AUGUSTA, Maine-- Hewlett-Packard and Windows 8 might not take
the state's Apple-loving schools by storm, but they're making a strong
pitch to educators who must decide this week which laptops or tablets
they're going to provide to more than 70,000 middle and high school
students this fall.
Apple was the sole provider of laptops under the Maine Learning
Technology Initiative for a decade before HP won a competition in late
April to become the state's preferred vendor.
Cameron Evans, the chief technology officer for Microsoft Education,
acknowledged that Maine educators are accustomed to Apple products but
said the HP proposal provides the same tools — and even more — while
utilizing a Windows operating system preferred by entrepreneurs.
"This is a journey and we're committed for the long haul," Evans said
after meeting with education officials at the State House and visiting
several school districts.
Evans was in Maine to talk to educators about an HP ProBook 440 with
Windows 8, which would be fully funded in middle schools as the state's
preferred option under the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. The
state will leverage its buying power for high schools, about half of
which participate.
While HP won the competition, school administrators can still choose
to buy from Apple, which offered a less-expensive iPad tablet and a more
expensive MacBook Air laptop. And the state didn't anticipate that HP
would win a majority of the contracts on its first try, said Samantha
Warren, education department spokeswoman.
Maine, the only state to provide laptops to public school students
statewide, worked with Hawaii and Vermont to negotiate the contract
focusing on five different laptops and tablets.
School districts have until Thursday to decide among the options,
including an HP laptop at $254 per unit per year over a four-year lease,
or the iPad or MacBook Air. Other options include an HP tablet and a
CTL 2go Classmate PC.
Evans acknowledged he had his work cut out for him because of educators' familiarity with Apple products.
He approached his task with both enthusiasm — and a sense of humor.
"It's not about being cool. It's the geeks who've inherited most of the
world," he joked in response to a question about Apple's cool factor.
And for educators, he had a different message, urging them to be
open-minded about the merits of the HP proposal even though they're more
comfortable with Apple. "I would encourage them not to focus on what's
right for you but what's right for students. We can do not only what
they've been doing but amazing things they hadn't even imagined."
No comments:
Post a Comment