Netbooks for Students

Through a series of grants and funding, my school, Hawkesdale P12 College has purchased a set of 16 acer aspire ones, 1gb ram, 120gb rom for mobile use by staff and students. The increasing use of web2.0 tools and technological access has placed huge demand on our computer lab and pod. At any one time there could be a combination of students from up to 4 classes in the computer lab, when space is available. Staff try to get timetabled into the computer room, but is is not always possible. Netbooks are available for borrowing either as a class set or on an individual basis, through out library. A trolley on wheels allows the small computers to be taken to the classroom and then returned. Windows XP is loaded onto them, they are wireless networked and enable students to access their student network. I have personally found that my battery lasts approx 4 hours. Moviemaker runs well on them.

The students love to use them and you can read some of the comments from grade 4 and 5 students as to why they think they should have one each. See a movie of them at work by clicking on the link below:- Leckyloo grade 4 This is why i think we should have mini ACER laptops……….

-some times it’s hard to get a computer when i really need one.
-They are small and easy to carry.
-you can play maths games at home to get better at times tables.
-you can write posts on your blog at home if you don’t have a computer.
-if you have a story or project that you need to finish you can take it home.
-your mum and dad can see your blog and work that you are doing.

benny grade 4

-It will help us if we are sick and we will do stuff at home in bed in stead of nothing.
-If the lab and the pod are full we can do it in class at writing time.
-That’s why we want a laptop.

Adzy grade 5
-They are small and easy to carry around
-helping people to blog and search the internet
f-un to learn and play with
-easy to type on
-you can do school work on them at home

Tags: netbooks

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Comment by Lucy Barrow on November 25, 2008 at 8:28pm: Wow Anne, this is really exciting! How long have you had the ACERs for? I think it won't be long before this kind of item goes on all students' booklists - just like any other piece of equipment used at school. How are your students and teachers enjoying using them?

Comment by Anne Mirtschin on November 26, 2008 at 1:58am: @Lucy Barrow We have had some of the netbooks for about 6 weeks, but they have been setup by the technicians for about 2 weeks, ready for student use. We were lucky to pay $300-400 each for them before the AUD$ went up. The students and staff love using them and students would love to have them on their booklists. They love the small size and nature of them. However, they do not have a cd or dvd drive.

Comment by Michael Stevenson on April 18, 2009 at 2:49am: Hi Anne,

Thanks for the info and story about netbooks in your school. As a secondary school, we already have several hundred computers available to kids both on laptop trolleys and computer labs. However, I'm currently recommending buying some netbooks to my principal because of their low cost, easy portability and efficiency.

Are there any downsides reported by your kids or staff as of yet? It seems that Windows XP runs very slowly on the netbooks I've tested.

M

Comment by Deborah J. Boyd on August 12, 2010 at 7:27am: Michael, Netbooks have less capacity for storage because they are designed for cloud computing. The difference in pricing for the various netbooks can be partially accounted for by the processing capability. The modern desktop computer has 3x the power of the cheapest netbook This is what causes the slowness. So we hear much talk about high speed broadband but it does no good if you do not have the proper hardware to go with it.