We have iPads at our school, and they do help dyslexic kids learn how to read with apps like Lexia and Learning Ally.
That said, iPads - like most Apple products, are difficult to manage in a corporate environment. Apple's configuration tools are sparse, and they simply have no native MDM solution.
Third party solutions like Airwatch are a joke. They count on the end user to keep policies applied to the device under threat of not accessing corporate resources. Unfortunately kids don't care about that stuff and gladly remove the policies.
Things have gotten a bit better with iOS 8, but the fact remains that these devices were designed for a single end user, not for widespread, managed, multi-user environments.
We've slowed our adoption of iPads in favor of Chromebooks. They are much better for management and control of the end user experience.
"A prudent school administrator could build an MS-centric environment for the same initial cost as a Google-centric one, and with the same on-going costs."
No way.
The Microsoft cloud approach still requires Anti-Virus and associated management, it still requires a way to image the computers to some configuration standard, it offers no way to distribute configuration and security policies based on computer or user profiles.
To get anywhere near what Google is offering in terms of Google's security and management will require "pro" operating system licensing, domain controllers, CALs, centralized anti-virus, and an imaging solution - none of those are free.
We have bought Samsung, Dell, and HP chromebooks - the Dell's seem to be built the best. In two years in a school with 150 users, we've had one broken power connector.
They are durable enough. And at less than $300 - all in - they are easily replaceable.
Microsoft's legacy architecture means that there will (realistically) never be a really secure version of windows. To properly secure windows (as I did when I ran a network for a bank) you need to disable practically everything and limit what the end user can do online. In those scenarios, Microsoft operating systems can work, but it is far from ideal.
The "walled garden" approach of companies like Apple and Google is fantastic for organizations like schools. We can allow staff and students to run apps from a safe repository in the cloud. Their data lives in the cloud - decoupled from the local operating system - and even the local network. This combination of control and flexibility as well as the walled garden approach is ideal for schools.
To be fair, this is possible in the windows world, but it requires quite a lot of administration and work. It requires group policies, careful delegation of permissions, patch management, anti-virus, disk imaging...etc....etc.
The Google Apps ecosystem does away with all of this - and the cost benefits are undeniable.
The problem is not active directory. The problem is the "cloud login" used on these low cost Microsoft computers is a Microsoft live login and not an office 365 login.
It's a stupid oversight that complicates management and the overall user experience.
OS licensing upgrades and CALS cost money....lots of money. Google Apps, beyond hardware and management license is free. Centrally managed apps, user data, and policies.
It really is quite compelling once you get beyond the old "Microsoft way" of doing things.
We've had great success with our Chromebook deployment. For most computing tasks, they are cheap and easy. They boot quickly and management is a snap.
Microsoft is now trying to duplicate this success. They are giving away Office 365 E1 subscriptions to schools and non-profits. I will grant MS this, their online versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint are quite good and closely mimic the desktop versions.
Now for the bad:
1. Microsoft's "version" of a chromebook is something like the HP Stream 14. It's about the same price and about the same quality. Unfortunately, these do not run a locked-down/hardened version of windows. They run the same desktop OS everything else does. This means you need AV, imaging tools....etc to mass deploy these things. Chromebooks don't need any of that stuff.
2. The OS that ships in the cheapy laptops cannot be joined to a traditional domain. User management and policies for these devices cannot be centrally managed. Google's management tools are fantastic.
3. Logins everywhere. To login to these cheapy windows devices, you need to either have local accounts, or a "live" or "microsoft account". This means you need a "live" login to get past the login screen, and an Office 365 login to do any work - it's madness.
In-short, Microsoft is jumping into cloud computing and chasing the incumbents in a half-assed way. Situation normal over at Microsoft.
When an economy has 8-10% unemployment, that economy should not import labor for any reason. Governments exist to protect it's citizens - that includes REASONABLE immigration policies.
I'm the second generation of a family of immigrants. My grandparents came here almost 10 years apart due to restrictive immigration policies. Generally grandpa waited his place in line, came here with a sponsor, worked, and paid taxes. After establishing himself here, was he allowed to bring over the rest of the family.
Allowing too many people into a country, too quickly, is a sure fire way to hurt the local workforce, and stress social support systems to their breaking point.
Unfortunately the politicians in charge don't give a damn about the citizens they claim to serve.
Those "pesky regulations" are the exact cause of this problem - and is the exact reason why Libertarians want government out of employer/labor relations.
If government had not given favored immigration status to tech workers, the free market would naturally settle on wages via supply and demand. Tech companies with the aid of the US government distorted the labor market to increase supply and drive down wages.
An Econ 101 student could understand this and see what is happening. Why you can't is a mystery.
I tried a "low-cholesterol" diet and it made my lipid profiles worse. I went on cholesterol drugs, and they had awful side effects. Finally I gave up the cholesterol meds and started restricting carbs. My lipid profiles got much better and I've decided to simply live as a "borderline" case without cholesterol meds.
I'm 20 pounds lighter, and I feel a hell of a lot better than on the meds.
I'm not sure medical science understands (well enough) the relationship between carbs/blood sugar/cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. The low-fat diet and food pyramid is probably the worst thing ever foisted on the American people. With 30 years of run-away obesity and diabetes, maybe it's time to admit failure with those recommendations.
We still let cereal manufacturers pitch their wares as "heart-healthy" - what a joke.
Our schools are in a part of the country with decent access to broadband. Both schools where I work have roughly 100 Mbps access via Cable Modem or FIOS for less than $200 per month.
If you don't have decent broadband choices near your schools, E-rate won't make that problem any better. All it will ensure is that your local school district spends thousands of dollars per month on private connections that are mostly unnecessary.
The FCC should focus on getting multiple broadband providers into every market across the country. Once that problem is solved, the E-rate program will not be necessary.
Our experiences mirror yours. We've had great success with chromebooks, but the iPad thing is still a pain.
I recently spoke to a couple of Apple reps about their lack of focus on enterprise management for iPads. I explained how terrible the Apple Configurator is, and how their new Apple Device Enrollment Program is simply not enough. Apple needs to stop relying on third parties for large scale management if iOS devices. They need to build a management portal similar to Google's device management portal - and they needed it yesterday.
As a long time Apple fan, I still admit - Apple sucks at enterprise management.
We've successfully implemented chromebooks - their low cost and ease of management can not be beat.
Your model of office coupled with local storage is a dinosaur. Modern companies (where your students will eventually work) require a mobile workforce that can connect and collaborate from anywhere. Getting your students onto cloud based apps and data prepares them for how they will work in their future careers.
We do not have kids walk around with laptops. We have carts in each classroom, and laptops are pulled out as needed. Students don't walk around with other classroom materials like microscopes and yardsticks. Why would you make kids walk around with computers?
Chromebooks work well in a "classroom cart" environment. They boot quickly, their data is stored in the cloud, and they shutdown quickly. The instructional overhead of traditional windows based computers simply does not exist with chromebooks.
We have some traditional Mac desktops for staff members and for special purpose labs, but for general purpose computing chromebooks can not be beat.
I merely implemented the solution in software. Is that cheating?
Yeah, I wrote the recursive algorithm in Pascal, but I didn't "invent" the solution. Somebody a long time ago did that.
Unless you are doing PHD level research into something no one else has done, most undergrad work is a rehash of something someone else already figured out.
The point is to learn the material - how you learn it is irrelevant. Presumably, college professors have a way to measure your knowledge before giving you a grade - I think that is called a.......test.
I've bought tons of IP cameras in the past - all of them have varying degrees of crappyness. Do you really want to lean on WiFi during an emergency?
Direct cabled SDI cameras to a network connected DVRs are they way to go - but it's doubtful those would be any cheaper in a large scale installation. I've priced out systems in the $30k range for a mid size building. A large building could easily cost $100k.
The real issue is whether or not these costs are acceptable for what is a statistically rare event.
You can't simply push tons of technology into schools and forget about it. The "light the fuse and run" approach never works. You need a staff of technology people who will train staff, maintain and repair the tech, and integrate the technology into the curriculum.
Without adequate support, these systems will simply collect dust and end up in a storage locker.
Everyone is entitled to equal opportunity, but absolutely no one is guaranteed equality in outcome.
So long as the CS field is accessible to everyone - that's all that matters. If a group of people decide that CS work is not for them - that's OK. That is how markets work.
We should stop wringing our hands about things we cannot control and start focusing our efforts on real problems.
1. Cost 2. Management 3. Data location/security 4."Cloud"/internet access?
1 and 2. Google's chromebook/apps platform is completely free. You buy a chromebook (about $250) and a management license ($30) - and that's it. Your Microsoft products and their supporting management/backup software cost way more than that - I know - I bought them for years.
3. Backing up your data - google backs up your data to data centers all over the world and snapshots your data so you can go back in time - again for free. I've bought EMC and Dell SANs - even the cheap ones are very expensive.
4. Cloud/internet access. We have existing filtering systems in place, and our chromebooks work with those systems just like our old machines did. Google also goes one step further by giving you the tools in their management console to build web access policies. You can make web access as tight or as loose as you like. The really great thing is that these policies are applied directly to the machine. If a student takes a chromebook home, those policies are still enforced. This means that web filtering is no longer tied to your physical network located at the school.
The bottom line is that this is where computing is going. Just like it is usually not efficient to generate your own power and water, it will soon not be efficient to generate every IT system you use in house. Sure, lots of people will fight that trend, but efficiency always wins. It's going to be very hard to justify hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) poured into your datacenters, when competing schools are doing similar things for free (or near free).
There are no ads in either the Google Apps for Education service or the Nonprofit service.
From the Google Apps for Education - Common Questions:
"For all EDU domains ads are turned off in Google Apps for Education services and K-12 Google Apps for Education users will not see ads when they use Google Search signed in to their Apps for Education accounts."
As far as "student records privacy" goes, there is tons of case law siding with schools and email providers - there is no expectation of privacy when you are using someone else's email system:
Reichert v. Elizabethtown College, 2011 WL 3438318 (E.D.Pa. August 5, 2011)
We provide computer networks for school work related use. Any other use is unacceptable as defined in our acceptable use policy. If students want privacy, they should use their own systems on their own time.
That's why every other year, when I run an Android device I only run a Nexus device. Pure Android on hardware that works, with frequent updates. Nexus devices are as good as Android gets. I made the mistake of running a Motorola Razr - what a cluster that was.
Slashdot Mirror
We have iPads at our school, and they do help dyslexic kids learn how to read with apps like Lexia and Learning Ally.
That said, iPads - like most Apple products, are difficult to manage in a corporate environment. Apple's configuration tools are sparse, and they simply have no native MDM solution.
Third party solutions like Airwatch are a joke. They count on the end user to keep policies applied to the device under threat of not accessing corporate resources. Unfortunately kids don't care about that stuff and gladly remove the policies.
Things have gotten a bit better with iOS 8, but the fact remains that these devices were designed for a single end user, not for widespread, managed, multi-user environments.
We've slowed our adoption of iPads in favor of Chromebooks. They are much better for management and control of the end user experience.
"A prudent school administrator could build an MS-centric environment for the same initial cost as a Google-centric one, and with the same on-going costs."
No way.
The Microsoft cloud approach still requires Anti-Virus and associated management, it still requires a way to image the computers to some configuration standard, it offers no way to distribute configuration and security policies based on computer or user profiles.
To get anywhere near what Google is offering in terms of Google's security and management will require "pro" operating system licensing, domain controllers, CALs, centralized anti-virus, and an imaging solution - none of those are free.
We have bought Samsung, Dell, and HP chromebooks - the Dell's seem to be built the best. In two years in a school with 150 users, we've had one broken power connector.
They are durable enough. And at less than $300 - all in - they are easily replaceable.
Microsoft's legacy architecture means that there will (realistically) never be a really secure version of windows. To properly secure windows (as I did when I ran a network for a bank) you need to disable practically everything and limit what the end user can do online. In those scenarios, Microsoft operating systems can work, but it is far from ideal.
The "walled garden" approach of companies like Apple and Google is fantastic for organizations like schools. We can allow staff and students to run apps from a safe repository in the cloud. Their data lives in the cloud - decoupled from the local operating system - and even the local network. This combination of control and flexibility as well as the walled garden approach is ideal for schools.
To be fair, this is possible in the windows world, but it requires quite a lot of administration and work. It requires group policies, careful delegation of permissions, patch management, anti-virus, disk imaging...etc....etc.
The Google Apps ecosystem does away with all of this - and the cost benefits are undeniable.
The problem is not active directory. The problem is the "cloud login" used on these low cost Microsoft computers is a Microsoft live login and not an office 365 login.
It's a stupid oversight that complicates management and the overall user experience.
The Google Apps way is simply easier and cheaper.
You've never had to deal with students and staff remembering their logins and passwords I'm guessing.
With too many logins to remember you'll need a full-time help desk just to deal with password resets.
The beauty of the Google Apps ecosystem is that you can deploy and manage tons of these things with minimal staff.
OS licensing upgrades and CALS cost money....lots of money. Google Apps, beyond hardware and management license is free. Centrally managed apps, user data, and policies.
It really is quite compelling once you get beyond the old "Microsoft way" of doing things.
We've had great success with our Chromebook deployment. For most computing tasks, they are cheap and easy. They boot quickly and management is a snap.
Microsoft is now trying to duplicate this success. They are giving away Office 365 E1 subscriptions to schools and non-profits. I will grant MS this, their online versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint are quite good and closely mimic the desktop versions.
Now for the bad:
1. Microsoft's "version" of a chromebook is something like the HP Stream 14. It's about the same price and about the same quality. Unfortunately, these do not run a locked-down/hardened version of windows. They run the same desktop OS everything else does. This means you need AV, imaging tools....etc to mass deploy these things. Chromebooks don't need any of that stuff.
2. The OS that ships in the cheapy laptops cannot be joined to a traditional domain. User management and policies for these devices cannot be centrally managed. Google's management tools are fantastic.
3. Logins everywhere. To login to these cheapy windows devices, you need to either have local accounts, or a "live" or "microsoft account". This means you need a "live" login to get past the login screen, and an Office 365 login to do any work - it's madness.
In-short, Microsoft is jumping into cloud computing and chasing the incumbents in a half-assed way. Situation normal over at Microsoft.
than I am of AI harming people.
She was a do-nothing at Lucent.
She was a do-nothing at HP.
She would be a do-nothing as President.
Hey - maybe a President that does absolutely nothing wouldn't be a bad thing at this point.
When an economy has 8-10% unemployment, that economy should not import labor for any reason. Governments exist to protect it's citizens - that includes REASONABLE immigration policies.
I'm the second generation of a family of immigrants. My grandparents came here almost 10 years apart due to restrictive immigration policies. Generally grandpa waited his place in line, came here with a sponsor, worked, and paid taxes. After establishing himself here, was he allowed to bring over the rest of the family.
Allowing too many people into a country, too quickly, is a sure fire way to hurt the local workforce, and stress social support systems to their breaking point.
Unfortunately the politicians in charge don't give a damn about the citizens they claim to serve.
Those "pesky regulations" are the exact cause of this problem - and is the exact reason why Libertarians want government out of employer/labor relations.
If government had not given favored immigration status to tech workers, the free market would naturally settle on wages via supply and demand. Tech companies with the aid of the US government distorted the labor market to increase supply and drive down wages.
An Econ 101 student could understand this and see what is happening. Why you can't is a mystery.
Entertaining movie about this:
http://www.fathead-movie.com/
I tried a "low-cholesterol" diet and it made my lipid profiles worse. I went on cholesterol drugs, and they had awful side effects. Finally I gave up the cholesterol meds and started restricting carbs. My lipid profiles got much better and I've decided to simply live as a "borderline" case without cholesterol meds.
I'm 20 pounds lighter, and I feel a hell of a lot better than on the meds.
I'm not sure medical science understands (well enough) the relationship between carbs/blood sugar/cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. The low-fat diet and food pyramid is probably the worst thing ever foisted on the American people. With 30 years of run-away obesity and diabetes, maybe it's time to admit failure with those recommendations.
We still let cereal manufacturers pitch their wares as "heart-healthy" - what a joke.
Our schools are in a part of the country with decent access to broadband. Both schools where I work have roughly 100 Mbps access via Cable Modem or FIOS for less than $200 per month.
If you don't have decent broadband choices near your schools, E-rate won't make that problem any better. All it will ensure is that your local school district spends thousands of dollars per month on private connections that are mostly unnecessary.
The FCC should focus on getting multiple broadband providers into every market across the country. Once that problem is solved, the E-rate program will not be necessary.
Our experiences mirror yours. We've had great success with chromebooks, but the iPad thing is still a pain.
I recently spoke to a couple of Apple reps about their lack of focus on enterprise management for iPads. I explained how terrible the Apple Configurator is, and how their new Apple Device Enrollment Program is simply not enough. Apple needs to stop relying on third parties for large scale management if iOS devices. They need to build a management portal similar to Google's device management portal - and they needed it yesterday.
As a long time Apple fan, I still admit - Apple sucks at enterprise management.
We've successfully implemented chromebooks - their low cost and ease of management can not be beat.
Your model of office coupled with local storage is a dinosaur. Modern companies (where your students will eventually work) require a mobile workforce that can connect and collaborate from anywhere. Getting your students onto cloud based apps and data prepares them for how they will work in their future careers.
We do not have kids walk around with laptops. We have carts in each classroom, and laptops are pulled out as needed. Students don't walk around with other classroom materials like microscopes and yardsticks. Why would you make kids walk around with computers?
Chromebooks work well in a "classroom cart" environment. They boot quickly, their data is stored in the cloud, and they shutdown quickly. The instructional overhead of traditional windows based computers simply does not exist with chromebooks.
We have some traditional Mac desktops for staff members and for special purpose labs, but for general purpose computing chromebooks can not be beat.
I merely implemented the solution in software. Is that cheating?
Yeah, I wrote the recursive algorithm in Pascal, but I didn't "invent" the solution. Somebody a long time ago did that.
Unless you are doing PHD level research into something no one else has done, most undergrad work is a rehash of something someone else already figured out.
The point is to learn the material - how you learn it is irrelevant. Presumably, college professors have a way to measure your knowledge before giving you a grade - I think that is called a.......test.
See our war on drugs, or revisit the prohibition of Alcohol in the US if you doubt me.
Just because you would give up guns, does not mean that bad people would.
I've bought tons of IP cameras in the past - all of them have varying degrees of crappyness. Do you really want to lean on WiFi during an emergency?
Direct cabled SDI cameras to a network connected DVRs are they way to go - but it's doubtful those would be any cheaper in a large scale installation. I've priced out systems in the $30k range for a mid size building. A large building could easily cost $100k.
The real issue is whether or not these costs are acceptable for what is a statistically rare event.
These gifts and grants are nice, but without long-term funding of support staff this is what happens:
http://www.njspotlight.com/sto...
You can't simply push tons of technology into schools and forget about it. The "light the fuse and run" approach never works. You need a staff of technology people who will train staff, maintain and repair the tech, and integrate the technology into the curriculum.
Without adequate support, these systems will simply collect dust and end up in a storage locker.
Everyone is entitled to equal opportunity, but absolutely no one is guaranteed equality in outcome.
So long as the CS field is accessible to everyone - that's all that matters. If a group of people decide that CS work is not for them - that's OK. That is how markets work.
We should stop wringing our hands about things we cannot control and start focusing our efforts on real problems.
Your main concerns seem to be:
1. Cost
2. Management
3. Data location/security
4."Cloud"/internet access?
1 and 2. Google's chromebook/apps platform is completely free. You buy a chromebook (about $250) and a management license ($30) - and that's it. Your Microsoft products and their supporting management/backup software cost way more than that - I know - I bought them for years.
3. Backing up your data - google backs up your data to data centers all over the world and snapshots your data so you can go back in time - again for free. I've bought EMC and Dell SANs - even the cheap ones are very expensive.
4. Cloud/internet access. We have existing filtering systems in place, and our chromebooks work with those systems just like our old machines did. Google also goes one step further by giving you the tools in their management console to build web access policies. You can make web access as tight or as loose as you like. The really great thing is that these policies are applied directly to the machine. If a student takes a chromebook home, those policies are still enforced. This means that web filtering is no longer tied to your physical network located at the school.
The bottom line is that this is where computing is going. Just like it is usually not efficient to generate your own power and water, it will soon not be efficient to generate every IT system you use in house. Sure, lots of people will fight that trend, but efficiency always wins. It's going to be very hard to justify hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) poured into your datacenters, when competing schools are doing similar things for free (or near free).
There are no ads in either the Google Apps for Education service or the Nonprofit service.
From the Google Apps for Education - Common Questions:
"For all EDU domains ads are turned off in Google Apps for Education services and K-12 Google Apps for Education users will not see ads when they use Google Search signed in to their Apps for Education accounts."
As far as "student records privacy" goes, there is tons of case law siding with schools and email providers - there is no expectation of privacy when you are using someone else's email system:
Reichert v. Elizabethtown College, 2011 WL 3438318 (E.D.Pa. August 5, 2011)
http://blog.internetcases.com/...
We provide computer networks for school work related use. Any other use is unacceptable as defined in our acceptable use policy. If students want privacy, they should use their own systems on their own time.
That's why every other year, when I run an Android device I only run a Nexus device. Pure Android on hardware that works, with frequent updates. Nexus devices are as good as Android gets. I made the mistake of running a Motorola Razr - what a cluster that was.