----- Message from xxx@yyyy.zzz ---------
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:13:49 -0700
From: Tech Coord <xxx@yyyy.zzz>
Subject: [edtech] Interactive Boards
To: edtech@lists.cetpa-k12.org

In case you wonder about the hype and what can be done with interactive boards, check out what this math teacher does:

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/04/06/math-teacher-pranks/?icid=main|htmlws-main

~Tech Coord

And I must confess, I lost it. My response:

From: CETPA [mailto:CETPA] On Behalf Of Jim Klein
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2010 10:04 AM
To: edtech@lists.cetpa-k12.org
Subject: Re: [edtech] Interactive Boards

Excellent proof that a great teacher will make excellent use of whatever tools you give them. You could give a great teacher a chainsaw and they would find a way to "carve out" a useful lesson with it. The real question is, what are the best tools for learning - not teaching. If it's an IWB, then I'm all for it. However, there is little evidence that this is the case (for those who would rush to Marzano, the study has been widely debunked as poorly constructed and designed to produce the results Promethean was looking for - see http://edinsanity.com/?s=marzano for further review).

I believe that the best learning tool for a student is a personal, connected device. For the cost of an IWB install, I can get 15 kids netbooks that will be far more powerful learning/production/creativity tools. I can buy the rest for the cost of response systems and doc cams added to that IWB. And I have no doubt, through direct experience, that personal devices offer the only real potential to transform the learning environment into the technology-rich, participatory space we all seek. The more access students have to technology, the more opportunities they have to learn/participate/grow.

The long and the short of it is if the teacher touches the technology more than the students, then it has little chance of transforming the learning environment. IWBs make teachers and administrators feel good about their technology use, but in most districts amount to little more than a photo op for district leaders when it comes to real, transformational change.

We need to stop using the phrase "teaching and learning" because that creates the perception that learning is all about delivery and reception, producers and consumers, and ultimately leads to the pursuit of delivery technologies such as this, which have no hope of producing any lasting improvement or change. Instead, we need to start using the phrase "participatory learning environments" where students take an active role in and responsibility for their own learning. If all we seek is to reform school, then by all means, improve content delivery using the same structures you already have in place. It's easy and uncontroversial. If, however, we seek transformation, then we must choose to take on that which is hard. To challenge habits and traditions. To take on socio-political structures that would seek to maintain the status quo. Only then will we see schools become relevant again. Only then will school once again be a place where students want to be, where they are excited to learn, and where they will develop the entrepreneurial, self reliant, creative skills that will lead them to success, no matter what their endeavor.

--
Jim Klein
Director Information Services & Technology LPIC1, CNA/CNE 4-6, RHCT/RHCE
Saugus Union School District
http://www.saugususd.org
http://community.saugususd.org/jklein 

"Finis Origine Pendet"

Did I overreact? Probably. It was just a fun prank that had nothing to do with IWBs. But I couldn't help it. I've grown so weary of all the conjecture, unfounded claims, and hype over such an ineffective waste of money, especially in our current fiscal condition. If we really want to invest scarce technology dollars in the most impactful, transformative way possible, an IWB is the last thing to buy, not the first.

Credit to Gary Stager for effective use of chainsaws by teachers.

To address this issue, a CA State Assembly Budget Subcommittee has been formed, which will be meeting this month on April 20 and April 27 to make a decision on this issue. This is where you come in. We are asking you to join the California Computer Using Educators (CUE), California Education Technology Professionals Association (CETPA), and and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) in a letter/email writing campaign to urge the subcommittee to disburse these funds quickly and according to the guidelines laid out by the federal government. I have included some sample letters/emails below. Please note: it is extremely important that the legislators receive your letters/emails by April 23rd, so don't delay.

These emails/letters should be sent to the following committee members:

• Wilmer Amina Carter, Chair (D - San Bernardino) – State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0062 (916) 319-2062 Assemblymember.Carter@assembly.ca.gov
• Bill Berryhill (R - Stockton) – State Capitol Room 4009 Sacramento, CA 94815 (916) 319-2026 Assemblymember.Bill.Berryhill@assembly.ca.gov
• Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica) - State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0041 (916) 319-2041 Assemblymember.Brownley@assembly.ca.gov
• Wesley Chesbro (D - Santa Rosa/Eureka) - State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0001 (916) 319-2001 Assemblymember.Chesbro@assembly.ca.gov
• Sandre Swanson (D - Oakland) - State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0016 (916) 319-2016 Assemblymember.Swanson@assembly.ca.gov
• Jean Fuller (R - Bakersfield) – State Capitol Room 3098 Sacramento, CA 94815 (916) 319-2032 Assemblymember.Fuller@assembly.ca.gov

It will also be helpful to send one to The Budget Committee Chairs:

• Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny, Chair (D - Imperial County) - State Capitol Room 5035 Sacramento, CA 94248-0001  (916) 651-4040 senator.ducheny@sen.ca.gov
• Bob Blumenfield, Vice Chair (D - San Fernando Valley) - State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0040 (916) 319-2040 Assemblymember.Blumenfield@assembly.ca.gov

Thank you for your support!

Sample Letters:

Assembly Member Wilmer Carter
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0062

April 8, 2010

Dear Assembly Member Carter,

I am writing to you request the immediately release the EETT/ARRA Federal Title II, Part D funds allocated to California schools.

The California Department of Education (CDE) issued requests for proposals (RFPs) in July of 2009 for school districts to competitively apply for grants to fund applications of technology based on local needs and to address the improvement of student learning and related teacher-professional development. The CDE received and reviewed 188 proposals and selected the qualifying projects that would collectively receive a total of $34,000,000 and had planned to notify districts that were approved for funding in November 2009. Additionally, 1,300 districts were eligible to be approved for EETT/ARRA formula funds totaling another $34,000,000. Finally, the state had allocated funds to the California Technology Assistance Projects (CTAP), the CTAP Portal known as MyCTAP, the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) and Statewide Technology Assistance Projects (SETSs) to provide support to the districts in implementing their EETT/ARRA projects and programs. However, none these programs and projects can be implemented because the California Legislature did not and still has not released the EETT/ARRA funds.

The CDE has clearly complied with the Federal Law in the planning and implementation of the EETT/ARRA funds. The excerpts from Federal guidance document for EETT/ARRA Federal Guidance Document make it clear how the EETT/ARRA funds can and cannot be used:

1. The Ed Tech ARAA funds are subject to the same statutory and regulatory requirements as the Title II-D Ed, Tech funds made available under the regular FY 2009 appropriation and are also subject to specific ARRA accountability and reporting requirements.
2. State may reserve up to 5 percent of its total FY 2009 Ed Tech allocation for State-level activities and must distribute the remaining amount (i.e., at least 95 percent of its total FY 2009 allocation) as follows: At least 50% up to a 100% Competitive Grants and up to 50% Formula Grants.
3. A State may award Ed Tech formula grant funds only to LEAs that receive funds under Part A of Title I.

As of April 8, 2010, EETT funds are still on hold by the Legislature. There is mounting frustration on the part of superintendents, teachers, and principals in districts that applied for EETT/ARRA funding. They do not know if they can still plan on EETT/ARRA funding which was intended for district utilization by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Stimulus funding earmarked for education last summer.

PLEASE CUSTOMIZE AND ADD INFORMATION ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT THE DELAY IN FUNDING IS CAUSING AT YOUR ORGANIZATION

Assembly Member Wilmer Carter
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0062

April 8, 2010

Dear Assembly Member Carter,

I am writing to you about the EETT C ARRA money for California schools that has not yet been released to the CDE. Here are highlights giving background:

• The state was awarded $71M in funding that could be used for either competitive grant awards to school districts, OR 1/2 for competitive awards and 1/2 for grants to districts based on Title 1 formula.
• The money is for Enhancing Education at the fourth to eighth grade level.
• A State may reserve up to 5 percent of its total FY 2009 Ed Tech allocation for State-level activities and must distribute the remaining amount (i.e., at least 95 percent of its total FY 2009 allocation) as follows: At least 50% up to a 100% Competitive Grants and up to 50% Formula Grants.
• The Ed Tech ARAA funds are subject to the same statutory and regulatory requirements as the Title II-D Ed, Tech funds made available under the regular FY 2009 appropriation and are also subject to specific ARRA accountability and reporting requirements.
• A State may award Ed Tech formula grant funds only to LEAs that receive funds under Part A of Title I.
• Districts have already sent in grant applications for the competitive money, and the CDE has graded them, they just haven’t released results due to the legislature not giving them funding authorization. This means that all the time and money expended was wasted.
• The Legislative Analyst is recommending that the state divert the money to a student records system for Pre-K and High School work readiness. This is not in line with the goals of EETT or the statutory guidelines governing this money.

What I would like is:

• To let you know that many educators and others involved in K-12 education technology are concerned that these funds have not been disbursed, and may be spent this in a way that wasn’t intended and does not follow federal guidelines;
• Your vote on at the Budget Subcommittee #2 Education hearing on this matter to allocate the EETT funds as originally planned by the CDE and as it has been done in the past.

I urge you to make the right decision regarding these funds and vote to have them disbursed immediately, according the the rules and guidelines laid out by the federal government and the CDE. Failure to do so will cost school districts and essential state-wide technology support organizations jobs, deny our teachers critical technology training they desperately need, and will ultimately deny our students the valuable technology skills they will need to keep the state of California competitive in the 21st century.

PLEASE CUSTOMIZE AND ADD INFORMATION ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT THE DELAY IN FUNDING IS CAUSING AT YOUR ORGANIZATION

Special thanks to Alice Mercer and Andrea Bennett (CETPA) for the (borrowed) text in the sample letters :)

Just the same, the hardware is certainly worthy of a look, so on with the review!More ...

Lenovo S10-3

The Lenovo S10-3 is a beautiful unit to behold - it's actually smaller and thinner than the Asus EeePC 1005, the smallest of the units tested prior. In fact, it's the same size and thinness as the HP Mini 210 with the battery removed, yet it still has a 6 cell battery. The case is handsome, with a checked pattern on the lid that is sure to make fingerprints nearly invisible. But the strongest feature by far is the keyboard - it is easily the best on the market. The feel, the key size and shape are all superior to even the HP Mini, and are beautiful to use. Lenovo also made a great (and terrible - see below) move on the trackpad, which used to be little more than a postage stamp on prior models. On the new design the touchpad is now a clickpad with integrated buttons that extends nearly to the edge of the case. This enabled them to keep the netbook small and still offer a decent size pad. Other design cues include an excellent battery size with solid locking clips and a thoughtful grooved surface, which will be particularly important as users will undoubtedly use it as a handle. And one of the best parts is the serviceability of the unit - after just four screws a large plate comes off the bottom revealing the hard drive, WiFi card (removable), and RAM. All of these point to a thoughtful design process with the end user in mind.

That said, I can't believe they ever put one of these in the hands of an actual user, because the touchpad is the most heinous, awful with a capital "A" experience I have had with a laptop. I'm not kidding - I wanted to throw this netbook against a wall after a few hours with it. Everything that HP got right, Lenovo got wrong. First, there's the clicking. For a clickpad to work well, clicks must only require a light touch and face little resistance. Too much resistance requires the user to press down hard, which leads to an increase in touch surface on the end of the finger, which results in the unwanted movement prior to click registration. Describing the Lenovo as stiff would be an understatement - it's downright wooden. All this leads to frequent mis-clicks, unwanted moves, etc. on a seemingly continual basis.

Then there is the outcome of multiple touches on the trackpad. Two fingers in the wrong places cause wild cursor jumps. Think about this for a second - you have a pad that you have to touch and press (hard) to click, and when you dare put another finger in the wrong place on the pad at the same time (say, to drag to select a word or move an icon) the cursor will jump across the screen and away from your target. It's incredibly frustrating to use. And one of the design features that I thought was good actually exacerbates the problem - the lack of a lip on the bottom edge of the trackpad makes it more likely that you will accidentally touch the pad with your thumb - also causing wild jumps. Through much trial and error, I determined that the pad is basically split into three regions - a top third, middle third, and bottom third. If you click and hold while dragging your finger across the middle third (say to select a word) you'll be OK. Click, hold, and touch anywhere in the top third, and expect your cursor to suddenly jump to the top of the screen.

The result is that you have to focus - a lot - on exactly where your fingers are at all times when working with this machine. I suppose you could call that "engaging" - I call it agonizing, horrific, irritating, ... you get the picture.

And besides all that, the sound card is a quirky rev of an Intel high-definition audio controller that requires a bunch of work to get going on Linux.

To say I was disappointed with the S10-3 is an understatement - I hated it. Not for it's design - it is really well done - but for it's execution. Combine that with the apparent lack of service/interest from Lenovo in supporting their "consumer" line, and you have what amounts to a boat anchor that you will want to throw in the water and drown.

One of the biggest issues we are facing, at present, is the lack of availability of netbooks with solid state (memory-based) storage. This was an important feature for us, as you will you recall from my prior review, as we want as few moving parts as possible, since moving parts are the ones that fail most often, especially in an environment where there is a high likelihood that they will experience deceleration-trauma/cement poisoning/etc. (ie get dropped.) Vendors, however, face competitive pressures from a rapidly growing market and therefore find themselves competing on specifications, for which hard drives are an inexpensive way to drive up their numbers. As such, none of the vendors who once offered solid-state storage appear to be offering it now, which has forced us to rethink our strategy. More ...

Past experience tells us that the thing that is most likely to fail in any computer, especially portable ones, is the hard drive. So, it will be extremely important that we be able to recover from hard drive failures quickly. As such, our strategy now is to keep a cache of pre-imaged hard drives available to swap in to a system in the event of failure. Hard drives are very inexpensive these days - 160G netbook drives are about $50 - so this shouldn't be a huge problem, and we expect that it won't significantly drive up our support costs.

Based on our past experience, we have looked specifically at three contenders (+1, when I can get my hands on one): Asus, HP, and Dell. Lenovo also looks promising, but I haven't been able to get a demo unit, so my experience has been limited to playing with them on a vendor show floor. I can say that, based on this review, it looks to be quite a solid contender in this space, so rest assured I will be in touch with my Lenovo rep to get a hold of one asap. (Finally received an eval unit. Read the review.)

Asus EeePC 1005

Asus was the originator of the netbook, with their first unit shipping in 2007 (Has it only been 3 years? Wow - we've come a long way!) Over the past year or so their anchor product has been the EeePC 1005, which is an excellent little netbook. Of the 10 inch contenders in the market, there is none that is so compact, save the EeePC 1008. The battery fits snugly within the outline of the netbook, yet is available with up to 9 cells, making the 1005 the clear winner when it comes to battery life. In fact, even the 6 cell models regularly trounce the competition, easily besting them by hours. The 1005 offers excellent Linux compatibility (which is important to us), solid construction, and they come in at a price point that is lower than the competition, which is also quite appealing. In fact, the recently released EeePC 1001 (which is essentially a "budget" 1005) comes in a just $269.

That said, there haven't been many significant changes to it recently, save the introduction of models with an upgraded Intel "Pine View" chipset, so all the same issues mentioned in my prior review still apply. The 1001 looks quite appealing with its matte finish on the screen and case (ideal for school environments), but is only available with wireless G, which means that twice the wireless equipment will be required in dense environments. And remember that little issue with the hard drives? Taking these apart to replace the hard drive is neither quick nor pleasant. See the video below, plus further details here.

HP Mini 210/2102

As you will recall from last time, I didn't review HP's offerings for a number of reasons - a choice for which I received much flack from HP fans. I stand by my assessment of HP's past offerings, but since that time they have made some significant changes, introducing a whole new netbook line that is quite impressive. In fact, the HP Mini 210/2102 is my personal favorite of the three models tested. The keyboard is, in a word, awesome, and I love the size/performance of the clickpad, even though it has integrated buttons that require some getting used to. It is the thinnest and lightest of the 10 inch models tested, yet is incredibly sturdy and of excellent design. The Mini has edge-to-edge glass on the display, for example, which makes the whole unit look sleeker and adds an extra layer of protection from the poking fingers of 4th graders, and the entire bottom panel comes off without removing a single screw for easy upgrades. It also offers excellent battery life, great compatibility with Linux, and a case design that, while somewhat glossy, has a subtle pattern that serves to hide fingerprints quite well. In fact, you would think they read my past review because they even went so far as to ditch the Broadcom wireless adapter in favor of Atheros. All in all, it's an outstanding netbook for me.

That said, it is not without it's problems for classroom use. The edge-to-edge glass on the display adds a glare factor that is best described as "mirror-esque", which, in an environment rife with fluorescent lighting will be problematic. But the two biggest issues will be far more challenging to overcome: the construction of the battery and serviceability of the hard drive.

Battery: The battery on the HP Mini 210 is much like those on Acer, Toshiba, and the older Dell Mini 10v in that it pokes out the back of the unit (see below). This ordinarily wouldn't be a problem, except on the HP the clips that hold the battery in are entirely too small, and the locking clip on the left side isn't spring loaded and doesn't really lock, making it easy to accidentally flip it to unlocked with the brush of a fingertip. Since the battery causes the HP to sit up at a nice angle (see below), it also becomes a natural handle, which makes this accidental unlock extremely common (I've done it a dozen times myself this week alone.) Once the lock is released, the battery flexes causing a gap between the battery and the netbook, and creating strain at a variety of points, especially on the other, also too small clip. The extremely small size of these clips coupled with the lack of real locking I believe makes the battery extremely prone to breakage.

Serviceability: I was extraordinarily encouraged by the ease of opening the bottom of the HP - it actually opens without the removal of a single screw! Once under the panel, everything is exposed beautifully, and with the removal of just 3 screws, the keyboard pops right out (another part that is inexpensive and easy to replace.) Upon closer examination, however, I was quick to discover that the hard drive, while immediately visible, is impossible to remove without disassembling the entire unit. After removing 15 screws and looking for ways to free the drive for about 20 minutes, I gave up. See the video below for details. Update: turns out the both the video and I were wrong! There is a big label holding the hard drive in place, but nothing more, so the hard drive pops right out. I should have been more courageous up front with the innards of the HP. There is nothing holding the drive in, however, besides the sticky label, which leaves me a bit worried about durability. But the hard drive is quite easy to swap.

All in all, I really like the HP Mini. 

Dell Mini 1012

The new Dell Mini 1012 is really something. On the one hand, it's quite durable and well built. On the other, it's got to be the most thuggish 10 inch netbook I've ever seen (see below).

In the hands it feels like a larger laptop, even though it has essentially the same specs as the other models listed above. The hinge on the screen is forward of the rear of the laptop, which is odd, especially since the trackpad looks a bit cramped at the bottom of the keyboard, and could have used the extra real estate. Of course, these are all aesthetic issues which are relatively irrelevant for our purposes.

Linux support is excellent on the Dell Mini 1012 - everything worked as expected, right down to the special keys. As I said above, the build quality is quite good - I have little doubt that this machine would survive multiple drops. The casing is much less fingerprint prone than prior models as well, thanks to the vast majority of it being white. Unlike prior Dell Minis, the battery on this model is contained within its (immense) borders and is extremely secure - so much so that it is actually difficult to remove. But the best thing about it is how easy it is to get into: just three screws and you have access to everything right under the keyboard (see below).

One more screw and the hard disk slides right out. Someone at Dell was thinking about serviceability, which will be particularly important to us in the future. Add to that some very aggressive pricing, and you have quite a nice little unit.

All that said, the Dell is far from perfect. Besides its behemoth like stature, the keyboard is my least favorite. It's mushy compared to the others. The trackpad is the same odd shape as the one on the prior Mini 10v (1011) - it's wider than it should be which can take some getting used to. They both work fine, they just aren't as "nice" as those on the other two models. Lastly, I was only able to test a wireless G model, as models with wireless N won't start shipping until April. Based on Dells reputation, I have no doubt that it will work fine with Linux (they already have a sku for a Linux model with wireless N). Update - received a model with Wireless N and, as expected, it works just fine. Standard Broadcom adapter.

Conclusion (for now)

For now, the best choice for my money looks to be the Dell Mini 1012. It's far from perfect, but when I think about the things that matter most to me, chief among them being avoiding breakage and time sinking support/service calls, the Dell has the others soundly beat. We'll see how the Lenovo stacks up when I get it in about a week, but it's looking like the Dell might just be the winner.

Any study in human motivation will undoubtedly lead to Maslow's “Theory of Human Motivation”, which logically concludes that humans are essentially motivated by their needs. Knowing this, as well as how much the world has changed in the last decade, it might be tempting to assume that our students' needs have changed along with the world around them. But have they?

For review, let's have another look at Maslow's theory and see what we can glean from it. According to Maslow, all human motivation is driven by a hierarchy of needs, which are typically represented in the form of a pyramid as in the figure to the right. The pyramid is functionally divided into two halves, with bottom half representing deficiency needs and the top half representing growth needs. While the growth needs are what we care most about as educators, it's important for us to understand the deficiency needs before we even talk about growth. 

The deficiency needs are what one might consider to be the obvious needs, with the bottom being the physiological - I need to eat, I need to sleep, etc. Once those physiological needs are met, then we are concerned about physical safety, followed by thoughts of love and belonging, and finally an interest in our self-esteem or sense of self worth. The important thing to remember is that these needs build on each other in such a way that the means to meet higher needs will not be sought until the lower needs are first met. A person will sacrifice their need for love/belonging, for example, if they feel physically threatened, and so on. The notion here is that the deficiency needs all have to be met before we can even start thinking about our growth needs. While schools are doing a pretty good job in these areas (although I have a particular beef with our obsessive over-emphasis on esteem, ie "everyone's a winner, noone's a loser"), we would be remiss if we didn't ask ourselves the tough questions: "Do my kids feel safe at school?", "Are they getting enough to eat?", "Do I create an environment where kids feel as though they belong?"

Once the deficiency needs are met, then an individual moves on to growth needs. In Maslow's original theory he only has one item above "esteem", and that is "self-actualization" or the desire for self-fulfillment and the ultimate reaching of one's potential. A deeper read into the matter, however, reveals that there are some important considerations that must be met on the road to self-actualization, and that there is an ultimate transcendent destination beyond it, which I have broken out in the chart above. He speaks of the cognitive needs - the need to learn, the need to know, the need to understand, and the need to explore. He uses the word "explore" or "exploration", which is something that I think we've lost much of today in education. Once one moves beyond the cognitive, they move towards aesthetics, such as recognizing beauty and the need for order and patterns. And only after that can one understand the nature of their abilities and endeavor to reach their true potential (self-actualization). But the ultimate goal, the one we should all be striving for, is that point where ego steps out of the way and we transcend to a level where we want to help others reach their potential.

Above all, the important detail to remember is that higher needs only gain focus when the lower needs are met, which means that a student's focus can be ever changing, depending on other influences in their life. It's hard to focus on math when you are worried about survival, but you are immensely interested in learning about survival. Likewise, the ultimate realization of a student's potential and consequential wisdom and transcendence will never be reached if we don't create environments where students fulfill their needs to know, understand, explore, and create.

But the interesting thing about all of this is that despite all the technology in their lives and all the changes in the world around them, kids' needs really haven't changed. They still need the same basic things. What has changed is the tools and influences around them that alter the mechanisms by which those needs are met...

More to follow in subsequent posts...

There are a number of things we look for in a netbook, beginning first and foremost with durability. More ...In the hands of younger students, netbooks have a tendency to find their way to the floor from a variety of heights, with alarming regularity. As such, the construction of the netbook must be sturdy. Naturally, this puts models with hard disks at a disadvantage, as a spinning disk is not particularly tolerant of deceleration trauma. Even so, we were initially considering models with hard drives, believing that we might simply keep spare drives on-hand. We have recently changed our opinion on that, however, based on our teachers' expressed concerns and their descriptions of the frequency and spectacularity of drops in the 4th grade.

Hardware compatibility and performance are also important factors. Since we use a custom Ubuntu Linux build on our netbooks, we spend a little extra time verifying that everything works as expected. While we find that the vast majority of devices work out of the box, some vendors' component choices are not the best performing and/or exhibit quirks that can limit usability. For example, several vendors use Broadcom wireless adapters, which require a custom driver and are generally slower to connect than other adapters since they require the loading of firmware with every power up.

All-day battery life is critical, so a 6-cell battery option is a must. We believe that the netbooks must be continuously accessible and instantly available throughout the day to be truly transformative, so anything less is simply unacceptable.

And finally, a wireless-N card is particularly important. With 30+ laptops per room, anything less yields performance that is simply unacceptable, unless one increases the density of access points to a level that borders on unmanageable. With N-class wireless, we have found that a single access point per room is more than adequate to service the entire class.

The following netbooks all met, or nearly met the above criteria, and are listed in the order we looked at them. Notably absent is HP, whom we decided against early due to poor experiences with their laptop support division and general industry consensus that they are the least reliable manufacturer of laptops/netbooks. They also do not appear to offer N-class wireless, leaving them in a hole far too deep to dig themselves out of.

Asus EeePC 1005HA

We have found the Asus EeePC 1005HA to be excellent on a number of fronts. It is the most compact of the bunch, with a 6-cell battery that does not protrude from the perimeter of the case in any way. Their super-hybrid engine yields exceptional battery life, and the build quality is quite high, although the keyboard springs feel a bit light. The wireless card is from Atheros, which is very quick, generally reconnecting to known networks in about 8 seconds. The keyboard feels large and comfortable, and is matched only by the Dell for key size. The price (around $312 per unit) is also among the lowest of the bunch. Asus' repair center for the west coast is located in Fremont, CA, which is relatively close to us, and they offer a quick turnaround on RMA requests.

That said, besides the organizational problems I mentioned above, there are a couple of technical issues with this model. They do not offer a solid-state drive option, which eventually turned out to be a deal-breaker for us. And they use a custom, Intel "High Definition" sound card that has proven to be somewhat problematic. Sound output is excellent, however the built in microphone is another story. For this design, Intel decided to route the analog internal microphone through the chip's onboard digital processor, which confuses the sound mixer in the latest build of Ubuntu by labeling the channel "digital" rather than "microphone" or "internal microphone". This leads to the requirement of a separate mixer application for the microphone, which can be a bit confusing for users. I have no doubt that this problem will be solved in short order, but at present it is a bit annoying.

Acer AspireOne D250-1633

Selecting an Acer model is challenging, to say the least. The number and variety of models for the same basic netbook is staggering, with only tiny variations in components. The "1633" at the end may well indicate the number of models available - at least it sure feels like it. This particular model is one of the few with N-class wireless (also, the excellent Atheros card) and a 6-cell battery. The Acer is surprisingly thin, although the 6-cell battery makes it seem a bit thicker on the back. It also protrudes about an inch, making this model feel larger than most of the other models. Everything works out of the box, including all of the special keys and switches that are littered about the case. Like the Asus, it ships with a 160 Gb hard disk. We know there is a solid state option available, however we were unable to find it in any of the (seemingly hundreds of) models that are available.

The keys on the keyboard are small compared to all the other models, with the exception of the Lenovo, and feel rather flimsy. The overall build quality is just OK, with this one feeling like the least sturdy of the bunch. We believe this model to be the least likely to survive a drop, which appears to be an accurate assessment based on the industry report above. The sound card on this model is identical to the one in the Asus, which means it suffers from the same internal microphone issue.

Samsung N130/N140

The Samsung N130 and N140 are essentially the same model with different styling cues. We looked at the N130-13B model, which includes the 6-cell battery, wireless-N networking, and a 160 Gb hard disk. This model feels incredibly sturdy, and is a bit thicker than the others. The battery life is exceptional and the keyboard feels quite solid, although the mouse button is a rather flimsy, single strip of plastic that flexes when you press on the left or right side. The aesthetic styling is particularly nice, as it is the only model that does not have a glossy or flat black fingerprint magnet on its outer shell. On the flip side, it is white with a medium-blue top cover, which may attract Sharpies and/or lead to a rather dirty looking netbook over time.

With so much going for it in the design department, it was a shame to struggle so with the hardware. While the sound card worked perfectly, the wireless card was a Realtek model that is too new to have a Linux driver, forcing the use of the ndiswrapper/windows driver combo (which is rather slow). There are an insane number of special keys on the keyboard with non-obvious icons on them that do nothing, as do many of the discernible ones, which means it would take a fair amount of work to map them to appropriate actions. We were also unable to locate a solid state option for storage, short of replacing the hard drive ourselves, which is rather expensive.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10v

The Dell Mini 10v is a quite customizable model with a wide-array of options available, including multiple solid-state drives, colors, batteries, and wireless cards. We tested a model that was configured exactly as we would order it, with wireless-N, 16Gb solid state disk, and a 6 cell battery, all in black. The keyboard on the Dell is one of it's strongest points, as it feels very solid and has quite large keys. In fact, the keys are not square, but instead are taller than they are wide, which leads me to believe that they are full height and only slightly reduced width from full size. Touch typists in our district preferred the Dell keyboard to all the other models. The Dell has an Intel sound card that works perfectly in all applications. Battery life is good, although it peaks at around 6.5 hours, which is a little lower than some of the other models. All of the special keys work out of the box. Dell's strong Linux support is also a plus, made obvious through their design and chipset choices.

That said, the Mini is not without its problems. The tall keys create something of an design problem for the trackpad, as Dell was forced to trade trackpad size for key size (see photo above). This lead to a squat and wide aspect ratio on the pad that feels awkward to an experienced laptop user (until they get used to it, of course). In an effort to extend the height of the pad, Dell decided to integrate the buttons, creating click zones in the bottom right and left-hand corners of the pad itself. This sounds like a great idea, however it requires a bit of getting used to, as a thumb press anywhere but the absolute bottom-left or right corner can cause the cursor to jump. Again, this isn't a huge deal, just a quirk that annoys at first.

Other minor issues are the battery and the wireless-N card. While the rest of the models chose to either extend their batteries out the back or, as is the case with Asus and Samsung, conceal the extra cells entirely, Dell adds the extra row of batteries under the back of the laptop. This tilts the laptop up slightly, which the majority of our teacher liked, but also makes it a bit thick to pack in a bag. The only wireless card available with N-class performance is a Broadcom card, which is slower to reconnect to known networks after sleep/power off (for the reasons described above). It generally requires around 17-20 seconds after waking up to reconnect.

All of these are minor issues, of course. The Dell is a solid, well-designed all-around netbook.

Toshiba NB205-N325

We were able to test a pair of Toshiba NB205s unintentionally, as a parent brought them to us to install our software on. While we didn't get to spend a large amount of time with them, our impressions were generally negative. The Toshiba feels extremely solid, even a bit heavy, with an exterior of a similar design to the Samsung (with a few glossy "fingerpring magnet" spots here and there). The 6-cell battery extends out the back, leaving the netbook nice and flat, and the keyboard "chiclet" style keys are similar in size to the Acer, but feel more solid. The special keys appeared to work out of the box, although we didn't have time to test them fully.

That was the good news. The bad news is that there is no solid-state option, no wireless-N option, and the sound card is so abysmal that the only way to make it work is to build a custom kernel with all sorts of patches and tweaks. Out of the box the mic doesn't work at all, and the sound card sends no audio whatsoever to the speakers or the headphone jack. It also has a voltage problem on the USB bus, as they destroyed two of my USB keys. I know it wasn't an isolated problem with just one of them, as I had the same thing happen on both. Take the lack of available hardware to meet our demands, add in the pain and suffering to get the audio to work, couple those with the danger of USB hardware damage, and combine it all with the extraordinarily high cost of this model (this was the most expensive of the bunch) and this netbook is simply a non-starter.

Lenovo Ideapad S10

The Lenovo S10, like the Dell, is a highly customizable netbook. Solid-state, wireless-N (Broadcom), and 6-cell batteries are all available options. The demo unit we received from Lenovo came with a 160Gb hard disk and a Broadcom wireless-G adapter. I imagine we could have got one configured according to our specifications, however this one was readily available, as it was in the possession of the SoCal rep (who happens to live about 10 miles from our district office). It is quite sturdy, with a thick top cover that many of our teachers commented positively on. The 6-cell battery extends out the back like the Acer and Toshiba, and performs much like the Dell at about 6.5 hours of regular use. The Intel sound card just works, as do all of the special keys. Lenovo, too, is quite well known for their Linux support, so we were pleased overall with the out-of-the box functionality. Overall, the S10 is quite well designed.

In the hands of our teachers, however, this was their least favorite model. They all commented on its durability, however also hated the keyboard and trackpad. There is a surprising margin around the keys, which makes them the smallest of the bunch. Many believed them to be the same size as those on our 9 inch EeePCs (they are larger, but not much) and complained that they didn't feel as though they could use it on a regular basis. This, of course, isn't all that relevant, as the netbooks would be used by students, but was striking just the same. Lenovo claims that the next S10 will have bigger keys, but it was not available at the time of this review. As for the trackpad, it can best be described as a postage stamp - it's just too small. It didn't help that the Lenovo rep didn't even seem to like it, instead continually trying to "upsell" us to an 11.6 inch Thinkpad model that is not going to be available until next year.

Conclusion

Based on our initial evaluation, the two models we will be offering to our student testers will be the Dell and the Lenovo. Overall, these two are the best performing and most desirable models, based on our needs and requirements. There are certainly a number of other factors that will come into play in the final decision, such as future repair costs. Our experience has been that the three things that are likely to need repair/replacement are the battery, the keyboard, and the screen. Lenovo has been non-committal on this, again pushing the Thinkpad model as one for which they will sell parts. Dell came in with extremely attractive screen and keyboard pricing - even lower than Asus'. Both are offering imaging services, and Dell has even offered "green packaging", in which they will minimize packing materials by placing multiple netbooks in each box without all of the surplus fluff that one might find in traditional packaging. This is particularly attractive for the quantity we are purchasing, as we expect it will dramatically reduce deployment times.

Yet many of us seem to believe that if we can just get the right set of tools into the classroom we can solve all of education's problems. So we take out our whiteboards and replace them with super-whiteboards, and we swap out our overhead projectors for document cameras, and we sprinkle in some classroom responders, just for good measure. We do all this because we genuinely believe that it will make all the difference in the world, mostly because somebody told us that the reason kids aren't learning in the 21st century is because we aren't interesting enough. And I think that's wrong. I don't think that's right at all.

I think the problem that we're having is not that we haven't figured out the right set of tools, I think it's that we're not focusing on the right things. We're not taking a look at technology and it's role in the future of education and asking the right questions.

I was following along with a discussion panel this year at NECC (now ISTE) on social networking in education (which is a topic I often speak about) and panelist David Jakes posited what I believe is the right question. And it didn't have anything to do with social networking or web 2.0 or tools or technology. It was simply this: “What does it mean to be well educated in the 21st century?” I think that is the question we really need to start asking.

To answer that question, I believe we need to take a step back and look at how the world has changed all around us – step back and look at the world our kids are entering and consider what they will face when they get there. We need to look again at their needs, their motivations, and their influences and discover what drives them to learn and grow. Only when we do that, can we rightly challenge the assumptions we have used to build our education systems and consider what school in the 21st century should look like.

More to follow in subsequent posts...

SaugusUSD SWATTEC Project: http://community.saugususd.org/swattec/page/
SaugusUSD Linux on Netbooks: http://community.saugususd.org/swattec/page/Linux+on+Netbooks
Saugus K12 Social Networking Resources: http://community.saugususd.org/jklein/page/Social+Networking
K12 Social Networking Presentation at Harvard: http://www.slideshare.net/jnetman1/k12-social-networking-harvard

Blog Posts and Commentary:
When do Laptops Become School Supplies? (Jim Klein) http://is.gd/3wWvq
Netbooks and Open-source: Rethinking Laptops and Learning? (Jim Klein): http://is.gd/4fCRU
Linux on Netbooks and Whiskers on Kittens (Karl Fisch) http://is.gd/3wWBf
Transitioning to 1:1 Netbook via BYOL (Wes Fryer) http://is.gd/3wWFY
The Value of Comment Moderation and Feedback... (Wes Fryer) http://is.gd/3wWIC
Quit Substituting Expensive EdTech Gadgets for the “Real Deal” (John Patten) http://is.gd/3wWKH

Key Open Source Projects:
The OpenDisc - http://www.theopendisc.com
Elgg Open Source Social Engine – http://elgg.org
Ubuntu Linux: http://www.ubuntu.com
iTalc Project - http://italc.sourceforge.net

K12 Open Source Resources:
CoSN K12 Open Technologies Initiative: http://k12opentech.org
K12OpenSource.com: http://www.k12opensource.com
K12OpenSource.org: http://www.k12opensource.org
Jim Klein's Open Source Pages: http://community.saugususd.org/jklein/page/Open+Technologies
K12 Open Source Help (Contractor): http://k12opensourcehelp.com

Great Netbooks for Linux:
Asus EeePC: http://eeepc.asus.com
Acer AspireOne: http://us.acer.com
Dell Mini: http://www.dell.com/home/netbooks

Students Skype with US Soldier in Iraq from Jim Klein on Vimeo.