking or getting lost if there is no system in place and no proper protection on devices.
When students use devices everyday in class, educators can expect:
- Damaged devices from dropping them on the way to desks or tables
Uncharged devices at the start of the day from being at home the night before - Misplaced, or lost devices when moving from classroom to classroom or from school to home and back again
- Damaged devices from charging on the floor or in a hidden spot
Mis-matched devices from lack of labeling
These, and many more, you can expect without a strategy to manage devices. When planning a strategy for the classroom after deployment, consider these questions:
- How will the students know which device is theirs?
- How will they have access to their devices? Will they be able to use it throughout the entire day? Will they need their classroom device the entire day?
- Will the students bring home their devices at night or leave them in the classroom? If left in the classroom, how will the devices be safe?
- How will 30 devices charge overnight in a classroom?
- How will students grab devices in the morning and transport them to their desks for the day?
- Are the desks large enough to ensure that devices will not fall on the ground? Will extra measures need to be put into place to prevent device breakage?
These questions should be the starting point for determining what solution will be needed for your space. Administrators should ask these questions with educators in mind or in the room to ensure that expectations and presumptions are met with practical evidence to prevent the wrong solution being invested in.
Solutions Available to Support Classroom Devices
After answering all of the questions above and going through the journey from deployment to classroom use, you might be asking yourself: what is available to me?
Safely transporting classroom devices is essential to a productive classroom environment and active learning in the classroom. Finding a solution to support these types of environments is critical in a strategy.
The CUBE Transport® Cart with Caddies is the easiest, and fastest way to deploy devices and maintain classroom organization, even when moving from room to room. If young students need quick, easy access to devices and move classrooms often, this solution is right.
With an open-concept, book truck, design, students can easily grab-and-go with this cart. Not only is the cart easy to move and grab devices off of, you can minimize congestion and prevent device breakage with the Bretford Caddy perfectly situated inside of the cart. The CUBE Transport® is the perfect solution to ensure classroom devices safety in a constantly on-the-move environment.
When considering this solution ask these questions:
- Will students be taking devices home at the end of the night and need a place for devices during the day?
- Will classroom doors be locked at night so devices can stay in the open-concept cart without being locked down?
- Will students be expected to grab their own devices? Instead of 30 students coming to grab their own device, can one student grab devices for 5 students?
- How easy will it be for students to determine whether or not the device or Caddy is the right one for them?
With ID cards located right on the Caddy, the students are able to clearly see what label is theirs.
Additionally, reducing students from 30 to 6 coming to grab devices drops the time deploying devices in the morning dramatically and increases attention in students by preventing classroom chaos. With only 6 students grabbing devices in a fully-padded durable Caddy designed in collaboration with Higher Ground®, devices have less of a chance of being damaged from transport by students.
Another solution for a more secure option is the CUBE Toploader™ with Caddies. This top-loading cart is the ultimate protection for students and devices. With a soft-close lid, rounded corners and a locking enclosure, all students and devices will be protected while using this cart.
With a top-loading configuration, educators can have a wider field of vision to see the entire classroom while handing out caddies to students. Less bending behind a cart or in front of a cart makes for an easier way to continue to communicate with students while handing out the Caddies.
Not only does the CUBE Toploader™ allow for easy deployment, but with a retrofitted inside for the Bretford Caddies, it makes for a quick deployment so educators can focus on educating, not deploying devices.
What Else can be Done?
There are always more ways to protect devices and one of the last steps is to protect your classroom devices with protective cases.
When you are considering the safety of devices and the longevity of an investment, the durability of the cases you purchase matters. Finding cases that enhance durability against spills, scratches and dents is important.
When pairing high quality hard-cases or soft-cases made for the K-12 education environment with the Bretford Caddy that already has a protective hydrophobic exterior, padded interior slots and an ergonomic, tip-proof handle, you will be set for extreme protection of devices.
Our partner, Higher Ground®, offers innovative products to protect the technology that students rely on. With functional device cases for laptops, Chromebooks, and iPads, students can return classroom devices to charging carts, like the CUBE Transport® and the CUBE Toploader™ with Caddies, without the fear of breaking them.
Since 2002, Higher Ground has transformed the way students engage with educational technology. Their cart-compatible options that fit right inside of Bretford Caddies include:
- Datakeeper Cart case: A universal work-in-case that fits in cart slots of at least 1.25 inches. Products feature EVA foam and suit 11″ devices.
- PROTEx Folio case: iPad case that allows for vertical and horizontal viewing. The patented X-strap design sits comfortably along the hand, and the products slide into cart slots with ease.
To read more about how their cases fit in a classroom charging cart strategy, visit their blog on How to Protect School Laptops in Technology Carts.
Protect Your Classroom Devices, Today.
Get started on your device protection journey with the Bretford Caddy & Caddy Cart line. Call an expert today at 800-521-9614, or reach out to your local sales representative to request a quote.
