Introduction
This summer, we were able to fund a major overhaul of teacher desktop computers for Lower School (LS) and Middle School (MS) faculty. The school decided to purchase iMacs for the teachers. One of the main reasons for selecting iMac computers for teachers is that they support a dual boot. That is, the computer can be brought online using the Windows or the Mac OS operating system.
Because our servers are Windows based, configuring dual booted machines to interact with our school servers was a challenge. But after plenty of trial and error, these machines were brought online as expected. Each operating system supports a full set of software.
When started, these iMacs can be defaulted to boot to either the Mac OS side or the Windows side. We chose the Windows side for two reasons. 1) We knew all users had familiarity with the Windows side and 2) On the Mac side, there was no access to network servers. In other words, users could not save files to the H: drive from the Mac side. As indicated, this is a function of the inability of the Mac OS to smoothly interact with our Windows servers.
After waiting a reasonable amount of time in order to give all users a chance to get acquainted with their machines, I created a brief survey to ascertain usage. 24 faculty members, a mix of LS and MS classroom teachers, responded. Key results are indicated below.
Currently, the machine default is to log in to the Windows side of your iMac. Would you prefer to log in to the Mac side?
Prefer to log-in to Windows: 13
Prefer to log-in to Mac: 3
No preference: 8
At this point in the school year, how often have you worked on the Mac side?
Less than 5 times: 23
6-10 times: 1
What program(s) on the Mac side do you find especially valuable?
Mentioned were iMovie, Keynote, Pages, iPhoto, Aperture, InDesign, and the iWorks and iLife suites. No program was mentioned more than twice.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would rate your experience with your iMac? (10 = best)
7.8 (mean score)
Additional comments were offered by many respondents. In general, these comments pointed to a few frustrations. Server storage is not available on the Mac side. There never seems to be adequate time to explore new software. Familiarity with Windows encourages further Windows use at the expense of Mac OS use.
But respondents also were enthusiastic in their evaluation of the iMac as a desktop device. The screen image and the smooth functionality were cited as advantages of these units.
But respondents also were enthusiastic in their evaluation of the iMac as a desktop device. The screen image and the smooth functionality were cited as advantages of these units.
Conclusion
Though our new iMacs have dual-boot capabilities, the first few months of implementation have seen the machines running largely on the Windows side. There are a few reasons for the lack of use on the Mac side. The inability of the Mac side to provide server storage prevents some users from using the Mac OS. Also, a greater familiarity with Windows-based software and system navigation encourages users to stay with what they know. Files previously created in Windows software may not work with Mac software, and this also prevents greater exploration with the Mac system.
A natural next step is to begin a series of workshops that help LS and MS faculty explore Mac software. Workshops will be scheduled after the holiday break.
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