El Paso, Texas teachers boot up 3,000 new Apple MacBooks

25 Comments

“Teachers in the Ysleta Independent School District today will each receive a laptop, in what administrators and technology officials say is one of the largest computer distribution programs in the state [Texas]. All 3,000 teachers in the district will pick up a brand-new Apple MacBook for use in managing their classrooms and instruction,” Gustavo Reveles Acosta reports for The El Paso Times.

“‘Our teachers are now among the best equipped in Texas and the nation,’ Superintendent Hector Montenegro said. ‘This will catapult Ysleta to the next level of student achievement.’ Micha Villarreal, Ysleta’s director of instruction and technology, said teachers will use the laptops to do day-to-day duties such as taking attendance and inputting grades,” Acosta reports. “But, she said, teachers are expected to integrate the technology available to them into their instruction.”

Acosta reports, “Teachers and librarians, who also will receive laptops, have already begun the training on how to use the computers and the software that comes with them.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Vince” for the heads up.]
DMWT.

Related MacDailyNews article:
Michigan school district adds 1,200 more Apple Macs; never approved by school board – January 04, 2007

25 Comments

  4. Here we go again. It’s sad to see so many children missing out on the opportunity to use Windows in the classroom. If they use Windows, school will be just like the workplace, and their futures will be secured. This is what every parent wants for their children. What good are Mac skills in the real world? Fact is, Windows and all the awesome software that runs on it is what power users operate the workplace.

    For you Mac lemmings let me explain what Windows power users do: Spreadsheets <u>with</u> charts, Powerpoint presentations which include Redmond’s beautiful clip-art and use Exchange-based e-mail for opening the .WMV of a monkey peeing on himself which your colleague in the Denver branch sent you. Lets see you do that on your little toy Macs. Losers.

    It’s frightening. If students can’t use Outlook through an Exchange server, how will they understand the e-mail about not cooking malodorous food in the company microwave? How will they be reminded that tube tops are not included in the casual day dress code and that they should review the casual day guidelines if they have any questions? No way am I going to allow my son or daughter to go to work in a tube top because they didn’t know the first thing about Microsoft Outlook, or couldn’t navigate the company intranet in Microsoft Internet Explorer to open the casual day dress code guidelines.

    Your potential. Our passion.

    Reply

  6. “…. couldn’t navigate the company intranet in Microsoft Internet Explorer….”

    The company intranet is the ONLY safe place to use Internet Explorer. So full of security holes it’s like having the wolf on guard duty in the chicken house.

    Reply

  7. Actually this is very far from Dell’s turf, as far west in Texas as you can go, right next to New Mexico and Mexico. I used to work in the area integrating technology into the schools, and surprisingly they’ve always had a strong Mac presence. The schools I worked with in the district also tended to have several student computers in the classrooms, labs, and even in our partner schools parent centers with computers. So even though these are only teacher computers, they should help them in integrating the technology more.

    Reply

  8. Zune Tang, your commentary on Windows is way better than it is on the Zune.

    Good to have you back to your old form.

    Keep up the good work. I particularly like the “check the casual day dress code guidelines” bit.

    ROFLMAO

    Reply

  18. ALL HAIL ZUUUUUUUUNE TANG!!!!

    rotflmao!!!!

    “Zune Tang” makes me think of Abe Vigoda in “Joe vs. the Volcano” as the king of the Wiponi-Wu.

    Just me?

    Seriously, you people that take ZT at face value (even an impostor) scare me.

    Reply

  20. Ryan, I agree. It certainly hasn’t worked in England; today’s Times Educational Supplement reports that the billions of pounds invested in educational IT in recent years has had no significant impact on standards, not least because the professional development of the teachers has been sub-standard. IT can make a difference in schools – I’m in the business, and I have seen what can be achieved – but you have to use the right IT tools (hardware and software) and know how to use them well. Thankfully, there are clear signs that the Windows hegemony in England is being significantly eroded by Apple’s current hardware and software, and by teachers who get what it’s really all about: empowering student’s learning and creativity.

    Reply

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