4 ms·

Must not manage several classrooms of machines. Chromebooks is much cheaper in terms of time.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
This isn't really accurate if you're aware of all of your options for working with Windows machines. You can freshly deploy a Windows image in a handful of minutes using any number of first or third party tools. Windows machines with SSDs (like most Chromebooks) can be refreshed and redeployed similarly quickly. Unfortunately, people can make erroneous assumptions based on experience with older or poorly-provisioned hardware.
- jacksmith21006 8y ago
  You have very little time in the classroom and CBs allow you to maximize the time and why we see CBs now having 60% share in the US of K12. Then the other side just a lot easier to manage.
- shaftway 8y ago
  These comments suggest "just" setting up non-cloud solutions without addressing any of the drawbacks of these approaches. - Schools rarely have the resources or technical expertise to maintain something like roaming profiles. - If students have issues with their machine they are essentially locked out of their files (the alternative with Chromebooks and cloud solutions is to just use a different machine, which most students have available in some form). - Students will lose files when the machine is re-imaged, unless they've synced recently (with Chromebooks files are usually synced shortly after going online). - Syncing files with a roaming profile usually requires VPN access which is even more infrastructure to set up, maintain, teach students about etc. - Re-imaging machines is a far more common experience with Windows than it is on a Chromebook, particularly with nosy kids messing with things. - Data exfiltration is a much more serious risk with machine in the wild like this than it is on a cloud service (most kids have less-than-perfect opsec) Look, ultimately if you're against using Google services like Drive, Classroom, etc. that's fine. Put up realistic alternatives that work in a modern world. But suggesting that students move to Windows and Office to accomplish these goals smacks of it-was-good-enough-for-us-ism.
  - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
    The term "it-was-good-enough-for-us-ism" suggests that this is somehow an improvement, and it is not. My whole concern is that we are making things worse for future generations. You are dismissing a cost that is incredibly high: Giving all of our kids' data to Google, and allowing Google to instill in them a believe that they can be trusted with it. Many of your specific "drawbacks" rely on specific implementations you can think of, that fall far short of the actual capabilities of a vast number of competing options. Google is not the only company to have invented syncing files.
    - jacksmith21006 8y ago
      Can tell you from personal experience Google has made huge improvements in the class room. It is why CB grew 50% YoY while the other two declined. If you look at the requirements for the class room it is all about maximizing teaching time. You would be shocked how fast 50 minutes goes by. So quick boot, no virus, long battery life, peppy performance and to steal a phrase "just works". It is hard to imagine Apple or MS gaining back any share in the class room. Google listened and just created far better what K12 needed. Talk to some teachers and you will hear why they would never go back to the old way.

This isn't really accurate if you're aware of all of your options for working with Windows machines. You can freshly deploy a Windows image in a handful of minutes using any number of first or third party tools. Windows machines with SSDs (like most Chromebooks) can be refreshed and redeployed similarly quickly. Unfortunately, people can make erroneous assumptions based on experience with older or poorly-provisioned hardware.

jacksmith21006 8y ago
You have very little time in the classroom and CBs allow you to maximize the time and why we see CBs now having 60% share in the US of K12. Then the other side just a lot easier to manage.
shaftway 8y ago
These comments suggest "just" setting up non-cloud solutions without addressing any of the drawbacks of these approaches. - Schools rarely have the resources or technical expertise to maintain something like roaming profiles. - If students have issues with their machine they are essentially locked out of their files (the alternative with Chromebooks and cloud solutions is to just use a different machine, which most students have available in some form). - Students will lose files when the machine is re-imaged, unless they've synced recently (with Chromebooks files are usually synced shortly after going online). - Syncing files with a roaming profile usually requires VPN access which is even more infrastructure to set up, maintain, teach students about etc. - Re-imaging machines is a far more common experience with Windows than it is on a Chromebook, particularly with nosy kids messing with things. - Data exfiltration is a much more serious risk with machine in the wild like this than it is on a cloud service (most kids have less-than-perfect opsec) Look, ultimately if you're against using Google services like Drive, Classroom, etc. that's fine. Put up realistic alternatives that work in a modern world. But suggesting that students move to Windows and Office to accomplish these goals smacks of it-was-good-enough-for-us-ism.
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  The term "it-was-good-enough-for-us-ism" suggests that this is somehow an improvement, and it is not. My whole concern is that we are making things worse for future generations. You are dismissing a cost that is incredibly high: Giving all of our kids' data to Google, and allowing Google to instill in them a believe that they can be trusted with it. Many of your specific "drawbacks" rely on specific implementations you can think of, that fall far short of the actual capabilities of a vast number of competing options. Google is not the only company to have invented syncing files.
  - jacksmith21006 8y ago
    Can tell you from personal experience Google has made huge improvements in the class room. It is why CB grew 50% YoY while the other two declined. If you look at the requirements for the class room it is all about maximizing teaching time. You would be shocked how fast 50 minutes goes by. So quick boot, no virus, long battery life, peppy performance and to steal a phrase "just works". It is hard to imagine Apple or MS gaining back any share in the class room. Google listened and just created far better what K12 needed. Talk to some teachers and you will hear why they would never go back to the old way.