When is a pie not a pie?

This is possibly the finest intro to an article I've read in a long while.

In yet another tenuous link to stretch your patience, that Guardian article has got an awful lot to do with computers, in particular, RM Ones. Bear with me on this one!

Virtually every day an email lands in my inbox asking for some pricing for a PC. All well and good, but just as two pies are clearly not the same, all PCs are not created equal. This is even more pronounced with the RM One, which is definitely not just a standard PC.

It is our all-in-one built-for-education PC, designed by teachers and created specifically for use in the classroom. In our first blog guest spot, Adam Stewart, the RM PC Product Manager and a big fan of pies, explains more:

We launched the latest version of the RM One at the start of Summer 2009, and already over 18,000 units have been delivered to classrooms across the country. The new RM One has proved so popular with schools as it has truly been designed specifically for education. At every stage of the 12 month development project, we have involved customers (including quite a few in the London area) to make sure we deliver a classroom PC that builds on the strengths and success of the original RM One. We also made sure that we responded to feedback (both the good and the bad) and opportunities identified in our extensive research.

Through this research we have delivered a number of new and exciting features that address the real needs of education. Click here for an overview of what makes it unique. The most popular features include the even sleeker space-saving design, the improved access and maintenance, robust design, integrated webcam/mic, optional media card reader, the wealth of green features (Re-usable screen, recycled plastics and eco mode settings) and the carry handle (brought back due to popular demand!).

You can see the new RM One in action, or read the 4-Star PC Pro review and come along to the RM BETT stand to see One for yourself.

There you have it! To compare it with a PC is like comparing Wigan pies with Adlington pies.

Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Nicole, Papa and Lego

Bonjour les jeunes et bienvenue au grand prix!

Ok, so you might have to dust off those old textbooks and search for that pocket anglais-français dictionnaire you last used on the booze cruise (back in the good old days when you got 1.67 euros to the pound), but this is a superb example of using technology in a fun, creative way.

Lego Animation Road Race

It's not even the use of Lego which stood out, although it does provide a seamless link between blogs. I've no idea how many photo stills they had to take to generate this 2/3 minute video, but that's a lot of effort. What got me thinking was that every school in the UK has got the capacity to create this kind of content, and instead of bringing board games in on the last day, why not let everyone loose with a camera or a visualiser, throw in a bag of Lego or some plasticine, and see what they create?

Cameras were the most popular product ordered in the Tesco 2008 scheme, with over 10 000 going to schools across the UK, and this is a resource which is being used more and more.

You'll need some video editing software - Adobe School Collection or Textease Movies CT cover everything you'll need.

Not only does this fit in with Creative Curriculum initiatives, it's an excellent example of collaborative working and just imagine how cool it'd be for pupils to take home a video they'd made. You can't stick it up on the fridge, but you can put it on youtube, share it with family across the globe and put the best ones on the school website.