DevBlog

A new report scheduled to be released in the UK says that schools cut their computer costs in half by dropping Microsoft prodcuts [TES]. Now, I'm all for saving money. However, I have to question the wisdom of this. Looking at this from the educational view says that dropping Microsoft products is a bad idea. The schools' job is to teach kids the basics they need to know to function in life. (Whether or not the schools are doing that is a different arguement.) Most of the PCs in the world run Microsoft software. By dropping MS products in the schools, our children will be at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a job. In addition, odds are very high that when kids get home, their computers there will be running Microsoft software. If work is done at home and at school, there may be incompatabilities with file formats, application software, menus, prompts, dialogs, etc., that can confuse kids and make it more difficult for them to do assignments. Finally, most educational software is geared to the biggest platform. By dropping Microsoft, there will be fewer applications that teach kids concepts they need to know. The reported study is missing the bigger picture.