Friday, September 23, 2011

Microsoft!?!?

This week at our annual fall open house, a few parents stopped in and expressed surprise when I told them that I had no Microsoft product in my computer room. (I have 14 Linux desktops, and 10 Macintosh computers.)

Recently, we were interviewing candidates for a district technology coordinator position... one indicated that one of his first priorities would be to get all of my computers "up to date with Windows 7." He indicated he had never heard of Ubuntu (the flavor of Linux I use).

I am increasingly convinced that a diverse computing environment is necessary for schools... if we only introduce students to Microsoft because that s what the business world uses, then we have become a job preparation program for local business, and while that is a role of education, it is not the only role. ALso, what I read leads me to the conclusion that an employee who has the ability to adapt to new and different computing environments will be better employees than those who are skilled at using Office.

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