Low cost laptops for schools
Yesterday, I wrote about the different products that are creeping out into the market, which offer the chance to change your model for ICT provision in school, and to make a rapid shift to ICT-enabled teaching and learning for all pupils. Later on, one of my colleagues came and asked me for a bit of advice - basically, how do you choose - what are the compromises that have to be made when choosing different options.
So, in case you have the same question, here's my quick-and-simple take on the choices & compromises today:
|
Choosing a low-cost laptop |
Pros |
Cons |
|
Screen Size |
|
|
|
Larger, high resolution (eg above 8” and 1024x768) |
Easier to read & don’t lose all of the screen to menus |
Battery life reduce |
|
Smaller, lower resolution |
Longer battery life
Okay for web surfing |
Not a replacement for a full PC/laptop |
|
Battery Life |
|
|
|
High capacity battery |
4 hours is enough to provide use for a whole school day (assuming it is not on all the time!) |
Weighs more – can students carry it always? |
|
Lower capacity battery |
More practical to carry everywhere, because of weight |
Need to allow students to recharge battery during day |
|
Operating Systems |
|
|
|
Linux |
Fast boot
Cheapest (no operating system cost) |
Doesn’t match pupil experience at home/school
More difficult for school to manage holistically |
|
Windows XP |
Familiar, and fits your existing ICT infrastructure.
Allows you to manage security and software holistically |
Not the latest version, and may not match what students have at home. |
|
Windows Vista |
Matches home PC and gives pupils the most up-to-date experience |
Requires more powerful laptop |
This isn't intended to be an exhaustive list - it's just the list from the top of my head today.
Even as I look at it now, I can see how it can be improved - for example I say "Fast boot" as a Pro for Linux, but then I never switch off my laptop running Vista - I just use sleep mode all the time, whenever I move between meetings, or take it away from my desk. This means I can start it back up almost instantly, and it comes back in the same state I left it. So it means if I've started an email, I can finish it later, but can switch off my laptop in the meantime as I carry it around. It also means I don't leave it switched on, draining the battery, when I'm not using it, because it only takes a few seconds to reboot.
What do you think?
