The Hard(ware) Choice: iPads? Android Tablets? Chromebooks? Netbooks? Laptops? If You're Trying to Build out Your School or District's Mobile Computing Capacity, Which Way Do You Go?
Jennifer Demski · T.H.E. Journal Technological Horizons in Education · 2012
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN IT COMES TO implementing a large-scale 1-to-1 computing initiative, deciding which device students will use every day to support their learning requires a significant amount of thought and research. Laptop, netbook, Chromebook, tablet each device has enough similarities to make the decision seem easy, but enough differences to make a big impact on the way technology is managed in the classroom and across your district. T.H.E. Journal recently conducted a virtual roundtable with seven districts about how they decided on the device that would best fit their teaching and learning needs. T.H.E. Journal: What were the key requirements that informed your decision-making? BURKHART: The three main considerations we had when selecting devices were compatibility with curricular resources, ability to manage device, and cost. The focus of our 1-to-1 initiative is literacy. AKIN: Ease of use, cost, and creativity. We wanted a device that we could put in the hands of students and staff and it would work--in simply and reliably. The consideration of cost refers to not just the cost of the device, but the long-term cost of repair/support, upgrades, and software. And, finally, we wanted a device that not only offered our users the ability to consume but also create. RIVERS: Our key consideration was cost. The price point of hardware capable of providing students with a highly functional toolset has finally reached a tipping point. GREY: Our process for device selection can be distilled to the following formula: goals + culture + cost = device selection. TIEUBER: Instructional needs, cost, and infrastructure requirements. WEINERT: We want teachers teaching and students learning and not spending time dealing with tech setups, troubleshooting, and other issues. We want our teachers and students to use as many different resources, tools, and activities as they can dream up. We want to focus as much time as possible on professional development and instructional support for our teachers and less time worrying about things like retrofitting our old buildings with more electricity. TOWNSEND: We really wanted to ensure that this program would be sustainable in the future without ever having to bond or borrow dollars. By reallocating our textbook budget we were able to create a reliable budget for 1-to-1. We wanted to find a device that our students could easily take around the building but also be rugged enough to withstand everyday use. With a limited staff and an increasing number of devices, we wanted to spend the least amount of time imaging these mobile devices and more time working on improving the overall experience with technology. What kind of research did you do to help you determine which device met your objectives? TOWNSEND: Learning how other districts were implementing their 1-to-1 was the most valuable resource for us. Online research and personal visits to districts turned out to be a great factor in making our decision as to what device to implement. Taking a survey of our users to see what they were comfortable with was also a deciding factor. TIEUBER: Members of our 1-to-1 task force visited other districts and schools to see a variety of devices being used in classrooms. These visits were invaluable in giving us firsthand knowledge of how devices were being used and background information on any management or cost issues. The group also read literature on devices; Gartner research on device sustainability was very useful in planning. Based on the research findings, our device subcommittee designed a process to evaluate devices based on the instructional needs of our schools. WEINERT: We ran a pilot for two years during which we had seven different courses of varying levels in multiple departments that were scheduled into classrooms with dedicated sets of laptops and other technologies. …