Have been asked to purchase 3x tablets for sign-in purposes for a not-for-profit preschool. From what I've been told, they will only be used for this and will more than likely be connected to power 24/7 (as they'll need to be available for parents and staff to sign in/out of and I don't trust them to remember to keep them charged). They'll be in a stand of some type (or wall-mounted).
Would prefer local (AU) stock and maybe a bricks and mortar store (just in case something goes wrong down the track and I'm not around to help resolve the issue).
Was thinking that 3x m10's would be alright from OW. Thoughts?
Tablet for Sign-in Purposes
crumbo85 on 18/11/2024 - 10:18
Last edited 18/11/2024 - 10:18
Last edited 18/11/2024 - 10:18
Comments
Being not-for-profit, would like to keep the costs down as much as possible.
Thanks for the suggestion. They already have a couple of older iPads used for different things around each room so another thought was to upgrade them to newer ones and use the old ones for the sign-in process. At least the staff are familiar with the operating environment.
You will need to restart the m10 occasionally for it to work normally. You don't want a cranky kid to come in to have to deal with a sign in tablet that don't work…
cranky parent you mean…
I kind of felt very warm and fuzzy when you said you worked at a not-for-profit school until it made me think and realise most schools are not-for-profit.
Ha! I don't work there, am on the committee and, as I work in IT, am tasked with the role of IT-helper there as well.
If you're an IT professional, why are you asking here for a bunch of random opinions? Serious question…
i could only assume he came looking for consensus on best deal, rather than hardware /software and if they will suit the requirement from an IT perspective…
being a preschool , its probably just running something like xplor software, where parents sign the qr code with phone, check kid in/out and thats it.
so basically a potato could do it as long as it had the required version of android/ios.@Jimothy Wongingtons: Correct - I work in tech support for surveying/civil engineering software and hardware and don't deal with tablets too much. Looking for the best deal to achieve what the preschool needs and yes, a potato would probably do just that. After something cheap, with a decent screen (tablets should only be used inside but could be affected by glare and, if permanently mounted, might not be able to mitigate this).
@crumbo85: I do IT and home automation in the senior and disability sector and minimise return visits by going with solutions where it's possible to leverage informal support (e.g. family members, support workers). So for tablets iPads are the easily best choice: pretty much everyone is familiar with iOS; they can be set into kiosk mode; there's a wide range of secure mounting solutions; many other apps they can implement further on; devices have great longevity; they play well with iPhones (and Watches) which are by far the dominant handset among my clients. Happy to see a counterpoint that says Android is a better choice.
@sumyungguy: I reckon iPad would be a good choice, even if it costs bit more
Go with the solution most organisation uses, less chance of someone complaining about your solution and blame you for it when it's a user error.
But wouldn't the tablets need specialised software to capture the sign ons and sign offs, some sort of database for auditing purposes? I assume there are companies who specialise in this and have some sort of turn key solution? Wouldn't they be your first stop?
They're going with a cloud-based solution that has an Android and an iOS app (https://kidsoft.com.au/)
Most places have apps nowadays or just a web browser solution that can use a tablets browser. My daughters kinder has two iPads that just run an app.
Thanks for all the replies - appreciate it!
If it helps, my ex workplace pretty much exclusively used iPad's, mounted in fixed stands, connected to power constantly and on a wifi ap that had unfettered internet access. We used them along with Who'sOnLocation. Seemed to work pretty well.
Alot of schools (esp private are pro-apple) … 2x ppl in family are teachers.
Since OP == not-for-profit … there may be some leeway.
Personally, I'd be going for android based … But that is what I have most EXP with +++ software side to lock down too (for OP's use case).
Got a budget in mind?