Recently, a few community members have posed questions about why we use Apple products in the Harvard Public School District instead of choosing lower-cost options. In response to these questions our director of technology, Chris Boyle, shared the following information:
At this time we have chosen to deploy MacBooks as they give us the most flexibility within our current curriculum. As a leadership team, working with the staff, we had many discussions and researched our options. Through this process we determined that given our current infrastructure for our iPad 1:World program, and what the needs would be for our current curriculum at the middle/high school, the MacBooks would be the best fit in our environment.
To help give you an idea of what we do at the middle/high school, below are some examples of the variety of classes that make use of different software.
We have language lab software that runs on the MacBooks. Now the language department can be very flexible in the learning of languages within its own classrooms.
Our Digital Arts courses use such software as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
Our TV production classes utilize iMovie and Adobe Premier, and our CADD classes make use of AutoCad.
The science classes use probing software and analytic software.
Our computer classes employ a wide array of software that the Mac platform allows.
As for switching to a lower-cost technology, because the iPads and MacBooks are on a three- or four-year lease, if we were to change to another product, it would actually increase our costs for the next several years and would not help in our current budget situation. We also find the Apple products provide the durability needed for home-to-school student use.
Another reason for not making the switch at this time is that we have invested a significant amount of time in professional development for our staff in using MacBooks for instruction. This 1:World program wasn’t something that we rolled out quickly, as we had trained our staff first on the devices before we deployed them to the students. We also have been continuously offering professional development to our staff based on the current technology.
Boyle’s response provides some of the reasons why we use Apple products in the Harvard School District. If you have further questions, please contact the director of technology, Chris Boyle, or me: Chris Boyle: cboyle@psharvard.org; Linda Dwight: ldwight@psharvard.org.
Linda Dwight is superintendent of the Harvard Public Schools.
