I have spent the last few days looking at fully hosted OS’ for schools. My consideration has been:
- What problem are we trying to fix by using a fully hosted OS in a school?
- Who will benifit most from using a hosted OS in a school?
- What are the cost implications of using a hosted OS in a school?
An example of a fully hosted OS is http://eyeos.org – Basically an operating system you access through a web browser. It is available anywhere which means your applications and files follow you around.
Why use a hosted OS in education?
- Reduce cost of software licensing & hardware requirements
- Increase stability
- Increase availability
- Safe environment (not safer but safe(truly safe))
- Simplify application deployment and delivery of content to the pupil/teacher
Why not to use a hosted OS in education?
- Unfamiliar OS
- Unfamiliar applications
- Lack of printing availability
- Inability to install x32 applications
- Complex video streaming
The fundamental flaw…
Why have an OS thats completely hosted when 95% of people have a perfectly working OS on their desktop at home atm which was purchased OEM with a pc from a retail outlet?
The arguement against that flaw…
Applications do not require installation so a pupil/teacher can go to their safe environment as a restricted user and focus on learning without being at risk at all.
My opinion…
I believe in (MS/Open) Office over Textease. I may be wrong on this but my fundamental belief is that you have to introduce children to an ICT environment that will be familiar with when they leave school.
Further reading:
Is that interactive white boards are part of daily school life in most western countries, so erm, do these work with a hosted OS? In a nutshell, yes. Just like a Microsoft Windows OS you are required to install a driver on the actual hardware device.
Hosted OS is like thin clients on steroids. All the advantages of thin clients are boosted but so are all of the disadvantages..
A video of a school using eyeOS (not over the internet but hosted locally on site)