“Staff members can use their operating system of choice, whether that’s the Apple platform or Windows.”
Scott Macklin, Chief Technology Officer,
College of Education, University of Washington
College of Education, University of Washington
iMac with Boot Camp: Flexibility, Efficiency at the Desktop
Seattle, WA — Preparing teachers to deliver 21st-century learning requires many things: a collaborative environment, an innovative curriculum, and powerful technology tools. At the University of Washington’s College of Education (COE), future educators enjoy all of these benefits. Now, with iMac computers running Mac OS X and Boot Camp COE staff members have access to the same technologies used by faculty and students. Thanks to the dual-boot systems, staffers can choose the computing environment they prefer, and use the tools that foster creativity.
When the university deployed its first group of iMac computers with Boot Camp to students, Chief Technology Officer Scott Macklin says the advantages were immediately evident. “With Boot Camp, students could use the operating system they preferred,” Macklin says. “As soon as we saw the success of the initiative in our labs, it gave us the confidence to roll it out to our faculty and staff. With the dual-boot systems, we gained the ability to create efficiencies around a standard desktop platform. Also, it’s flexible and customizable: staff members can use their operating system of choice, whether that’s the Apple platform or Windows.*”
Pilot Program Successful
Prior to the launch of the dual-boot iMac computers in September of 2008, Macklin and his team queried all COE staff members about their computing needs. Says Macklin, “We asked every single person what their jobs are, and what software programs they need to do those jobs. We also asked if they wanted to stay on their existing platform. Some chose to remain on Windows, others wanted to work in the Mac environment, and still others wanted a choice of both.”
Macklin’s division then deployed several demonstration computers loaded with Boot Camp, and encouraged staff members to experiment. “We set up a few machines, and let key staff members play around with them,” says Ryan Stewart, the COE’s technology support manager. “What they found was that once they booted into Windows, using the iMac was no different than using a PC. That made the buy-in much faster, since everyone already knew what we were doing.”
Offering Choice, Delivering Value
Paul Hanisko is a system administrator and web application developer in the university’s College of Education. He believes the biggest advantage to Apple’s dual-boot solution is its ability to offer users their choice in computing environment. “Our philosophy at the college is to let people choose the technology they want, to get the work done that they want,” says Hanisko. “From our office’s point of view, generally that would make things more complicated. But this was a great solution: People could choose the way they wanted to work, yet the solution is very straightforward to manage.”
Student Tech Support Specialist Matt Shadle adds that the iMac with Boot Camp has increased the value of the support his team can provide. “If we find a problem with a driver, it’s easy to see that it will affect three people who share that printer because everyone’s on the same system,” he reports. “We don’t have to go through each person. We can actually help people get their work done, versus just getting a computer to work.” Macklin says standardizing on the iMac has made it possible for his department to assist COE users in many new ways. “On a daily basis we’re not just installing new drivers anymore. We’re going to second- and third-tier types of support, such as showing people how to import an iMovie into a Keynote presentation. The iMac is a stable machine, so we don’t have as many ‘fire-drills’ as we used to,” Macklin notes.
Boot Camp: The Ideal Solution
With a tradition of academic excellence to uphold, administrators and staff at the University of Washington’s College of Education make every technology purchasing decision with care. Macklin believes the dual-boot iMac solution will serve the COE well in both the near and long term.
“We need to provide the best possible educational experience for 21st-century learners,” he observes. “We need to be smarter about how we support the smart people who will become teachers and principals. That means the systems, tools, and infrastructure we put in place have to be smart. We feel the Apple iMac solution is a very smart choice, and we’ve been extremely happy with it.”
