subject: Classroom Technology Vs. Mobility/portability [print this page] Is your district trying to determine the best way to get a computer into every student's hands? Are you deciding between netbooks and tablets? And what about thin-client computing? Each option has plenty of pluses and a few negatives. Read on to see how other technology directors figured out the best path for their schools.
Pinellas County School, Largo, FL.
What do you use?
7,000 Dell Latitude 2100 Netbooks www.dell.com
Why did you choose this apprach?
"To accommodate our budget crisis last year, we decided to get netbooks," says John Just, assistant superintendent of management information systems. "We went with Dell because the 2100 was designed with schools in mind."
What are some of the cost?
$493 each, including one-year warranty, installation, and custom configuration.
Pros
"The form factor and scale have been terrific at the elementary level," Just says. He has gotten tremendous feedback about the cart, too. "I don't think a lot of companies other than Dell understand how much time it takes to get laptops in and out of a cart. These slide right into a slot; you can't put them in the wrong way. They are automatically powered and hooked up to the network."
Cons
They're a little small for the high school students, says Just. Also, they can't run some of the specialized programs without a lot of tweaking. "Our state developed an assessment that wasn't scaled down to work on the netbook; there was lots of scrolling involved."
Why might other schools choose this route?
It's affordable, and you can get more computers in students' hands. Before netbooks, Just says, there wasn't a form factor that worked for elementary school students. "A lot of our elementary teachers use Moodle," he says. "For them, the ability to use this technology is great. They love it."
North Kansas City Schools, Kansas City, MO.
What do you use?
5,600 HP Mininote 2140S www.hp.com/go/k12
Why did you choose this apprach?
"We didn't feel we could afford to go one-to-one with our high school students with something that cost more than $500," says Janet Herdman, executive director of information and technology services. She tested netbooks last year and found that they accomplished about 90 percent of what the district needed to do.
What are some of the cost?
$123 per student for a three-year lease.
Pros
Size, mobility, and weight. "We have a decent processor, lots of RAM, and long battery life. Why spend twice as much on a tablet if this suffices?"
Cons
The processor is not as fast as a full-blown laptop. Also, one of the district's CAD programs and a few other things wouldn't run.
Why might other schools choose this route?
"If you're looking for a way to afford a one-to one environment, this is it. We're reaching 5,600 students and bringing the digital world to them without increasing our budget."
Dwightenglewood Sschool, Englewood, NJ
What do you use?
1,000 Fujitsu Lifebook 5010S www.fujitsu.com/us/
Why did you choose this apprach?
"We wanted to make sure the students could use these like [paper] notebooks," says Trevor Shaw, director of technology at this private pre-K-12 school. "It's hard to take notes in math and science on a keyboard." The tablets have niche applications everyone likes, such as Microsoft Office OneNote and ArtRage.
What are some of the cost?
Parents are billed for the machines, which come to $2,400 each with a four-year warranty and a secondary battery.
Pros
The pen input is the major difference. "Going to one-to-one made lots of people nervous," Shaw says. "Our faculty was concerned about distractions, but some teachers require students to have the machines in tablet mode, which lets them see what's happening on the screen and helps them manage the class."
Cons
The price. "It's the right device for us, but down the road we might look for something a little less expensive and a little smaller."
Why might other schools choose this route?
The note taking is key, says Shaw, especially being able to do shared note-taking sessions in OneNote. "Everyone sees the same page and contributes to it. The ninth-grade textbook is a OneNote document that the students download, and it's customizable."
Livermore Valley Charter School, Livermore, CA
What do you use?
50 Toshiba M750S (Upgraded From M400S) www.toshiba.com
Why did you choose this apprach?
"Every teacher has a tablet," says Michelle Fitts, a sixth-grade math, science, and technology teacher. "We have about 110 Toshiba netbooks for students, but we chose tablets for the teachers so they could have full power to do what they need." Fitts, for example, writes on her tablet's screen to show each step in solving a math problem.
What are some of the cost?
Approximately $1,000 each.
Pros
Teachers are using them. Once Toshiba gave the teachers some training, they began using OneNote and are collaborating.
Cons
"With a tablet versus a non-tablet, it's cost," Fitts says. We had to go in front of our CFO to plead our case and justify buying these."
Why might other schools choose this route?
"A laptop's keyboard is a barrier, but a tablet lets you do everything you'd do with a pencil. You can draw lines or circles"annotate anything. Also, I don't have to turn my back to write on the board. It's much more engaging when I'm looking at the kids rather than turning my back on them."
Pawtucket School Dept. Pawtucket, RI
What do you use?
2,000 hp thin-client devices www.hp.com/go/k12
Why did you choose this apprach?
It was a matter of survival, says technology director Michael St. Jean. "We're a fairly decentsize urban district, money is tight, and the demand continues to grow. We could not sustain managing, purchasing, configuring, and replacing individual desktops throughout the district. We had to change the way we do business."
What are some of the cost?
St. Jean's thin-client unit is $199. It's tied to a flat-panel display that costs $140, so a full "unit" is $340.
Pros
It's more cost-effective, and you can do more with less staff, St. Jean says. "It takes 30 seconds to configure it for a student or teacher to start using it. We use significantly less electricity and don't need to run antivirus on these machines, which have no hard drive, fan, or moving parts. We don't need desktop management software. We expect to get eight to 10 years out of a thin-client device, so the cost of ownership is much better."
Cons
"You need to put a lot of eggs in one basket. If something happens to a server, a school or lab goes down. However, we've found it so reliable that when, rarely, something goes wrong, it's a matter of a reboot." Thin client is not the best at streaming audio and video, so if an entire school is streaming, it will bog down. This is improving, though.
Why might other schools choose this route?
For many districts, it's no longer a matter of choice, St. Jean says, adding that everyone should carefully consider this approach because of its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, how well it utilizes the available resources, and how it limits the impact on your staff's time.
Western Wayne School District South Canaan, PA
What do you use?
100 Wyse Thin-Client Devices www.wyse.com
Why did you choose this apprach?
The district won a grant and got 250 laptops for four classrooms. They needed to figure out how they would come up with $300,000 when the grant ran out. "Thin clients and virtualization sounded attractive to me," says Brian Seaman, network administrator. He went for training, did some trials, and liked how it worked.
What are some of the cost?
$12,000 for the VMWare (infrastructure); Wyse thin clients cost $180 each. New Dell servers are $6,000 each.
Pros
They are much easier to deploy than desktops, Seaman says. "They all get configured from one file that you create. The life span of a thin client is double that of a desktop. It's all managed from one console."
Cons
Right out of the box, thin clients are not able to play Flash as if they were a PC. Although Wyse has software that fixes that problem, Seaman hears some complaints. Also, he says that technology directors may hesitate to put all their eggs in one basket; it's a matter of perspective.
Why might other schools choose this route?
"In my experience, it would be so that you can deploy more with your current budget. On the IT side, you can be more productive with fewer people. I can say, 'Create 90 virtual machines' and the server will do it by itself. Later that night, from home, I can double-check. I don't need to go back and rename them all, or run around and press F12 100 times."
