Teacher magazine has published an article about the decline of Macs in education. "Faced with the prospect of a Mac-less classroom, teachers are waging guerilla war against principals, superintendents and school boards that dare to mess with their machines. Their arguments are rooted in reason -- Macs make for better learning tools, they say."
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Computers before secondary school are even more important now than when you and I grew up.
Class supplemented with computers are key.
Computers will only become more prevalent as time goes on. It only makes sense to make them prevalent in classrooms as well.
The question of what computing platform to use (and support ) in schools has basically fallen in the hands of IT departments. With the advent and proliferation of the network paradigm, more and more school districts have turned over the computer helm to IT professionals, many of whom have little to no experience in the classroom (or school environment) or with Macs. Though these people profess to bring a sense of order and standardization to what they see as the education "Tower of Babble," thus enabling teachers and students to better serve in the the "real world," their creed exhibits several fundamental flaws. First, technology needs to server the user, not the other way around. No matter how you spin the bottle, the primary function of technology in schools is to provide students with the tools necessary to inspire, and reinforce thinking and problem solving skills. While the machines and software that kids use will constantly change, the basic concepts for developing critical thinking skills stays relatively the same. Anyone who learns these skills will be successful in the "real-world,' no matter what technological tool THEY choose to employ. Having said that, let's turn the other half of the equation: the part where IT crys that it is too expensive to support multiple platforms. The facts speak clearly here, that many of the many Mac installs NEVER needed an IT help structure to begin with . . . contrary to major PC installations. Given a modicum of computer experience and/or training, most Mac support personnel can keep a school network up and running with little difficulty. In the "real-world" where school districts are having problems finding and keeping qualified teachers, how are they going to attract and keep the type of PC support personnel this platform demands? In my district, most people that have acquired PC skills /certifications, have left the education field for higher paying buisness jobs. And, who's to blame them! Thus, schools will never be able truly emulate a business model, nor should they! IT departments are a necessary component of a networked technology infrastructure, but their job is to serve the business of education; not dictate how educators are to complete their business. Apple has a long track record of providing products and services focused on education related issues . . .not just providing cheap prices. Certainly, Apple should become more price competitive, but the cumulative time saved in maintaining their systems has more that recouped the extra dollars spent on initial purchases.
This is very true, especially where I work (an affluent school north of Chicago).
It used to be a hybrid school - Mac/PC. Macs in the science, english, art, and music depts, and PC's in administration and networking. This past summer, they hired a new "technology coordinator". He decided to go all PC, using the justification that "No one in the real world uses Macs." Each of the departments that used their macs showed him how wrong he was. In addition, I held an all school survey that showed that 20-25% of the students owned Macs at home. Nevertheless, he had made his decision based on the fact that his people were Novell workers. (Novell is made for a windows system) Since Groupwise didn't work as well on macs as on PCs, they made the decision to switch.
Each of the ex-mac departments complains about their current PCs, but the administration says that the Tech Coordinator knows best, and gave him the keys to the city.
End Result: No macs, unhappy teaching staff.
Apple's pricing wasn't the major sticking point... You could get iMacs for the same as Dell's with the same equipment. It was the TC's opinion that Macs were worse, and so he wouldn't buy them, even with all the evidence that the school used them.
When confronted with the prospecs of OS X, his exact words were: "I don't want any kind of unix on my machines." (And he calls himself a responsible TC?)
My 2 cents worth.
JB
This is exactly what has happened in my school. I would like to "borrow" a few of the ideas to try to save the Macs at our school. The teachers that actually use technology for things other than "typing" prefer Macs, but no one really listens. Why do these "tech guys" almost always hate Macs? Our schools "TC" has said most of the same things mentioned in these posts. I don't understand why? If students and staff can be more productive with Macs, and Macs can exist on a network with Windows machines why do these folks want to eliminate them?
This is such a "hot-button" topic these days. Every school needs them. Students are severly handicapped without them. Old schools can't get them, but new ones can. The problem is, they're pretty pointless. They should be banned! They end up being a crutch. Don't know the answer, lets check the web. Lets ask Jeeves. Can't be bothered with my own research. I'll just read other people's research and assume its correct. Problem is, half the research on the internet is slanted, half-done, or lacking the references to back up the info. Back in my day (the days of horse buggies and the last Ice Age), they wouldn't allow calculators in Math class. Why? Because if all you had to do is learn to punch the buttons, you don't know whats really happening. You can get the same answers as doing it by hand, but you haven't gained any knowledge.
And I have yet to see computers showing a positive impact. They've been putting them in for years, and we still hear about bad test scores and falling standards. A little teaching and a little discipline can take you a lot farther than knowing how to fire up excel.
IT "professionals" don't like Macs because they know nothing about them. I have met people who actually believe that the Mac's display is still either black and white or green and not capable of colour.
The "cross platform is too expensive" argument is bull. The only environment too expensive to support is Windows. I work as a tech at a school. We were 100% Mac until last year when one single lab of 30 PCs running Windows 98 were purchased. Comparing my earnings for support to last year, I've made 5x as much money and we're only half way through the school year!
The IT guys from my school district, contrary to others, are actually quite interested in Mac OS X for its Unix underpinnings. They're already familiar with BSD Unix and are fed up with Windows NT. However, it's the suits above them who make the decisions for which platforms to support so they're forced to use Windows; that's why many are running to the Unix division.
Regardless of the extra money I would make for support, I've told my boss that as soon as PCs make up 51% of the computers in the school, I'm gone. The headaches and frustration levels are not worth it.
I don't know how many of you noticed it, but there was a major error in this article.
In Big Mac Attack, Tanz states that in the year 2000, "Apple lost its lead in the education market. It fell to number two behind Dell, a rival PC maker." Actually, this
statement is completely false. While Dell's numbers for the year 2000 put them first in face-to-face sales for education, Apple's direct sales almost doubled those of Dell, giving them the top spot for the umpteenth straight year.
Before you write, check the facts.
And by the way — Think Different.
Having worked in Internet Tech Support, I can tell you why most techs hate Macs: they've never used one for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. They spend eight hours hunched in front of a Windows box, and then when they go home, they either can't stand to use their own computer or have it set up as a Linux box and spend all evening trying to improve the system. I, on the other hand, found my own computer to be a joy to use. After eight hours in front of an unnamed computer (which was eventually dubbed "Hel," and not by me), it was nice to come home to BJ and Luka and have them start up and actually work.
As an aside, it's interesting to note that, barring any unforeseen delays, it takes about fifteen minutes to get Windows 4.x set up for internet use. (I can say that, having done it literally hundreds of times.) In contrast, it takes about five minutes to set up a Mac, and that without a printed manual.
And before anyone says anything, no, Windows' Internet Connection Wizard is not equivalent to Apple's Internet Setup Assistant. ICW lets you name the connection and establish a phone number, but nothing else. Even after running it, you still have to open up Dial-Up Networking, the Modem CP, and the Network CP to make sure that everything is in place. (For example, even if you have the right DNS settings, you may not be able to connect if they're entered in both Network and DUN. Go figure.)
Internet Setup Assistant, on the other hand, has you completely ready to go in a few simple steps. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions, and when you're done, it'll even connect for you! Now that's service!
Just my 2˘….
What, this is news? Corporate IT has been plotting to wipe out Macs for ages! There is no profit in selling/supporting Macs.
Like a drug dealer, they get you to buy PC's, then you're hooked on their support. Like it or not, you're an addict to Wintel control.
On the other hand, they spend much marketing dollars on lies to convince the public that PC's are "modern." Right... Twenty year old architecture is modern? It been a smoke-and-mirrors scam all these years. Corporate honchos get kickbacks from the Wintel side, and as they get richer, the world loses productivity and creativity.
All that matters is: "You can fool most of the people most of the time."
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poor target of comparison
Actually books make better learning tools. Macs may be better for this than Windows boxen, but that doesn't actually make them a positive influence in the classroom. The best approach is probably a largely computerless one, especially before secondary school.