Pennsylvania District Makes Move to the Mac
Apple 1 to 1 Learning
After 20 years in a New Jersey school district, Thomas Drago was eagerly anticipating his new post as technology director at Easton Area School District (ASD). But when he got there, he found old Windows-based PCs, a student information system few people used, and an outdated, Novell-powered networking infrastructure. With the approval of the district’s administrative staff, Drago began a transition to the Mac platform. Now, Easton ASD boasts thousands of iBook, iMac, eMac, and PowerBook computers, a collection of Xserves, and PowerSchool. The conversion is still ongoing, and Drago continues to evangelize the Mac.
“Before I arrived in Easton, the district was spending an astronomical amount of money on the licensing for the Novell software, and for all of the Windows machines. With the Xserves, you just pay one price. This has dramatically reduced our administrative costs for the servers.”
— Tom Drago, Technology Director and Apple Distinguished Educator,
Easton Area School District
Demonstration Eradicates Hesitation
Suggesting such a radical transformation, Drago (an Apple Distinguished Educator) expected to encounter a fair amount of opposition. But as soon as Drago demonstrated what Apple solutions and the Macintosh OS X platform could provide, the hesitation virtually vanished.
To make the migration to the Mac even more seamless, Drago placed a technology coordinator in each one of the district’s school buildings. Easton ASD also tapped Apple Professional Development (APD) to kick off the technology immersion effort. Now that district teachers are conversant with the Mac, the addition of several Apple Mobile Learning Labs in each building provides invaluable digital resources for faculty and students alike.
Governor Lauds Shawnee’s Success with iBooks
Easton’s Mac migration is now complete in all elementary and middle schools. Thanks to the overwhelming success of the initiative, in January of 2006 the district’s school board unanimously approved a 1 to 1 learning initiative that put iBook laptops in the hands of 60 students at the Shawnee Success Academy. At this alternative school, struggling students acquire the motivation and skills needed to refocus on their studies, and return to the normal school routine. Calling Shawnee “the perfect example of why laptop computers should be on the desks of every high school student,” Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell also encouraged his state’s General Assembly to pass his $200 million “Classrooms for the Future” initiative, which will provide an iBook laptop for every high school student in Pennsylvania.
