It's a tricky one. Owning stuff brings a responsibility, and I'm not sure schools really need more responsibility especially when there are no accompanying resources to manage it.
I just noticed a "Catch of the Day" offering of a cheap netbook AND a year's wireless internet access (30 hrs a month) for under $200. OK it's a non-brand netbook but it's here, now, not some invention that might hit the market in 3 years time. And this is a one-off purchase - if you wanted a few hundred I guess they'd be cheaper still, or better equipment for the same cost. With technology this cheap, why would schools want to take responsibility for owning and providing it to students? Seems pretty close to the point where we could expect parents to provide this. With a 2-year lifespan this cost is under $2 a week. With tax breaks, even less. I've seen more spent on sports shoes. And if parents/students own the netbook, they have the responsibility to charge it, to make sure it works, to look after it etc. Freeing schools up from that task and letting them do something more useful with their support staff. Remember the pain of schools owning calculators and lending them to students? Why keep on that path? It seems to me that schools insisting on owning the technology that students use is buying into a management problem unnecessarily. There are some good reasons for schools owning the hardware, but they seem to be outweighed by the downside. Any thoughts on this? ken > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:12 PM > To: QSITE ICT Teachers > Subject: [qsiteict] thinking about 'take-home' laptops for students? > > Sorry if cross-posted: > I've just been following the news about the 'privacy issues' > raised by Lower Merion School District in the US. This is the > district where one of the schools allegedly took photos of a > student by remotely accessing their laptop's webcam. > > Arising from this issue, Christopher Dawson from ZDnet > Education asks whether school-owned laptops are a good idea. > If you're considering spending the Education Revolution money > on laptops for the students to take home, it'd be worth a read. > URL: http://bit.ly/bX6D3f > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER Information in this transmission is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying or dissemination of the information is unauthorised and you should delete/destroy all copies and notify the sender. No liability is accepted for any unauthorised use of the information contained in this transmission. This disclaimer has been automatically added. --- You are currently subscribed to qsiteict as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://apps-7.edna.edu.au:83/u?id=705742.d42ea647e85be3beb25392eea1a77f09&n=T&l=qsiteict&o=1636844 or send a blank email to leave-1636844-705742.d42ea647e85be3beb25392eea1a77...@edna.edu.au
