httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pje8AQg8y3M
The Toronto District School Board decided to phase out Apple computers — about 8% of the 63,000 machines used by some 250,000 kids — in mid-November.
It seems board members bought in to the idea that Macs are more expensive than PCs:
“The Apple computer in a large-scale network―their capabilities for automatically managing that many machines really pales to what’s available in the PC world,” Lee Stem, general manager of Information and Technology Services for the Board, told Torontoist.
“At the end of the day, it really comes down to getting as many devices in the hands of as many people as possible,” added Stem. “Every penny that we save…all that money is going to bring more technology into the hands of kids.”
Teachers in the district are using those last Apple computers to plead with the bureaucrats to keep Macs in the mix. (No more Apple computers will be bought for general use, though they may still be purchased for “special use” classes, like art, video editing or music composition.)
Chris Higgins, a Swansea Public School tech instructor started an online petition in protest. He’s collected over five hundred signatures so far, many from community members and TDSB employees.
Higgins is particularly peeved about losing Garage Band:
“It’s really a unique program,” he said, over Skype from a computer in his school’s Mac lab. “It does podcasting better than any other program. It’s unique to Mac. Not only can you record your voice and do the fade in, fade out, and all those types of effects, but you can put multiple tracks in.”
The video protest above by Colin McAuley, media literacy teacher, on a school iMac and posted on YouTube emphasizes how the computers help him assess student work, especially ESL students or those who aren’t great writers.
“I fire up iMovie and teach the kids to demonstrate their work and talk about it to the camera…It’s a fantastic way to assess their knowledge….That all comes out of the box with a Mac…It’s easy for kids to sit down and show me what they know.”
Scott Baker, a teacher at Pringdale Gardens Public School and a former technology consultant with the Board, also opposed the plan. He wrote a killer open letter to Chris Spence, the new Director of Education for TDSB, where he debunks the expensive Mac myth, among other points about performance and capabilities.
The Macs also have another powerful ally: Trustee Michael Coteau introduced a motion [DOC] that insists not only upon continued Mac support and the immediate integration of iPhones in the Board’s systems.
The motion will go before the Board’s Administration, Finance and Accountability Committee on January 27.
Stay tuned.
Via Torontoist
