Today, Google officially released the source code for Chome OS. The idea of the browser is to work “in the cloud”. All applications would be web applications (such as webmail, Google Docs, Microsoft Live, flash games) and most data would be stored off site. At the same time Google has been pushing it’s “Gone Google” campaign encouraging businesses to use Google’s products for their business, Google Apps.
What would the use of Google Apps on a Chome OS mean for Education? Many schools are wary of a one-laptop-per-child program because of replacement costs, home environments, or other issues. Schools may instead implement laptop carts, but then they face the problem of student data storage and the high cost of licensing applications. Another issue is keeping the network secure while still allowing students access to the data they need (their own, their teachers’, the web).
The Chrome OS is built around signing in to the Google network. This has already been accomplished on Google’s Android OS for mobile phones. A single sign on (on the phones this is done only during the initial setup) and all contacts, email, calendar, and other web-based information is available. In Chrome OS, a single sign on brings the student into the Google net (or possibly the school’s intranet) and then through a seemless interface out into the internet. One beauty of cloud computing already experienced by mobile users is the ability to access information through multiple devices, even transferring phones without moving any data. Chrome OS takes this a step further by allowing access to all this information through the same UI, Chrome browser.
Of course this places us in another awkward problem, this one philosophical rather than practical. How much do we trust cloud computing? Not only for the reliability (which Sidekick users can attest is not entirely reliable), but for privacy concerns. Should we allow Google, or any other company, to own the physical aspect of our data, including manuscripts, contact information, or financial information?
I observed some schools a week ago that were using Asus EEE PCs in the classroom. At least from initial observations and interviews, it appears that these low-cost bring substantially the same benefits as higher-cost laptops, though at a greatly reduced price. See my first-hand report over at OLPC News.
“The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decisionmaking, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” Campbell’s Law, put forth in 1976 by Donald Campbell, prominent American social scientist and president of the American Psychological Association
As reported on Liliputing, NorhTec is launching a Gecko EduBook (PDF link) netbook with some fascinating features. First, it uses a low power 1GHz Xcore86 CPU that uses just 1.2 watts of power. On the one hand, this is a pretty low-power machine (in comparision, the Asus 901 Eee PC used n some school districts uses a 1.66 GHz processor), which will limit its capacity, but also allows many other interesting innovations.
For example, it can run on AA batteries rather than more expensive lithium batteries. It doesn’t require a fan, which brings down the power usage and weight. Since the power supply is internal, you don’t need a real power adaptor, just a $2 cord to plug it in. It’s also entirely module, allowing you to easily swap out the CPU and RAM and other components. It comes default with Linux but can supposedly run Windows XP (if anybody is silly enough to want to run Windows on a low-power machine like this.) NorhTec says the base models will cost as little as $200.
I expect that within three years, there will be an impressive range of sub $250 netbooks suitable for schools (with a number of models in the $150-$200 range), and financial obstacles toward integration of computers in U.S. schools will be much more easily overcome than today.
Here’s a great New York Times article on netbooks. Excellent discussion of the coming new generation with ARM chips and Linux replacing Intel chips and Windows, with a tiny hint of the significance of this for education.
