This is repeating one of the same mistakes I see over and over in these education technology arguments. The idea that somehow by restricting the students to one software platform, the one that they're supposedly most likely to find in 'the real world', that they're somehow teaching them computers better. If you're asking which is better for the students, then the answer is "both, all of the above, everything". The more they learn about the different ways to interact with computers, the more they'll learn about >>computers instead of about software-x.
Especially for a highschool class. The software that's on those computers now is NOT going to be the same software as is on the systems they'll use when they get out of college. Certainly not if they go to pursue advanced degrees. And the idea that XP should be considered as being the real world system they'll eventually get to is especially laughable. As many people have said, XP SP2 is already getting EOL on support this summer.
So the question itself is flawed. The IT department is making an argument to make things easier on themselves, using 'the students' as an excuse. If you're asking what the best thing to do is for the students, the answer is keep both, and maybe throw some linux systems in there as well. If you're asking what's easier for the tech support guys, then that's up to them.
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This is repeating one of the same mistakes I see over and over in these education technology arguments. The idea that somehow by restricting the students to one software platform, the one that they're supposedly most likely to find in 'the real world', that they're somehow teaching them computers better. If you're asking which is better for the students, then the answer is "both, all of the above, everything". The more they learn about the different ways to interact with computers, the more they'll learn about >>computers instead of about software-x. Especially for a highschool class. The software that's on those computers now is NOT going to be the same software as is on the systems they'll use when they get out of college. Certainly not if they go to pursue advanced degrees. And the idea that XP should be considered as being the real world system they'll eventually get to is especially laughable. As many people have said, XP SP2 is already getting EOL on support this summer. So the question itself is flawed. The IT department is making an argument to make things easier on themselves, using 'the students' as an excuse. If you're asking what the best thing to do is for the students, the answer is keep both, and maybe throw some linux systems in there as well. If you're asking what's easier for the tech support guys, then that's up to them.
Mostly by Robert Scoble.