I was asked for a hit for my question about Thin Client technology. We
haven't made a decision yet, but for our elementary school I don't think
it is what we want because of the limits of using programs with lots of
graphics. Here are the responses:
No database programs or programs with lots of graphics will work. Our
business lab was converted to this system last year. It was a "money
saving" move. They are only able to use the typing program and Word.
Nothing on CD-Rom can be used. If they all try to log in at the same
time
(like at the beginning of class...), it all shuts down. It has been
nothing but trouble from the beginning. If one is down, they are all
down, and that's about half of the time. If I could avoid it in any
way,
I would.
I am very familiar with Thin-Client solutions and think they are great
however I too understand the cost issues with Citrix as well as some of
the compatibility issues. We recently helped to install a thin-client
system at a school district that was not based upon Citrix but that
instead used what was called and EzThin solution and it is just as
functional and a lot less cost-wise. I have attached a press release we
put out about it. I hope this information is helpful. Please do not
hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
We have thin clients at the HS and MS, and one each in the three grades
2-5 buildings. Students
can not save anything which is a problem at the HS and MS. We are
installing some external
drives for that purpose. Ours do time out and reconnecting is
simple;also great that the kids can't
change the homepage, etc. Machines seem pretty fast. Rose
We have a lab like you are describing. I dislike it.
We do not have access to our floppy drives on any of those computers
once
the students are logged on. Only a few of them have the programs
accessible without connecting to the network, so no printers, no word
program on most of them. If we have a problem with the network we can't
print or save their work to their folders and we can't even rescue their
documents because of the no floppy drives.
Also, only one computer can have clip art open at a time. So, we have
to
tell them to be quick.
They are slow, it takes forever to log on. If you have a complete class
in there logging on at the same time, it can take up to 5 minutes for
the
last ones to finally connect.
Yes, we are able to use older computers in this lab, and the tech guys
like it because they only have to load programs to the main computer not
to a lab of 30. But, the down sides out weigh what they like. I'm the
one that has to deal with the hassles, so I've started calling them
every
time we have trouble so they know how often we have to re-boot the
server. Loose data or whatever else is happening.
We are a 9-12 Catholic high school. We use Citrix and
have for 3 years. So far so good. Yes, there are some
software products that don't "play well with citrix"
but usually there are other programs that can be used
instead.
Many of our teachers access the server from home. It
is better to have DSL or Cable access for this as dial
up is painfully slow.
Mary, The school district in which I teach (Wall Township, NJ) installed
theThin Client computer System about three years ago. We also operate
with
a "Winschool" software by Chancery to do grades, attendance, lesson
plans,
etc, etc. I am happy with this system and so are my three school age
children. We can access the system at school and from home through the
internet and we do quite frequently. The biggest downfall at school is
not
being able to use CD's or floppys because there aren't any CD ROMS with
our
system. We can alleviate this problem, though, by accessing from home
and
copying to a CD or floppy at home. I will also frequently e-mail myself
at
home to transfer information I want backed up at home. We are also
encouraged to print out our grades frequently and keep a copy just in
case
we needed to back up our grades if there was a problem with the system.
It's been three years and I have never lost anything. (Knock on wood!!)
We have thin client at our school. This is our third year. Wow, what a
difference. Now our computers run 99% of the time. Rarely do we have a
problem. We have Windows 2000 with stringent controls on what they can
do,
which has also helped.
My one complaint is fairly small. The way our tech set it up, the a: is
called A Client (A:) High school students don't get it. We have pretty
much trained them to just type in a: in the file name box to bypass the
confusion, but it is still there. We haven't figured out how to keep
students from moving/deleting icons from the desktop either, but it is
no
big deal to replace them. Some of this could possibly change, should we
invest in hiring a private company to manage small portions, but the
financial outlay isn't worth it.
Hope this helps. I would never go back!
The advantage to a thin client system is that with everything on the
server,
you don't need to set up everything on the individual machines. The
disadvantage of the thin client system is that with everything on the
server, you can't set up as much on the individual machines! Does every
one
in the school use the same application software? Or do some teachers
have
cherished reading readiness software and others solid geometry
three-dimensional modeling software (both of which use lots of
processing
cycles and bandwidth to run from a server)?
In the Augusta County schools we are in the process of taking the last
of
what amount to thin client machines (IBM EduQuests) to the landfill.
The
processes just ran too slowly with everything on the server and they
were
too hard to upgrade. The one company that tried to upgrade them went
under
and only bought us a couple of years of use.
If you have a very compact physical plant and nobody does much with
their
computers different from anybody else, this might work for you. If you
have
teachers who are used to doing what they want with "their" computers you
will have many unhappy faculty members who might look for another place
to
work.
Good luck!
Thanks to everyone for your help.
Mary Buitendorp
--
Mary Buitendorp
Media Specialist
Grand Haven Christian School
Grand Haven, MI 49417
mbuitend@remc7.k12.mi.us
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