> our rooms only have four outlets, and maybe three of them work. <sarcasm>Then replace those Apple IIs with a classroom full of electricity guzzling PCs or Macs all hooked up to cheap powerbars. Then you can teach the students about circuit breakers and how jamming them creates electrical fires.</sarcasm>
It is also evident, from the type of computers they buy and where they go, that some schools upgrade their computers for status. In recent years, I have heard of school boards buying large numbers of laptops and (in my high school days) I remember seeing Pentiums go to the library while the computer lab was given new 486s. This was, of course, before the day of bloated web browsers -- so the faster machines should have gone to the lab for their programming and desktop publishing courses. As for the suitability of the machines being purchased, I would imagine that it depends upon the schools priorities. If the schools are using computers as teaching aides, then the type and age of the computer should not matter. Seeming as many schools have a huge pool of Apple II software, I would question the need to replace the machines under such circumstances. (Unless, of course, they are becoming unreliable. Finding replacement parts and skilled technicians for Apple IIs is bound to be expensive these days.) On the otherhand, if they are teaching students employable skills they will need something that represents the tools used by industry. Of course that is only applicable to the higher grade, since any skills learned prior to grade 9 are bound to be obsolete before they enter the work force. Depending on your perspective it would be appropriate to teach them applications other than what businesses use (eg. WordPerfect instead of Word) because it would force teachers away from teaching application specific skills. But is teaching AppleWorks really suitable these days? While the fundamental skills are certainly there, it hardly offers the features of relatively modern word processing applications. Just my 2 cents worth. Byron. -- Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
