iPadding your (Technology) expense account, or where have all the PCs gone, long time gasping?

[Dennis Fazio]

Apple introduced their iPad today and my observation is that we finally have the fourth player in the quartet of technology advances that will change our civilization. Personal computers, the Internet, ubiquitous wireless and now portable personal displays. We now have all of the world's information always at our fingertips and instant visual communication to anyone anywhere in the world at all times virtually where ever we are.

This device, and its many variations and imitations that will follow, I think, has obsolete a whole trade show's load of technology in one sweep, especially in education. Netbooks, thin clients, many specialized classroom devices, even desktop computers have just seen the end of their days approaching not so far off anymore.

That's my engineer's technology trends view. I'd like to hear from those much more versed than me as to what potential these kind of devices have to disrupt the path we've been on these past couple of decades in education technology.

As a portable application and display platform, much less fragile and expensive than a PC, it seems this iPad can soon replace most of what we have in classrooms. With many now seeking ways to accommodate and incorporate buildings full of iPod Touches, what does it mean to have this super-duper iPod Touch? Certainly netbooks, whose only claim to fame was portability have become even more of a niche device. How about the future for things like smart boards and clickers? Do we really need labs, media centers or classrooms full of desktop computers to do most of the instructional work needed in the near future, or does this device work just as well or better?. Is the ongoing debate between desktops and thin clients now a quaint historical discussion? Have the scattered one-to-one laptop initiatives been obsoleted, becoming the historical prelude to what really should be happening in classrooms?

This discussion could go in a lot of different directions since the potential is so wide-ranging, but if I were a district technology, media or curriculum director, I might soon be thinking twice before doing a large turnover of my PC inventory. But much depends on the ability of our educational system to adapt to the new potential, absorb the range of applications that may arrive and follow the different directions this may take us.

Did that seed enough thought for anyone?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Dennis,

Even before the iPad, we were moving to a personal computing platform model - netbooks, smartphones, etc. I think it will be interesting to see if the 9.7 screen is the sweet spot or neither fish nor fowl (laptop power or cellphone size convenience).

We are making a deliberate move toward cloud-based computing in ISD77 with the adoption of GoogleApps, using ASPs for webhosting, datawarehousing and IEPs, and providing video via streaming. (I suspect our SIS, library catalog, and all instructional software will be next.) I look to see a webbrowser being the only software needed on most devices we use in schools within 5 years with the exception of a few powerful computers for graphics/video rendering in specialized labs.

The big monkey wrench right now is testing. Pearson can't or won't provide a cloud-based solution that runs in a browser. This inability may wind up costing schools millions if we need to maintain labs of desktop computers.

I am going to steal (with attribution) your post for MY blog. Let me know if that's a problem.

Thanks,

Doug

[Dennis Fazio]

I don't think the web browser will be the only software needed. Indeed, the new HTML versions, embedded applets, etc. are turning it into a pretty close substitute for the Windows or OS X desktop. But that's on the big computers. iPads don't have desktops or visible a visible OS. You just touch and swipe and they do useful things.

The iPhone initially had web apps as its model, but it really took off when Apple provided a Software Development Kit (SDK) for native applications. You have much more capability and flexibility with native apps, especially for interfacing with other devices and systems. The Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and library routines are much more extensive and powerful than what can be made available in a web browser, even web browsers of the future.

As for Pearson, if I were them I'd get a bunch of these right away and start redesigning my products for it. They have the inertia to have the field to themselves. If they don't, someone else will see the huge market opportunity, move in and the only reason we'll have to maintain labs of computers is because of political decisions at the state.

[Dennis Fazio]

There doesn't seem to be much happening with this thread yet, but for those interested, there is a lot more action over at Doug Johnson's "Blue Skunk Blog" right here: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/

[Marc Johnson]

Hi Dennis:

As usual, I'm a little late to the game here. I followed the announcement of the iPad but have been distracted by the usual shiny objects in the past week or so. That not withstanding, I'll offer a comment or two and might also post a comment at Doug's blog as well...

I do think this device (and certainly others like it that will enter the marketplace) has the potential to be a game changer. I've been using the phrase, "Why wouldn't I want my child to have a device like this?" for nearly two years in reference to the iPod touch (or iPhone for that matter). Now, I find myself, not typically an early adopter of technology, eagerly awaiting the day I can place an order for the iPad. I really want to put it in the hands of a student to see what they can do with it. I'll talk about this at the Coordinator's Conference and I'll see what kinds of comments I get from the audience. I think it will be an interesting discussion.

As for testing, which Doug points out could be the 900lb Gorilla in the room that forces us into continuing to run traditional labs, we are going to do some experiments in ECMECC with the use of virtual desktops for testing. I don't believe Pearson currently supports that, but we're going to try it anyway. The idea being, of course, that we don't need the computing power at the desktop level so we can use computers that might otherwise be cast-offs. Lots of questions yet including licensing, bandwidth, etc., but we are going to do some pilot projects that might give us some answers.

Marc Johnson