Services · Digital classroom
Digital classroom: classroom equipment and teacher training
PenwinEdu equips classrooms in publicly funded private schools (concertados), private schools, universities, business schools and vocational training centres: interactive displays, charging trolleys and Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 licences, with teacher training by stage and a multi-year refresh plan that turns the investment peak into a stable, predictable annual cost. With financing in instalments, the educational decision no longer depends on the numbers adding up in a single financial year.
Tell us which phases of education you want to equip and by when, and we'll prepare a proposal including a multi-year refresh plan and teacher training: info@penwin.org. The initial assessment and proposal are free and come with no obligation.
What a digital classroom project includes
A digital classroom is not just the screen: it is everything needed for the equipment to be used every day, from the network that supports it to training for the teaching staff.
- Classroom equipment: interactive displays, charging trolleys and devices for each phase of education.
- Licences: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, integrated with the school's directory (LDAP/Active Directory).
- Management: devices are managed through MDM, with profiles for each phase and content filtering.
- Network: the classroom Wi-Fi is reviewed and resized before a single device is handed out.
- Teacher training by stage, on the equipment and licences the school has installed, spread across the school year.
- Multi-year refresh plan with financing in instalments.
- Support: 24/7 monitoring and technical support with a response within 4 working hours.
Equipment by phase of education
An early years (Infantil) classroom and a Bachillerato (upper secondary) classroom share neither the device ratio, nor the operating system, nor the way devices are stored and looked after, so the project is sized phase by phase. We cover on our blog why it pays to treat each phase differently.
- Early years: a classroom interactive display for guided whole-class work, which is where the investment pays off at this phase.
- Primary: shared devices kept on charging trolleys, rugged and managed through MDM with locked-down profiles and content filtering.
- Secondary: a personal device with a physical keyboard and a named account in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
- Bachillerato, vocational training (FP) and university: devices capable of running specialist software – design, labs, programming – and cloud storage with an institutional identity.
- At every phase: the number of concurrent devices per classroom sets the design of the Wi-Fi network, which is reviewed before roll-out.
Teacher training by stage
The training plan is part of the project and is delivered on the equipment and licences the school actually has installed, not on generic tools: what an early years teacher needs is nothing like what a Bachillerato teacher needs.
- Split by stage and by role, not a single session for all the teaching staff.
- On the school's real tools: the display that has been bought, the MDM that manages the devices and the platform the school has signed up to.
- Spread across the school year, with follow-up after the first few weeks of use.
- A lead teacher for each phase as the point of contact with the technical team.
Multi-year refresh plan and financing
A school that digitises all its classrooms in the same year does not solve the cost: it postpones it. The multi-year refresh plan spreads the investment in batches – one phase or one stage per school year – and turns that peak into a stable, predictable annual cost.
- A real inventory of the device fleet to work from, synchronised with the device management console.
- Different expected lifespans for each device family, not a single expiry date for the whole school.
- Renewal in batches, with the purchase finalised before the summer.
- Retired equipment redeployed to secondary uses before it is written off.
Installation, logistics and support
Roll-outs are planned around the school calendar and building work is concentrated in non-teaching periods, so the school year starts without disruption. After that, the equipment is backed by an inventory, spares and a technical support team.
- Charging and storage trolleys sized by classroom or by stage, with the electrical capacity checked before installation.
- Asset labelling that matches the MDM inventory: a faulty device is identified immediately.
- A spares stock for each phase, to swap devices on the spot and repair them afterwards.
- 24/7 monitoring and technical support with a response within 4 working hours.
A provider that specialises in education
PenwinEdu specialises in education, from publicly funded and private schools to universities, business schools and vocational training. That focus has practical consequences: the design allows for students, teachers, office staff and families sharing the same infrastructure, and the integrations taken for granted – Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, LDAP and Active Directory – are the ones schools and colleges use, not those of any ordinary office.
PenwinEdu has spent over a decade managing the technology infrastructure of schools and colleges across Spain. Today the company manages more than 300,000 daily connections, 600 TB of internet traffic and more than 1,200 switches and firewalls in service, with equipment from Aruba, Meraki, Ubiquiti, Cisco and TP-Link. The digital classroom builds on that foundation: without a properly sized and managed network, classroom equipment does not deliver.
- Offices in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), Madrid and Jaén; contact us at info@penwin.org.
- Free, no-obligation assessment and proposal.
Frequently asked questions
Interactive whiteboard or interactive display?
In new classrooms, the interactive display is the right choice – we work with iiyama's TE13A series, available in 55, 65, 75, 86 and 98-inch sizes – because it is a panel with its own backlight, can be seen with the lights on, needs no calibration and has no lamp or consumables to replace. An interactive whiteboard with a projector still makes sense when a large surface is wanted at a modest cost or when there is an existing installation that has not yet paid for itself. The deciding factor is the size of the classroom and the distance between the student sitting furthest away and the surface.
Is one device per student a good idea?
It depends on the phase of education, not on the school. In secondary, Bachillerato and vocational training, the one-to-one model makes sense because students produce their own work and need their own environment and files. In primary, shared devices kept on charging trolleys cover actual use at lower cost and with less maintenance. In early years, the equipment that pays off is the classroom display for whole-class work. Before setting the ratio, check that the Wi-Fi network can handle the concurrent devices and that training has been planned.
Who trains the teachers?
PenwinEdu includes a teacher training plan adapted to each stage within the digital classroom project, delivered on the equipment and licences the school really has installed – displays, trolleys, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 – and not on generic tools. The distinction matters: training pays off when it is split by stage and spread across the school year, not when it is packed into a single whole-staff session in September.
How is device renewal planned?
It is planned in batches over several school years, not by buying for the whole school at once. It begins with a real inventory of the device fleet: what there is, which phase it is in and what use it supports. From there, the plan sets which family of devices is renewed each school year; retired equipment is redeployed to less demanding uses, and annual spending is kept stable instead of peaking every few years.
What software licences does a digital classroom need?
A digital classroom relies on one of the two leading education platforms: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. The choice shapes everything else: the devices' operating system, identity management and compatibility with the school's directory. PenwinEdu supplies education software licences and integrates the chosen platform with LDAP or Active Directory, so that every student and every teacher signs in with a single account.
Which schools and colleges does PenwinEdu work with, and where from?
PenwinEdu specialises in education: publicly funded private schools, private schools, universities, business schools and vocational training centres. Education has been its field for more than twelve years, with roll-outs planned around the school calendar. It operates from three offices – Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), Madrid and Jaén – and manages more than 300,000 daily connections, 600 TB of internet traffic and more than 1,200 switches and firewalls. The contact for assessing a digital classroom project is info@penwin.org.
Let's talk about your school
Email us at info@penwin.org with details of your school, or fill in the contact form, and we'll reply with a specific proposal.