Body
Netbooks generate revamped economic and management classroom models. Some do not accommodate the power intensive multitasking efforts required at the secondary-school level but are part of many programs because they are less expensive are lightweight, take up less space, expand one-to-one student access, and provide the right amount of power and functionality for elementary grades. Laptops have greater functionality, so they accommodate the multitasking, memory, storage, and retrieval expected at the secondary-school level.
Pads and slates have made a major splash in the market. These devices are primarily a platform for audiovisual media, like books, periodicals, games, music, apps, and Web content. Their weight and size lie between those of smartphones and laptops. They run a multitouch display, different from the pressure-triggered stylus that most tablet computers use. Instead of a physical keyboard, they have one that is virtual, onscreen.
Some have Wi-Fi data connections for Internet access, downloading and streaming media, and installing software. Some versions have a 3G and/or a 4G wireless data connection that can connect to HSPA data networks. These devices are managed and synchronized through various Web-based applications on a personal computer via USB cable.
Chapter 9: Employing a Sustainable Infrastructure
Case Study: Bishop Hartley, a high school in the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, instituted an initiative with HP Tablet PCs to help enable interactivity and individualized learning. Its objective was to provide technology that facilitated interactivity in the classroom and enabled students to learn in the way that suited them best.
The approach the diocese took was to establish a one-to-one technology program for high school students at Bishop Hartley High School. The technology improvements included a wireless mobile solution available 24/7 and a digital pen that enabled inputting content that a keyboard can’t produce (diagrams, scientific notations, mathematical equations, and more).
The educational benefits the diocese realized were:
ü Teachers use innovative, collaborative classroom tools and programs.
ü Tablet PCs facilitate individualized instruction.
ü Students concentrate on class content over delivery.
According to Ken Collura, director of technology for the Diocese of Columbus, “the tablet computer is a versatile tool for teaching and learning that can be used by individuals in ways that best suit their needs. We’ve been using HP Tablet PCs to deliver an excellent educational experience and excellent results.”
Life-cycle considerations
Technology is continually evolving, expediting devices’ life cycles, because newer models generally offer more features at a lower cost. Yet schools can’t wait forever for the “perfect” laptop to come along, because there is always something better, faster, cheaper just around the corner. Planners can take comfort in knowing that even after a particular device is no longer manufactured, it is simple to add functionality with external USB devices, such as DVD burners, extra hard drives, and other peripheral devices and options. Replacement parts are generally on hand for a long time, and getting extended warranties and accidental-damage-protection plans prevents most problems. There are also trade-in and recycling programs for when a device comes to the end of its usefulness.
Device durability
There are a number of product features designed to ensure the durability of a notebook. Look for durable and lightweight materials, such as magnesium alloy frames and display enclosures.
Another feature is the hard-drive mounting solution: how it transmits shock from the hard drive into the notebook’s structure, protecting students’ data from the effects of being banged and dropped during the course of a day. A third-party test lab can verify this solution.
In-Mold Lamination (IML) can provide a finish that is more durable than paint. The process embeds the finish, incorporating an accent or body color beneath a layer of polycarbonate film and then bonding it to the notebook’s enclosure. The resulting scratch-resistant surface can protect the keyboard deck from normal wear and tear.
Another feature to consider is a spill-resistant keyboard with Mylar film, which helps reduce the risk of damage to sensitive critical components underneath the keyboard. Choose a manufacturer with an extensive testing process that is the basis for industry-leading fine equipment and reliable computing solutions. Its test strategy should include:
ü user-scenario testing
ü mobile-specific testing: wireless, power management, and docking
ü third-party hardware and software compatibility
testing
ü interoperability testing
ü qualification of new components, BIOS, software deliverable updates (sustaining)
ü Human Factors Testing: developing customer-centric products using Human Factors Engineers through simulated environments and usage observations In implementing a one-to-one initiative or other technology-intensive programs, school leaders must take into consideration infrastructure issues ranging from the choice of mobile computing devices to wireless networking and security. Districts should consider devices that include the following features:
ü lightweight and sturdy
ü protective carrying case
ü battery power of several hours with easy options for recharging
ü wireless available with appropriate software
ü sufficient storage
ü flexible, having USB ports and other options for expansion
When considering whether to choose tablet PCs, netbooks and/or standard laptops or a combination of these, schools should begin with their goals and in what way each device can be the answer for their program and their instructional goals and capacities.
Back-end servers and storage
Data warehousing
Educators need access to actionable information. Yet schools may be data rich and information poor, because the various systems are often incompatible with one another. The challenge is to turn the data into information that administrators, teachers, and students can use.
A data warehouse enables schools to collect and store data from various silos, such as student-information systems, assessment systems, food service, transportation, and other educational data sources. Using data-management tools, it creates useful, actionable reports. In a data warehouse, source data are gathered, cleansed, and filtered before being stored in an integrated data warehouse optimized for reporting and analysis.
This allows educators access to standard reports, creation of ad hoc reports, and complex data analysis based on correlating information from all these various sources. The data warehouse is able to maintain many years of data (students’ entire K–12 records), facilitating ongoing analysis. What are some examples?
ü A high school principal is able to look at incoming students and discover that one of the middle schools is providing students who are out-performing all others in expository writing; this provides the principal with an opportunity to capture a “best practice” to be replicated.
ü An eighth-grade math teacher is able to see that 30 percent of her students from the upcoming seventh grade aren’t at grade-level reading for the digital resources she is planning to use and is able to adapt her classroom instruction to compensate.
ü The superintendent is able to evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s at-risk reading programs according to other assessments and the students’ demographics and to look for success factors based on the students’ involvement in other, complementary programs, and better identify which children will benefit from the program in the future.
ü An assistant superintendent of curriculum is able to see that a large subset of students performing below average on a portion of the state’s standardized eighth-grade high school test all had the same sixth-grade teacher in one particular middle school.
Educators can access the data warehouse to monitor day-to-day learning achievement by a class, a grade, a single student, or groups of students. This can be set up for a school building, a district, or an entire state. The reporting works with historical data and so permits longitudinal analysis with standard reports or ad hoc report creation as well as complex data analysis. This can be the basis for the data-driven decision making that the NCLB legislation requires and is a technology that, combined with the educational portal, it makes sense to consider as part of a larger e-learning initiative.
Access to virtualized server infrastructure
Server virtualization—the creation of a virtual version of a server rather than an actual server—has progressed over the past several years to where it is not the norm for schools to provide a robust physical server environment. By virtualizing the server infrastructure, schools can reduce the physical footprint of the servers required to provide both administrative and learning systems.
Additional benefits of virtualized servers are reduced software- licensing costs, optimized use of resources, rapid service deployment, and reduced cost of operations. Schools should approach server architecture with a plan for virtualizing as much as possible when deploying server solutions. There are still some applications, software stacks, and workloads that cannot be applied to a virtualized infrastructure, but it is a realistic goal for schools to target 80 to 90 percent of the server infrastructure for virtualization.
The cloud
The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines cloud computing as: “…a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, serv-ers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service-provider interaction.”
There are three basic types of cloud infrastructures: internal, or private, and external, or public, plus a hybrid cloud, which is a combination of private and public. In an external cloud, service providers sell on-demand, shared services to a school. The package includes IT support, services, and expertise; the school must run only the provided applications and services.
In an internal cloud, servers, software resources, and IT expertise are used inside the school system to build a scalable infrastructure that meets cloud-computing requirements. Because of security requirements and concerns, many schools are exploring this private approach, in which all sensitive student and user data are stored behind the school’s or district’s firewall.
In a hybrid cloud, an organization provides and manages some resources internally, while others are provided externally. As an example, an organization could use a public cloud service provider for general computing tasks while storing data within its own data center. The hybrid-cloud model is catching on. Some organizations may already have made large investments in the infrastructure required to provide in-house resources. Many institutions want to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive data by controlling them within its own cloud.
