LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Date sent: 17-JAN-1995 08:45:33
Sorrry to take so long compiling and posting
In depends on your needs.
If portability is so important, then the decision is obvious.
However, you need to pay much more for a laptop than a desktop for equal
power. Also, think about the security problems posed by laptops. Will
they
be secured somehow? Do you have the manpower (sorry, personpower) to be
unlocking and locking them at a moment's notice? Who will be responsible
for
keeping track of them? Will they be going home with teachers? When
teachers
have a laptop to take home, I think they they are more enthusiastic about
preparing lessons.
Also, are you going with ibm or mac? Big difference in laptop prices.
However, if you don't need color, you can get macs fairly cheap.
Michele,
Up until a couple of months ago, I would have said desk top all the way.
_However_ the prices of laptops have come way down and the quality has
gone way up so I am, at this point, exactly in the middle of the road!!
If I could have anything I wanted, I would reverse what we have now. We
have a Mac in every (almost every?) room, a laptop for the principal, and
a laptop to be loaned. Instead, I think, I would give each teacher and
administrator a laptop (or, at the bare minimum, a laptop for each of the
8 "teams".) In addition, I would have a small network of desktop
computers w/CD-ROM. This would involve some pretty solid ground rules -
who is responsible if the laptop gets lost, stolen, or broken, are
students allowed to use them or check them out, etc.?
I guess my answer for the moment, though, would be that I would decide how
to get the most for my money. I would rather have features like larger
hard drives, more memory, etc. than portability and I would rather order
three desk tops than two laptops. There must be a compromise somewhere.
Good luck with your new school! Happy Holidays!
Karen Chepko
kchepko@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
The use of Laptops is neat and has the potential for a lot of learning
extensions out of the classroom. However, expect a marked increase in
maintenance and theft. Laptops also tend to cost more than similarly
equiped
desktop models, so your dollars are either going to purchase less laptops
or
less powerful ones to maintain the same numbers. You will also have to
consider battery life, which tends to be relatively short, particularly if
your batteries are not regularly reconditioned. In addition, at least in
our
experience, a large number of students have PC's at home and therefore
would
not require the loan of equipment.
Scott Baker :-)
Teacher Specially Assigned
Computers in Education
Scarborough Board of Edcuation
Scott_Baker@scribe.sbe.scarborough.on.ca
-----------------
ScriBE, the Scarborough Board of Education BBS, Canada
Michele, Our edtech sends this message:
You MUST read "How to make your child PC literate" in Fortune Magazine
Nov. 14, 1994. The new trend is to go with all laptops and do away with
labs except to teach computer classes. Supposedly laptops are more
feasible and more efficient for classroom teachers.
If you wish to coorespond further with her you may reach Julie at
(jmansfie@ideaner.doe.state.in.us)
I am Rebecca Dann the elementary librarian at South Adams in Berne Indiana.
You may reach me at (rdann@ideanet.doe.state.in.us)
It depends on who's paying & what you are using them for. We debated
whether
or not we should require our students to purchase laptops. We found that
for
applications in subject areas like music or science, additional equipment
would be needed making laptops impractical or too expensive to require
students to purchase.
Hope this helps a little.
Michelle, One of the nearby schools solved this question
with a group of five desktops and one docking laptop (for
the teacher or a student to take home. Each classroom will
have a station set up in this way. Makes sense to me.
Have a nice holiday.
--
Donna Carroll
Alden High School
Alden, NY 14004
ac862@freenet.buffalo.edu
Hi again,
My high school opened in August 1993. We have 8 computer labs spread
about the school, and are 80% IBM and 20% Mac. We have a Novell network
which links all the IBMs. I have a lab of 6 Macs and 10 IBMs off the
media center which I supervise. When we looked into portables the cost
was almost 2x as much as a desk top unit for the ones that "dock" into
the network. We visited a school with the same networking configuration
that purchased 4 laptops which they checked out to students and
teachers. They had modems on these circulating units so that the patron
could access the network from home.
When we built the high school we hired a technology director away from
the company that handled the installation of the computer network. His
name is Pat Holz and his phone number is 317-362-2340. We are on break
now until Jan.3, but Pat is usually willing to share his opinions on what
works best.
Our Macs are in the English dept. lab and are not networked around the
school. It was a change order and extra cost had not been considered
initially.
I hope this helps. You are always welcome to come visit. It is warmer
here than in Wisconsin. My brother lives in Cedarburg,WI and told tales of
a hard winter last year.
Kathy Keck kkeck@ideanet.doe.state.in.us
Crawfordsville High School Crawfordsville, IN
#11 9-JAN-1995 11:56:53.62
laptop
I would take the portables everytime over a lab setting. More flexible in
every way. Especially good when you only want a few students working in a
classroom setting on the computers. No worries about not being able to get
into the lab because another class is in there but you only want a couple
of
computers.
Michele Missner
Appleton High School West
610 N. Badger
Appleton, wi 54914
voice (414) 832-4162 (business)
730-0768 (home)
fax (414) 832-6239
Bitnet - missnerm@oshkoshw
Internet - missnerm@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu
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