Last winter, as we were in the process of reevaluating our 7-year-old
laptop program and planning for our future, I posted a survey for
schools with laptop programs. We had over 60 responses, including
around 40 independent schools.
Independent schools used the following funding/access models:
Family hardware purchase - 17
Family hardware lease - 6
Family tech fee - 7
Endowment/special fund - 9
Combinations are common, as well as increased tuition at 1-1
implementation age.
In a nutshell, these are the reasons schools go with school or parent-
owned models:
School-owned
+School can more easily control content/use (restrictions or
expectations are easier to enforce)
+School can recall computers during summer for refurbishing and
reimaging
+Software licensing benefits
+Easier to determine platform and model
+Some students may be less responsible when it doesn't belong to them
(It's suggested schools using this model give kids the same laptop
multiple years and charge families for repairs not covered by
warranty/insurance.)
+Parents may be more reluctant to exude control of the machine
(Parent training is essential.)
+Tech fee or other funding required
Parent-owned
+Families want more choice of platform, model, etc. and may be
reluctant to purchase what the school requires
+More responsibility on the student/home
+Schools tend to "mark up" the hardware package to finance the
support of the program
+Harder to control content; more dependent on parent expectations
+Difficult to get kids to bring in hardware for repair or collect
over summer/breaks for repairs(school machine is usually a gaming/
music machine and the only machine kids are allowed to use at home)
+Software titles more expensive (can't use most site licenses)
+Families more likely to allow recreational use, bring machine on
vacations, etc.
A number of schools voiced reluctance to begin leasing programs as
most parents could afford outright purchase and didn't want to deal
with interest charged through leasing programs.
After careful consideration, my school has decided to change our old
implementation model (grade 7 school owned w/family purchase in 8th)
to school-owned hardware in middle school and a single family
purchase point in 9th grade with a 4-year warranty.
I hope this info helps. Let me know if you have other questions.
Tami Brass
http://www.tech4teaching.org
http://del.icio.us/brasst
tamilb@mac.com
tbrass@spa.edu
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to
live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the
same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but
burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like
spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue
centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' "-- Jack Kerouac
On Jul 15, 2008, at 8:28 AM, William Stites wrote:
> All,
>
> I am curious as to how many schools have 1:1 where the the school
> owns (lease or buy) the device vs. the school requiring the family
> to own the device.
>
> What I would like to know is what are the pro's and con's of both
> types of programs. If you are a school where the families own the
> device do you wish that you owned them and if you are a school
> where the school owns them do you wish the families owned them.
>
> Many thanks!
>
> William Stites
> Director of Technology
> The Montclair Kimberley Academy
> 201 Valley Road
> Montclair, NJ 07042
> wstites@montclairkimberley.org
> 973-509-4595
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
