Laptops for Students

[jaronbrass]

Indeed. It is very expensive, however that figure represents deploying the 1 to 1 Learning Solution at EVERY school in Broward County (there are upwards of 250, not inclusive of adult learning centres and the like).

My thoughts were to roll it out at select schools, such as Magnet schools or charter schools.

Martin, theft is a paramount concern: We're generally not pleased that the article was published before setup was completed. We've carried on work until way past 10PM at night at two schools so far and the thought of people knowing these laptops exist certainly compromises our safety. As for the theft from students, the machines are being asset tagged with a device called a STOP Theft tag. It has a police identifiable number on it and the tag itself requires at least 800 lbs of pressure to remove it. If removed, a permanent tattoo "scar" is left on the machine, saying the property is stolen and provides a toll-free number to call to determine rightful ownership.

The biggest concern is not of theft but longevity. Unfortunately, things do break and the school board is trying to determine how best to handle this. We have a local Apple Authorised Service Provider that handles repairs for the district and are under contract, but what happens if something more serious happens to the machine? For example, a student drops it and the LCD shatters. These are concerns that are currently being addressed before the scheduled October roll-out.

As for my references to The Crooked E, that phrase was actually coined by our account executive, namely for the shallow, underhanded and dishonest tactics the Dell sales rep uses when selling his machines. I understand and support the spirit of free competition, but specifically bad-mouthing our products to gain sales is unfair and wrong. For example, he recently said to a potential customer that "Broward was moving away from Macs and going all PCs". If this was any further than the truth. The fact is, 20 out of the last 20 new schools built since 1998 are 98% Mac. On another event, he said that the gradebook software used district-wide wasn't OS X compatible. Another misstatement. The software was originally released on OS X and is natively supported by OS 9 and OS X. So you see, it's not professional for him to do that. The problem, though, is that most of the technology coordinators at the school sites actually believe him -- that is until I pay them a courtesy visit.

There's a reason the district is 80% Mac. The benefits they provide to students, teachers and administrators have proven themselves time and time again. Macs are more expensive, granted, so if there wasn't a specific reason for sticking to the Mac, would you not expect them to buy cheaper Dells instead?

[Katherine]

At my school, I bring my laptop into all my classes (and have permission to use it in all examinations). I find it helps tremendously. The teachers always give me the .doc copies of all the worksheets they hand out.

Is this your own personal laptop?

I didn't know schools would be as flexible in that sort of thing, especially in exams!

Indeed. I did all my exam scripts bar Maths on a full PC with special invigilator because I have a co-ordination disorder called Dyspraxia which means I find the organisation of fine motor movements and their execution very problematic. Makes handwriting a nightmare, especially under extra pressure.......

[jaronbrass]

*Jumps up and down!*

We made BusinessWeek Magazine!!!!!!
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ ... _tc153.htm

Yayness!