It’s the schools that give each student an iPad tend to make headlines nowadays. No doubt, more schools are investigating tablets – Apple or otherwise – as part of their one-to-one computing initiatives, looking to replace not just desktop PCs but to replace laptops and netbooks as well. Despite the buzz about iPads, Chromebooks, and the like, one laptop (or tablet) per child is still far from a reality in most schools. And while the iPad is dominating the tablet market among consumers, it’s hardly the most popular, the only or even the best option for schools which are considering mobile device implementations.
That being said, the education technology market is booming, and many schools are seeing the value in equipping their students with their own personal computing devices.
I’ve had the opportunity to test-drive two of the student-oriented PCs on the market – the Intel-powered Classmate PC and Google’s Chromebook – for the past few weeks. In lieu of a traditional “under the hood” review, where I just compare the specs (we don’t review hardware often here at ReadWriteWeb), I want to address some of the larger questions at stake schools will weigh when considering which, if any, of these devices they’ll adopt for one-to-one programs.
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The Hardware Doesn’t Matter… Except When It Does
Arguably the most important thing to recognize when it comes to netbooks or tablets or laptops or any technology in the classroom is that the technology itself isn’t some silver bullet that magically modernizes teaching and learning. Putting a personal computer in the hands of each student does give that student access to computing power and (hopefully) to the Internet. But the PC itself doesn’t necessarily change or improve instruction. That needs to change as well, whether students have iPads, Chromebooks, Classmate PCs, or cellphones, otherwise these devices are simply just a very expensive upgrade to the old pen-and-paper, where the students take notes while the teacher lectures at the front of the classroom.
It’s not the device itself that matters, it’s how you use it.
Except when you’re handing out devices to students, particularly K-12 students, the hardware does matter. It has to be durable. It has to reliable. It has to be affordable. It has to work.
If that sounds like the promise of the One Laptop Per Child movement – designing a low-cost computer that could be used by kids in any environment – then the Classmate PC will look like a familiar device. In terms of hardware then, the Classmate PC seems well-suited for younger students in particular. Its exterior is rubberized. It has rounded corners and a handle. It has a water-resistant keyboard and screen. It’s designed to survive bumps and scratches and even drops (from a height of up to 19″).
The Classmate PC also has a rotatable screen, allowing the device to be used more like a tablet – either with or without a stylus.
While those elements do set the Classmate PC apart from its netbook cousin Chromebook, the two devices share a lot of similarities when it comes to the rest of what’s under the hood: fairly similar cameras, memory, storage, and processor speeds, for example. Some of the early reviews of the Chromebook have pointed out that the device feels underpowered, and no doubt power-users in the under-18 set would be quick to reach their limitations with either of these devices. But as netbooks, both of these options perform adequately and will likely meet the needs of most students.
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