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Software is one thing, but middle schools providing iPads to kids makes my blood boil. How on earth can you make kids work on one of the most closed down ecosys

Software is one thing, but middle schools providing iPads to kids makes my blood boil. How on earth can you make kids work on one of the most closed down ecosystems there are? At least on windows I can install everything I want or even run my preferred OS on a virtual machine...

saagarjha 7y ago
Many schools provide computers running Windows or macOS to their students but prevent them from putting their own software on it anyways.
- zubspace 7y ago
  Kids do not learn by taking their freedom away. They learn something by exploring their environment. Yes, you need to prevent abuse, but simply locking down their system is just an easy way out for the school admin. How would you feel about your boss taking away all your rights regarding software installation and browsing? As a dev, I'd be thoroughly pissed. Why do they question my authority? But, there are people who'd install all crapware and browse Facebook all day without any restrictions. So what to do? You give them all the power until they abuse it, then you take it away. Not the other way around.
duxup 7y ago
Generally you don't let kids install whatever they want anyway.
- zubspace 7y ago
  Why not though? Exploring, customizing and extending your operating system should be part of the learning experience. We're on Hacker News, right? I agree that you need to forbid certain websites and add some content filtering on the network. But there surely are kids able to circumvent those restrictions and most kids get in touch with 'dirty' content anyway. They better learn how to use the internet in a responsible way. Preventing them from hacking around and giving them a consume-only environment is worse I think.
  - duxup 7y ago
    I think more often than not it is purely the IT nightmare that is for IT to manage all those devices. Schools generally don't have the best staff or resources.

saagarjha 7y ago

Many schools provide computers running Windows or macOS to their students but prevent them from putting their own software on it anyways.

zubspace 7y ago
Kids do not learn by taking their freedom away. They learn something by exploring their environment. Yes, you need to prevent abuse, but simply locking down their system is just an easy way out for the school admin. How would you feel about your boss taking away all your rights regarding software installation and browsing? As a dev, I'd be thoroughly pissed. Why do they question my authority? But, there are people who'd install all crapware and browse Facebook all day without any restrictions. So what to do? You give them all the power until they abuse it, then you take it away. Not the other way around.

duxup 7y ago

Generally you don't let kids install whatever they want anyway.

zubspace 7y ago
Why not though? Exploring, customizing and extending your operating system should be part of the learning experience. We're on Hacker News, right? I agree that you need to forbid certain websites and add some content filtering on the network. But there surely are kids able to circumvent those restrictions and most kids get in touch with 'dirty' content anyway. They better learn how to use the internet in a responsible way. Preventing them from hacking around and giving them a consume-only environment is worse I think.
- duxup 7y ago
  I think more often than not it is purely the IT nightmare that is for IT to manage all those devices. Schools generally don't have the best staff or resources.