1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.

Photograph by: GLENN BAGLO , Vancouver Sun

Teacher Peter Vogel (centre) and Notre Dame Secondary students embrace the technology offered by Chromebooks, Google’s new cloud-based web computers.

It used to be when a student at Vancouver’s Notre Dame regional secondary school saved a homework assignment on a school computer, that’s where the assignment stayed.

If the computer broke down, or another student was using it, the assignment was effectively inaccessible.

And when it came time to install a program on the computer or update its virus protection, tech help had to step in and spend hours fixing that computer and all the others in the school.

Peter Vogel, an award-winning physics and information and communications technology teacher and head of ICT at Notre Dame, figured there had to be a better way.

So when Google brought its cloud-based Chromebook notebook computers to Canada late last year, Vogel welcomed the opportunity to introduce computers into his school that would keep all their storage and applications online — in the “cloud.”

“We’re pretty sure we’re the first school in B.C., maybe Western Canada to have them,” said Vogel. “They’re terrific machines.”

With storage all online, students can no longer claim that the computer ate their homework. Battery life is close to 10 hours, Chromebooks don’t need a tech support department to ensure they’re constantly updated and virus-free and they have an eight-second start time.

“Pretty much everything we do is Internet-based, so we thought this is a natural fit,” said Vogel.

The very feature that makes the Chromebooks so useful in a school where there is always an Internet connection has proved a stumbling block for Google, with critics suggesting sales are stymied by buyers’ needs to have computers that function offline as well as online.

The discussion at Vogel’s school about Chromebooks versus iPads is one being carried out at many schools as Google and Apple vie for market share in education.

It’s a steep climb for Google. Apple dominates the tablet market, with the latest report by International Data Corporation on tablets and eReaders putting the iPad’s worldwide market share at 54.7 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The research firm Piper Jaffray recently released results of a small survey of 18 public school IT managers in which 78 per cent said they were testing iPads and/or Chromebooks while only six per cent were trying Android tablets. In considering their pros and cons, the iPad and the Chromebook fared almost equally overall.

However IT managers’ decisions are only part of the equation for schools. With the increasing trend to ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) extending to education, Piper Jaffray suggested the iPad’s popularity with teens could help extend Apple’s reach in the education market.

The Chromebook is also fighting a fast-growing trend favouring tablet computers, with the NPD Group forecasting more tablets will be shipped in 2016 than notebook PCs.

NPD said while the introduction of Windows 8 tablets later this year won’t cut significantly into the notebook market, it “will be a strong factor behind the blurring of PCs and tablets.”

“Among consumers who are looking to purchase a new tablet, screen size and keyboards, two main components of a PC, are important characteristics of these future purchases,” Ross Rubin, executive director of NPD Connected Intelligence said in a release.

Google declined to release statistics on its Chromebooks sales for schools, but Jaime Casap, Google’s senior education evangelist said the company is ramping up its Chromebook efforts in Canada. He said Chromebooks make it easier for schools to manage and scale their technology.

“Setting up a computer with a couple of printers for your in-laws is a big pain. … How do you do that in a school system with fifth graders and sixth graders?” he said.

Casap said with Chromebooks, Google is trying to help make technology a tool for schools that fits in as seamlessly as electricity.

“We are trying to use technology to teach,” he said. “We’re not trying to teach technology.”

For Notre Dame, Chromebooks are a better fit than iPads, and while Vogel has an iPad he opted for Chromebooks for their keyboards, cloud-based office software and other features that let students produce their own work and collaborate on projects.

“In our case, we were looking at these machines as production machines, while we look at the tablets as essentially consumption machines,” he said. “It allows for collaborating through the Google Docs environment, none of which is feasible in a productive way on a tablet.

“With a tablet you really need to add a keyboard if you are going to be writing papers.”

via gshaw@vancouversun.comvancouversun.com/digitallife

The purpose of the modern organization is to make it easy and natural and expected for people to take risks. To lean out of the boat. To be human.

Alas, most organizations do the opposite. They institutionalize organized cowardice. They give their people cover, a place to hide, a chance to say, “that’s not my job.”

Our organizations are filled with people not only eager to dehumanize those that they serve, but apparently, instructed to do so. In the name of shareholder value or team play or not rocking the boat...

During times of change, the only organizations that thrive are those that are eager to interact and change as well. And that only happens when individuals take brave steps forward.

Giving your team cover for their cowardice is foolish. Give them a platform for bravery instead.