Our school district in Illinois, Naperville IL district 203 did it a two years ago for teachers. Every teacher got a laptop. They went the Wintel way. Then they wired all the schools, bought software, upgraded software. Now the laptops are slow...(winNT on a laptop, enough said) outdated (win95 dual boot), printing is not networked. Not many enough rooms are wired, so you can't pick up and say go to the lunchroom, gym, library and work. The school district had to hire one person to TEACH the teachers how to use the machines. The school district is also in debt and in the red! The cost of the laptops was one thing...we knew what that was going to be. The other costs, assorted wiring etc etc was enormous and unknown at the time. What is the ultimate cost? Well...many student programs are being cut.
My biggest beaf with them is that if they had gone the Apple way, with airport etc....the cost savings would have been huge! They committed to MicroCost and now the kids will pay.
At least Maine has the right idea. Its for the students....and the upfront cost for building the infrastructure is known.
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Our school district in Illinois, Naperville IL district 203 did it a two years ago for teachers. Every teacher got a laptop. They went the Wintel way. Then they wired all the schools, bought software, upgraded software. Now the laptops are slow...(winNT on a laptop, enough said) outdated (win95 dual boot), printing is not networked. Not many enough rooms are wired, so you can't pick up and say go to the lunchroom, gym, library and work. The school district had to hire one person to TEACH the teachers how to use the machines. The school district is also in debt and in the red! The cost of the laptops was one thing...we knew what that was going to be. The other costs, assorted wiring etc etc was enormous and unknown at the time. What is the ultimate cost? Well...many student programs are being cut. My biggest beaf with them is that if they had gone the Apple way, with airport etc....the cost savings would have been huge! They committed to MicroCost and now the kids will pay. At least Maine has the right idea. Its for the students....and the upfront cost for building the infrastructure is known.