Re: Should schools declare a platform?

Ann B. Anderson (aanderson@mohawk.moric.org)
Sat, 4 Nov 1995 00:13:22 EST

Marilyn Logue <mlogue@freenet.columbus.oh.us>
> I'm on a district technology committee, and some leaders of our
>committee have talked about declaring a platform, either IBM or Macintosh
>in our technology plan. At present, our district has multiple platforms;
>some of us are Macintoshes and others are on IBM.
>
> Is it important for every school in a district to be buying the
>same brand of hardware. I have read both opinions. Some say that the
>hardware needs to be compatible for networking purposes, buying purposes,
>etc. I have heard the other side of the coin also. Some say that the
>students need to have experience with both platforms, so they can operate
>both when they get out into the real world.

Our district (one high school/middle school and three elementary
schools) supports both platforms and wouldn't have it any other way. We
are running primarily Macintosh and Apple IIe's in our elementary schools;
our high school/middle school is a mix of Macintosh and IBM running on a
Novell network with a DOS file server. (A mix on the network is not a
problem.) Networks in all our elementary buildings will be up and running
later during the year; the file server will be DOS-based running Novell,
but all the machines will be Mac. Our district technology committee
(members include teachers, administration, community, and Board of
Education members) supports clusters of computers in the classroom instead
of labs. We networked for 8 computers in every classroom (including
related arts and resource rooms), but are a long way from realizing our
goal.
I think the important question should not be compatibility with the
network, buying purposes, etc.; your decisions should be curriculum-driven.
Our teachers decide how they want technology to support their curriculum
objectives; then, we decide on the platform that is going to support their
objectives. Sometimes the decision as to platform is clear-cut; other
times, it really doesn't matter. Classroom teachers should definitely be
involved in the decision-making process. Sometimes, graphing calculators,
laserdisc technology, etc. are more important to the classroom teacher than
computers.
I know hardware issues often become a matter of debate in school
districts, but the focus should be education, not hardware. I was an
elementary teacher in our district for 28 years before becoming a full-time
technology facilitator, and my experience tells me that, if technology
integration is not used to support already existing curriculum, teachers
and students will not see technology as an integral part of classroom
activities, but as an add-on.

Ann B. Anderson, Instructional Technology Facilitator
South Lewis Central School
Box 10, East Road School: (315) 348-2567
Turin, NY 13473 Fax: (315) 348-2510
aanderson@mohawk.moric.org