So you want a learning revolution?
Fill the 'G - Eureka Flag by young_einstein There has been an interesting ciscussion thread on the IT thread with some school IT managers noting that the best thing they did was to 'roll back' to Windows XP.
A senior school administrator pointed at an Apple curriculum iMac and demanded to know why I was running Firefox instead of the DEECD standard Internet Explorer. Counterpart at VicRoads laughed when I mentioned that DEECD deployed VISTA on all our central admin computers. Ironically, one noted on this Apple iPhone that we need to take the lead from Industry and give our students the latest and greatest.
Admist this blind passion and madness, lets take a quick reality check.
Faster computing doesnt really equate to faster thinking. Flasher desktops dont really equate to better looking outcomes. We are preparing students to be great kids with strategies like play and exploration. Lets not turn them into smaller versions adults or industrial fodder. A fun lesson does equate to constructive learning and can even be done with a stick on the beach sand. (grumpy old man waves stick)
I have heard al this before and held my tongue and patience .. until the troops rioted.
After forming a stockade made out of old bits that fell off the Levono computers and hoisting the southern cross, we held our ground and insisted that it was our choice where to dig and what to dig with. (Apologies to Peter Lalor)
Seriously though .. at the last laptop rollout, all our staff for this lease cycle chose a MacBook so I decided to take the plunge too. It took me thee days to figure out the slightly different keys, two weeks to regain full productivity and a plate of sushi to bribe a neighbouring teacher all the cool MacBook tricks and tweaks she knew for OSX and Windows. Yes, you get the best of both worlds!
Twas easy peasy and I didn't have to wear white shoes or vinyl jackets.
As I pointed out to the government troops gathering on the hills around us, it isnt a case of what system or vendor is the best, it is about the freedom of choice and it was my duty to respect that choice .. not endorse a FUD or misinformation campaign. After initially raising their eyebrows, our techs have now endorsed the move. This January we deployed 170 iMacs (you can add Linux Netbooks and SunRay thin clients to the list).
So they want a learning revolution heh? I'll give them one :-)