- 2003.09.18
Teachers losing their Apples (in the Tampa Bay Times)
describes yet another school district that is slowly phasing out Apple
computers for an exclusive contract with a PC vendor.
This is an old song, but it is notable that all the usual
characteristics of a Switch by Subterfuge, described here on
multiple occasions, are present:
- The decision was made by a single individual without
consensus among the users involved.
- The purpose of the switch is entirely for the reduction in expense
and convenience of the IT department with one exception - the
attendance system is not compatible with OS X. As one teacher I
know, whose district is going through a similar spasm, said: "You would
think a new attendance system would be cheaper in the long run than
replacing thousands of computers. I don't frankly know where they
expect to get the money. " It's not like SASI/ClassXP actually works all that well at
the classroom level (see rant below*).
- No accountability is possible for the switch because no
estimate of the amount of money saved is made. No estimate of the
number of IT workers who will be fired due to the increased efficiency
is claimed.
- No educational justification for the switch is made other
than a vague reference to it being easier to maintain a single platform
vs. multiple platforms. Exactly how the savings will be rerouted into
teacher salaries, class size reduction, supplies, or books is not
detailed.
- No consideration is given to the teacher investment in
computers in their homes.
- Dispirited teachers refuse to argue the point because they
believe the district is going to do what it wants anyway.
Administrators don't tell teachers which books to recommend for
purchase, don't argue over the choice of metric vs. inches in math
class, and don't get to choose the seating arrangement of the desks.
Why should they dictate the computer platform?
If you want my opinion - and you're getting it whether or not you
want it or not - this is an issue that teacher unions might do well to
take up. My working conditions matter a lot more to me than whether or
not my lunch is five minutes shorter than the guy across campus. And
those conditions include the kind of computer I use in my classroom.
* The author believes his audience is too technophobic
to follow the concept of a lack of a Carbonized program, so he simply
blames the incompatibility on Apple. Five gets you ten it's SASI again.
When will Pearson get it's rear in gear and come out with a carbonized
version of ClassXP?
Speaking of ClassXP, why must it be upgraded every
three weeks and, in the process, the seating charts you've carefully
laid out are erased? Why can't teachers print class lists with ID
numbers without doing frickin' ink-wasting screen grabs? Why is
it so unreliable that we can't print out attendance sheets, forcing us
to keep duplicate records, thereby doubling our work? Why does it take
so frickin' long to load a class? How much data is there to transfer
anyway?
You could just about beat the performance of this
thing with a FileMaker Pro
app, fer cryin' out loud!
Since the program works in OS X, why can't someone
spend a few days to make sure the window overlap placement works
correctly, which is the only reason it is incompatible? Why,
why, why?
Okay, doc says blood pressure going up, end of
rant.
is a longtime Mac user. He was using digital sensors on Apple II computers in the 1980's and has networked computers in his classroom since before the internet existed. In 2006 he was selected at the California Computer Using Educator's teacher of the year. His students have used NASA space probes and regularly participate in piloting new materials for NASA. He is the author of two books and numerous articles and scientific papers. He currently teaches astronomy and physics in California, where he lives with his twin sons, Jony and Ben.< And there's still a Mac G3 in his classroom which finds occasional use.
