One to One Computing, Linux Style
A year ago, the Whitfield School hit a golden mark when it came to computers. After four years of steadily increasing the number of Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks the school leased, Whitfield finally got to the golden mark where it had one for every student and teacher of the St. Louis-based private school.
“We’ve been acquiring machines over the last four years,” recalls Alex Inman, Director of Technology at the Whitfield School. “Last year, we hit the 1:1 ratio across the school’s students and faculty.”
Because Whitfield leases the systems, every year roughly one quarter of its notebooks are retired and are replaced by about 150 brand new machines. “We rotate the inventory,” Inman adds. “The newest models go to faculty and seniors.”
The reason for this top-down distribution is more than seniority and the inevitable pecking order at any school. The rationale is that as students become older and more sophisticated computer users they can appreciate and best use the newer and more powerful systems.
While the school acquired a variety of Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks, Inman and Whitfield went their own way when it came to software. Rather than Microsoft’s Windows, the school’s notebooks use Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and a variety of free or low-cost applications.
Inman figures that Whitfield is saving nearly $350 per notebook over the systems’ four-year lifespan. While lower software costs from using open-source programs is a key benefit, the Linux systems also require lower maintenance and infrastructure costs, compared to Windows systems. For Whitfield’s notebooks, that adds up to $210,000 and counting.
The use of Linux instead of Windows has not been without its problems for Inman and Whitfield. While the operating system and available software is certainly less expensive and isn’t as susceptible to virus attack, it has its faults. Inman’s gripes have included iffy software compatibility and rough software installation procedures for new applications.
There’s been progress on both fronts. To start, Open Office now accepts all Office 2007 files so student papers written on a Windows system at home can be polished on a Linux laptop. Plus, Inman says that the operating system has added a one-click installation process that streamlines adding applications.
The payoff at Whitfield is measured in more than money. By making sure everyone has a notebook to work with at classes during the day and take home at night, Whitfield students are becoming empowered for the digital age. That’s just the start. “They develop a sense of ownership and transparency with the technology that you simply can not achieve with a computer lab or laptop cart,” explains Inman.
Sure, the kids use the ThinkPads to do their homework, write papers and perform Web research, but they also use them to communicate with each other, organize their day and explore the world around them. “They spend more hours developing skills doing things that interest them,” adds Inman. “The kind of literacy developed in a 1:1 program can not fit into a school day.”
The computers have had a huge impact on Whitfield’s curriculum. Out are hand-out sheets and in are Wikis, news feeds and access to online resources. Now that they’ve had a taste of how natural and straight-forward digitally-assisted education can be, neither Whitfield’s students nor its faculty could ever dream of going back. “It would be very frustrating and constricting to move back to an environment without 1:1 computing,” says Inman. “It is challenging but liberating!”
Case Study
Whitfield School
Location
St Louis, Mo
Type of Institution
Private school, grades 6 through 12
Student Body
470
Faculty and Staff
100
Average Class size/Student-Teacher Ratio
12/8:1
Computers
600 leased ThinkPads with Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
