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Beaverton School District prepares 2,000 new computers for delivery to schools [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. :: ](Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 17--Dozens of iMacs sat thinking in a classroom converted to a tech center as Beaverton School District technology staff downloaded software, gave them identities and otherwise prepared them for students this fall. Nearly half of the 2,000 new computers the district promised as part of a $680 million bond voters approved in May are ready for delivery. Most are iMac desktops with some laptops and Dell personal computers in the mix. School leaders were given the option of iMacs or PCs and the majority selected iMac desktops, said Steve Langford, chief information officer. He surmised that principals chose desktops over laptops because of the larger 21-inch monitors and less chance of breakage. Each computer cost about $1,000, including a three-year warranty, Langford said. Despite the $2 million price tag, the district saved because it bought in bulk. While PCs cost much less than Macs for the general consumer ($500 vs. $1,500), the district purchased the more expensive and hardier business class version of Dell, Langford said. That means they're built to last longer, offer technicians easier access to standardized components and include some ports that take older technology connections. And, yes, all of the products have Intel inside (an important feature here in the Silicon Forest). While 2,000 computers may sound like a lot, they will only replace technologically ancient models that are more than six years old. With 51 schools to outfit with new computers, that's about 40 each but it will vary based on the number of older computers at the school. The smallest schools will receive at least 30 in order to create a computer lab, Langford said. Ensuring each school has enough new or, at least, fairly young computers will be essential for students to take the new Smarter Balanced statewide assessment test in the spring, Langford said. The district discovered that the operating systems on its older computers didn't work with Smarter Balanced tests Beaverton students took this spring as part of a trial run of the statewide assessment. Meanwhile, two college students and two district technology field representatives worked their way through stacks of iMac boxes in a classroom deep in the district. It is one of two sites preparing the machines. It takes the technicians roughly 20 minutes to pull the computer out of the box, load it with everything it needs and repackage it for delivery to a school. "We will have them all ready by the first day (Sept. 3)," Langford said. Technology field reps John Bell and Heidi Murray are happy with the new computers simply because they work and will handle the demands of new technology. It's a change for them. Each field tech is assigned a number of schools to oversee, which equates to about 3,000 computers. Often they are the folks who have to break the bad news that a school's set of computers is no longer fixable because of age. "It's a relief to be able to say to a school 'here is something you can use,'" Bell said. -- Wendy Owen ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |