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Editorial - Mac OS X in Enterprise and Education 
Note to self - When turning one's self into literal flame bait, coat with fire retardant..
By Dr. Tim Hillman, OSXFAQ Senior Editor - Enterprise and Education
My last offering supposed that X-enabled Macs make a better choice in a
school environment for a variety of reasons. When posted on an advocacy
news list, an enormous number of posts and threads popped up, with a score
of readers jumping all over each other (and me) about education, and macs
in education. With due respect to those individuals posting with good
intent, let's take time to do a reality check.
First, for those that dismiss the messenger as a writer for an advocacy
site, and therefore not deserving of trust, imagine for a moment that I'm
actually writing outside my chosen profession. So what's the day job?
Educator. 22 years on the job. Another 7 years in college, and 4 in high
school. Six different schools, spanning the introduction of the Apple until
now. In that time, I've worked on everything from mini-computers to Palms.
Haven't used a Pocket PC yet. Probably a matter of time.
Job description as of today? Computer Department Chair, and responsible for
integration of technology across the curriculum at an anonymous Catholic
school. What school doesn't matter. Here's the rub though.
As you discuss technology in education, get a grasp on a simple fact. Noone
has got this thing right yet, or are even close to it. Justification? Quick
and simple. Please identify the killer app for technology integration. Or
write it even- the world would beat a path to your door.
New technologies (because even a pencil is tecnology Bunky) are adopted in
schools becasue the market demands that they are. Hence, school after
school around the world has been turned into the home of a network that
would satisfy many a small business. What are they doing with them? Less
than you imagine. Take a ride on the following web site: ride.ri.net.
That's the place where you can monitor internet use by schools across the
state. You can check their bandwidth, use of bandwidth, and little more.
If you choose to take part in this little exercise, you will find that the
Internet is used sporadically in many schools. Why? Despite the training
they've been given, even young teachers are drawn to the craft from a
desire to teach, and usually, that means teaching with their mouth and
hands- not the high tech white board sitting in the corner. IT people will
talk a great show, but the ugly secret is that much of this technology is
going to waste.
Some teachers are making great use of the tools, and others won't touch
them, even when their tenure is waved in their face. They do not believe in
technology for technology's sake. they believe in sound practice and
results. They don't always succeed, but that's the reason that you can walk
through the average school and see fewer than 30% of the teachers using new
technologies on a routing basis. That's reality. Now, notice that I've
spent this entire brief essay, to this point, without mentioning Apple
Computer, or their role in education. Apple and Microsoft are red herrings.
Wintel clones abound for financial reasons alone. A perceived TCO smaller
than X's TCO is what keeps Windows running in the school environment. The
charge to schools was simple. Get technology, and get it fast. At first,
that meant Apple, because there was not a viable alternative. Windows
created the alternative.
I watched as one lab went from 30 Macs and 2 seldom used PC's to a PC house
as parent's demanded hardware compatible with what they used at work and
could afford at home. Advantage? Windows. There was nothing wrong with the
Macs, and certainly nothing that recommended the nascent Windows 3.1 over
OS 6. Finance spoke a different story however. Game, point, match.
Still, with 42 years of my life in schools, I've yet to see the killer app
that makes one platform the only solution. An X enabled G-4 is however, the
most user-friendly and dependable product for the market. As I supposed
before, it brings a great deal to the table that a Windows machine doesn't.
Yes. It doesn't print as easily to legacy networks (I live in Novell 3.11
world- imagine an iBook there) and file sharing can still be nasty.
I sit at a desk each day though and marvel at that iBook's ability to
convert even the staunchest Windows users. There is something to that. Oh,
and if you can name that killer? Tell me. It needs to get out.
If you have any questions or comments about this feel free to e-mail me at: tim_hillman@osxfaq.com
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