Netbooks in Texas Schools
Monday, September 21, 2009 at 4:11PM 
The Dallas Morning News published the article Dallas-Fort Worth School District Calculates Different Ways to Use Netbook in Classes. The newspaper tells about the Irving School District's decision to replace older, larger laptops with 4,600 ASUS Eee PC 1000HE netbooks. Netbooks are those small notebook computers with screens smaller than 10 inches, no CD drives, and keyboards that are 90% the standard size.
The article mentions the following benefits of and comments about netbooks:
- cost (The district paid $487 per unit, including warranty and software. Previously they paid $1,000 per laptop.)
- easier to carry
- fits on a desk along with a textbook
- it has a camera
- battery life
- the 10 inch screen size is not an issue
- students save work to flash or network drives
- they're cute
Here's more from The Dallas Morning News story:
The smaller computers are more closely related to cellphones, which many students are familiar with. They're also not the best option for advanced video production capabilities.
But educators say they are ideal for basic functions as more schools get wireless access and move textbooks and lessons online.
I think stating that netbooks are "more closely related to cellphones" is inaccurate. I'm guessing the aging Dell laptops in the Irving School District probably have less processing power and memory than the netbooks that are replacing them. Most netbooks run Windows XP and can handle most Windows software. It sure seems to me that netbooks are related to laptop computers much more closely than cellphones. Yes, mobile phones are becoming more and more computer-like. But, when trying to get others to understand what a netbook is, I think it's misleading to say they are so similar to cellphones.
Then, there's a new term being tossed around--Smartbooks. It's hard to keep up with what tech companies decide to call things...
Photo by Pete Prodoehl on Flickr.
netbooks 
Reader Comments (4)
Tony-
Thanks for visiting our school this summer! It was awesome. I am not sure, but you mentioned Web2.0 tools and I found this site:
www.chatterbocs.blogspot.com
Manny Gilva
chatterboc.blogspot.com looks like a great blog for educators interested in new web tools. Thanks for sharing!
Web 2.0 tools work really well on all of those netbooks that are rushing into classrooms. :-)
I am toying with 1:1 Netbooks/Smartbooks or iPod Touch for my class this year. What are your thoughts Tony? I will have a class of 16 students aged 15-20. My approach will be personalised with each student following their passion and each will have an individual learning plan. Thoughts or comments?
That's a hard choice! I think the older students you work with might get more out of having full access to the web with a keyboard. So I think netbooks might be best.
Here are some of my thoughts about netbooks vs. iPod touch... http://learninginhand.com/blog/2008/12/netbooks-vs-ipod-touch.html