Chris Hamady

The link to the materials mentioned at the SCOCA event is here:

http://www.chrishamady.com/apple-leadership-presentation/

Apple recently provided us with some information on their upcoming Mac OS X version, Mountain Lion. One of the capabilities listed will be integrated Air Play mirroring. In a previous blog post, this feature was part of my Mac OS X wish-list. I'm excited to think about the possibilities that we now have in our homes and classrooms as a result of this new capability.

Air Play mirroring will allow a teacher to take her/his laptop anywhere in their classroom and push the audio/video contents of that laptop onto an LCD projector/speakers by way of an Apple TV, all without any wires. Awesome!

The other listed features found in Mountain Lion are:

iCloud

Messages

Reminders

Notes

Notification Center

Share Sheets

Twitter

Game Center

The last feature that was listed in the Mountain Lion release was something called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper is a registration service for applications with security as its main goal. Gatekeeper provides three optional levels of security when attempting to install apps:

1. Anything goes. Any apps found anywhere can be downloaded and installed on the Mac. Freedom lives! (...but so do security concerns)

2. Mac App store and Apple developer ID'd. Apps downloaded from the Mac App store and apps found elsewhere that have been registered with Apple can be installed. Limited rights/slippery slope. (More secure)

3. Mac App store only. ONLY Apps sold by Apple can be downloaded and installed on your legally purchased and owned computer. Dictatorship model! (Highly secure)

While Gatekeeper sounds well intentioned, it could very well be another step toward a Mac OS X where the only apps available for the computer will be proprietary ones found in the Mac App store. This could be disastrous to many developers, more specifically, open source developers and their applications.

We've already seen a fantastic open source app, VLC, pulled from the iOS App store because its open source license forbid digital rights management from being included in any derivitave works based on VLCs codebase.

I hope that both sides of this conflict, Apple and the open source community, can find a reasonable solution. It would be very upsetting to us if we were not able to include the many incredible and free open source apps found here on the Macbook Airs used in our school's 1 to 1 initiative.

Lastly, there was no mention of iBooks for Mac OS X. I simply cannot understand why interactive digital books that must be created on Mac OS X, still do not have a native application designed for the same platform with which they can be read.

CH

When Apple's marketshare was less than 3%, many people gave up on Apple. If it wasn't for the 3% of the market that stuck with Apple through the dark times, Apple would certainly have died.
 
Fast forward to today. Apple has created a new market with iOS. It has proven wildly successful and as a result, Apple's profits are meteoric. Why then, has Apple neglected its most loyal customers?

Do they NEED to neglect the loyal 3% that stuck with them through thick and thin? The answer is a resounding, NO!

What am I talking about? I'm talking about those of us that used Apple full featured computers in the 90s, and STILL use them today. Are there technical limitations that preclude MacBook Air, iMacs, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro from having similar functionality to iOS? Again…no!

Let's look at the things that we can't do with our Macintosh computers that others can do with their less expensive iOS devices:

1. Apple TV mirroring- Why can't we mirror our computer audio and video through an Apple TV? Why do I still need to install HDMI or VGA cables into my school classrooms when a wireless solution is certainly available?

2. iBooks- Why can't we read iBooks on our computers? Some folks might like to read on a tablet device, but not all of us do.

3. Find my Mac- Why don't MacBook Airs come with built in GPS and cellular connections? This is the most portable computer on the planet. There should be a way to track it if one is lost or stolen. (Currently WiFi triangulation only)

Please don't force me to use a device or interface that I don't find nearly as functional as my MacBook Air. There isn't any technical, functional, or logistical reason that the aforementioned capabilities found on an iPad or iPod can't be available for a MacBook Air or other Mac. Apple, please don't forget the 3% of us that stuck with you when you needed us.

Dance with the One that Brung Ya.

If there are other things that you see in iOS that Apple has neglected to include in Mac OS X, please put them in the comments and I will certainly add them to this post.

CH

In an earlier blog post, I did a review of the iCade. At that time, I bemoaned the loss of iCade support in Namco's biggest hit, Pac-Man. I even went so far as to correspond with Namco and ION AUDIO asking them to provide the necessary support, so that those of us that purchased both the iCade and Pac-Man, could more fully appreciate these two products once they were married together.

Well, it appears that my requests (and those from others, I'm sure) have been answered. As of December 7th, the latest Pac-Man app for iPad is now fully iCade compatible!

If you have an iCade, download Pac-Man for iPad and prepare for an 80s-induced, non-stop episode of joystick fun!

Link to Pac-Man in the iTunes Store.

Gary Stager titled his recent blog post, BYOD- Worst Idea of the 21st Century. While I'm not so sure that I can go THERE...I do have some very strong opinions on BYOD and why I don't feel that it is the best solution for education.

The larger point that everyone is avoiding when discussing this topic is: what is best? What is best for learning and engagement? What is best for project-based learning? What is best for a learner paradigm? What is best for an instructional paradigm? What is best for IT to monitor and protect the students in an era where lawyers are screaming for us to protect them? What is best for teachers to integrate? What is best for students to utilize? What is best for professional development to be effective? Of utmost importance, what is the best solution for leveling the playing field and eradicating the digital divide?

Let's look at one specific scenario, downtime in the classroom. Our school has to keep over 1100 laptops functioning for both students and faculty. When anyone has any issue with a laptop whatsoever, it has the potential to negatively impact the learning process for minimally 1 student. If a teacher pauses to try to help a student with a laptop issue or the issue is with a teacher laptop, then everyone's learning is negatively affected.

How will this be addressed in the classroom when students are bringing in all manner of devices with a myriad of problems? Such as:

1. I don't have a mind map program
2. I don't have a music editor
3. That piece of shareware won't run on my version of operating system X.
4. My computer doesn't have java installed on it.
5. My computer won't pull a DHCP address.
6. My phone doesn't have unlimited texting
7. I don't have a phone.
8. I don't have a laptop
9. I don't have a tablet.

I could go on, but obviously I won't. How much time will be wasted as an educator is trying to work a project through every brand/model/configuration of computer/phone/tablet brought into the classroom? Educators do NOT have time to waste when politicians are pushing standards, standards, and more standards into their classrooms.

Data:

This week, our freshman class finished up a home technology survey that I asked them to take. I'll share just a couple of the results with you.
1. Out of the 266 freshman students that responded to the survey, 17% of them told us that our school-assigned MacBook was the only working computer in their household. Most of these students come from economically challenged families. Are we going to make sure students in a BYOT initiative that can't afford their own devices are provided with the best tools that anyone else in the classroom can afford to have? More on this in a bit.
2. Out of the 266 students that responded to the survey, 17% of our students told us that they do not own a SmartPhone.

Are we just going to toss these students a $299 netbook and tell them, "this is good enough for project-based video creation" while Timmy over there brings in his MacBook Pro loaded up with Final Cut Pro, or Johnny has his Sony Vaio with Sony Vegas Pro 11 video editing suite on it? Will the learning be equal for all involved in that scenario? Is the potential there for all students to have projects of similar quality?

If we are serious about educating ALL of our students, then we MUST address the digital divide that exists in our schools and districts and remove it. Let me know when we start telling students that the school won't be providing textbooks anymore. You can bring in your own. I'm sure they will all be adequate.

Lastly, if I'm faced with BYOD, or no tech integration, obviously I'm going to support a BYOD initiative. As I posted on Twitter (which seems to have ignited a small firestorm) the bigger question is:  what best enhances student learning? Our students deserve the best solution for their technology enriched education, not the most convenient one for politicians and accountants.

I apologize for the rant if I've offended anyone. I get passionate about equality in education and see BYOD/BYOT as a major obstacle to that end.
CH