Technology Life Cycle
Technology plays an important role in our classrooms and our administration spaces in schools, and schools need to periodically cycle some of the technology out of use and often replace some of it.
Technology goes through a life cycle that has a few phases:
Needs assessment
The school looks at what they currently have, what is due to be retired soon, and if any new devices will be needed. This is the best time to re-assess the numbers and types of devices and their distribution.
Planning
Be aware of the fact that a large influx of new devices may need an area set aside to allow them to be unboxed and set up. Purchasing should be through CSPD organised vendors (see Preferred Suppliers ).
Order/Arrival/Setup of new devices, and disposal of outgoing ones
It’s important to consider what you will do with the outgoing devices, including making sure the internal storage on the devices (hard drives etc) has no data left on them (this may mean removing the hard drive and deliberately damaging it). More information and what is needed before a device can be disposed of are included in the following link.
https://oscarwiki.parra.catholic.edu.au/confluence/display/ITTS/2021/05/04/Reminder+eWaste+of+Equipment
Retiring devices
The expected life span of devices is usually one year past the end of their warranty period.
Once a device or operating system no longer receives updates it is considered to be a security risk.
The period between a device’s warranty ending and it no longer receiving updates is the period where the device should be considered for retiring, or ‘sunsetting’.
You also need to consider that the device must still meet CSPD’s minimum requirements (eg for things like NAPLAN online), and this is most often based on the operating system (OS) on the device.
When thinking about devices at your school it’s important to plan ahead for when device will need to be retired.
iOS devices like iPhones and iPads have historically received OS updates for up to three years after they are no longer sold by Apple. They are often purchased by schools with a 2 year warranty.
Apple and Windows laptops are normally purchased with a 3 year warranty. The period that they receive operating system updates varies, depending on the hardware in the device (like how much memory it has) and on other decisions made by the operating system manufacturers (Apple and Microsoft).
Identifying Apple devices
The following links can be used to more easily identify which model of device you have, or what operating system your device might support.
iPads, Macbooks, Macbook Pros and Apple TV’s
Windows computers
Computers currently running Windows 7 or Windows 8 may be able to be updated to Windows 10, meaning they might not have to be retired when Windows 7 & 8 reaches their retirement points. They must meet the Windows 10 minimum requirements to run that operating system.
Chromebooks
Chromebooks that were manufactured in 2012 or before are not supported by NAPLAN, this means these devices are no longer supported by CSPD.
Chromebooks manufactured in 2013 and onwards are supported by NAPLAN and means they are allowed on the CSPD network.