Classrooms Need to Ditch PCs, Tablets

[carpnter]

Many teachers don't know how to use computers outside of surfing the internet and getting e-mail.  Can we really expect them to used the properly as a tool to help them teach when they haven't received the necessary training. 

[Buforddawg]

When I was in high school we were not allowed to have calculators.  In chemistry I learned how to use a slide rule which I thought was way cooler than using a scientific calculator.  In fact my chemistry teacher had this huge slide ruler above the chalkboard (do they still have chalkboards in classrooms).

I believe you should teach kids how to do things manually first and once they master it show them how to do it with technology.   That way if something catastrophic occurs and we loose the use of our technology, they will know how to do it the "Old Fashion" way.

Good god, I sound like my father.

[Demosthenes]

I dont disagree that kids should learn multiple ways of doing things, but technology is here to stay and we should use it. Kids/parents should have the options to learning how to code, and have a chance to be taught proper computing processes and terms. Teaching antiquated and out of date skills will not keep our kids competitive in a work place rapidly being flooded with Indian and Asian workers. There is already a severe shortage of technical workers. Do we want to retard our educational system so we have a sense of nostalgia?

When I was in high school we were not allowed to have calculators.  In chemistry I learned how to use a slide rule which I thought was way cooler than using a scientific calculator.  In fact my chemistry teacher had this huge slide ruler above the chalkboard (do they still have chalkboards in classrooms).

I believe you should teach kids how to do things manually first and once they master it show them how to do it with technology.   That way if something catastrophic occurs and we loose the use of our technology, they will know how to do it the "Old Fashion" way.

Good god, I sound like my father.

[spuwho]

Maybe Mr. Vitti has some better options?

Per Computerworld:

School system CIOs are sold on Chromebooks

Computerworld - David Andrade, the CIO of Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut, has deployed 11,000 Chromebooks over the past year and plans to add another 5,000 in the next 12 months. It's a major deployment, but not unusual.

Other school systems are doing much the same thing. The Cherry Creeks School District in Greenwood Village, Co. deployed 18,000 last year, and Boston recently announced a deployment of 10,000 Chromebooks.

These rollouts by school systems may be why the Chromebook is surviving, thriving even.

Gartner on Monday said that sales of Chromebooks will reach 5.2 million units worldwide this year, with more than 80% of the demand in the U.S. That's an 80% increase in sales from 2013.

But this demand was driven almost entirely by education last year, which accounted for nearly 85% of Chromebook sales, according to Gartner.

Andrade said the Chromebook was attractive to the school system, especially because of its management, cost and low maintenance. "Adding 11,000 devices would have killed us if they needed a lot of support," said Andrade.

Google has created a centralized management system that allows for rapid changes, with no reimaging, and controls that allow a school system to restrict website and network access.

Although Bridgeport has penciled in a refresh cycle of four years for its Chromebooks, "as long as there is no physical damage, these things can go on forever," said Andrade of the Chromebook. It is using systems from Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and Acer.
Chromebook
Acer Chromebook

Andrade isn't really suggesting forever as an option. But the school system, which owns its Chromebooks instead of leasing them, will keep these thin-client devices in service as long as they are useful. And that may be well past four years.

"The Chrome operating systems doesn't bog down like Windows does over age," he said.

The plan is to give high school students the latest systems first, since they have the need for the most performance. The school system provides Chromebook access to students beginning in the third grade and operates on a policy that charges students for any damage. That typically involves screen breakage because they have either grabbed the screen by its corner or knocked the machine over.

The machines cost from $250 to $300, with screen replacement totalling about half that cost.

This policy of charging students for damage is similar to charging them for lost or damaged textbooks. For now, the Chromebooks remain in the schools, but if students are eventually allowed to take them home insurance programs may be available, said Andrade.

For its part, Google has been trying to do all it can from a software perspective to make education deployment attractive. It offers Google's Apps for Education and its collaboration tools for free. It also recently introduced Google Classroom, which is designed to help teachers keep track of assignments and other classroom management needs.

Gartner analyst Isabelle Durand said education is the big driver because Chromebooks are easy to manage, boot rapidly, and connect immediately to the Internet.

But additional demand could come from consumers.

"Vendors should not ignore the consumer market with their Chromebook offerings, because after education it represents a sizable opportunity," Durand said via email. "There is a good portion of the consumer market that will look for low-cost computing devices that [are] both easy to carry but can also help with productivity tasks besides browsing and checking e-mails."