--- title: An Ubuntu PC for everyone in Penn Manor School District description: Challenge With just 400 Macbooks shared among 1,725 students and ever-changing educational needs, Penn Manor school district needed more than just replacement machines. It needed to provide continuous access to a range of computing facilities – and it needed to do so for every student. Yet the cost to provide new machines for all its […] url: https://canonical.com/blog/an-ubuntu-pc-for-everyone-in-penn-manor-school-district-pennsylvania-usa?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical "More about Canonical") 25 March 2014 # An Ubuntu PC for everyone in Penn Manor School District --- Share the article ## Challenge With just 400 Macbooks shared among 1,725 students and ever-changing educational needs, Penn Manor school district needed more than just replacement machines. It needed to provide continuous access to a range of computing facilities – and it needed to do so for every student. Yet the cost to provide new machines for all its students appeared prohibitive. ## Considerations Penn Manor's selection of any new hardware would need to fulfil a number of requirements: * A full keyboard to enable the development of written expression * Local file storage to allow for offline work, if connectivity was limited at home * The facility for students to learn programming * An interface and user experience to which they could quickly adapt * Penn Manor considered a wide range of options. Cost per unit ruled out replacement Macbooks immediately, along with most Windows PCs. Tablets were deemed inappropriate for several reasons, including cost, specification, lack of a keyboard, workflow complexity and programming limitations. Chromebooks were also considered but quickly dismissed, due to their lack of local file storage and the inability to install local programs. ## Solution The district eventually opted for Acer TravelMate TMB113 laptops running Ubuntu, for the following reasons: * Provision of full specification at below the target unit price * Inclusion of LibreOffice productivity suite for local document creation * Choice of both Firefox and Chrome web browsers * Support of Bigbluebutton, the virtual classroom, alongside other educational resources such as GCompris. ## Results Students finally have their own computers, both at home and in class. Before, access was limited to lessons – and then, only if their teachers booked the Macbooks in advance. And thanks to the user-friendly Unity interface, a ten-minute orientation session was all that was needed to help every student find their way around their new PC. Charlie Reisinger, Penn Manor Technology Director, explained: > These laptops are the Swiss Army Knives of education computing. They give everyone equal access to the Internet – and a full and powerful computing device, instead of just a smartphone or a tablet. Ultimately, it was the low cost and high capability of the Ubuntu laptops that made this migration a success. The total cost for all 1,700 machines was only around 20% more than it had been for 400 Macbooks, just five years before. In year 1 alone, the savings on licence fees amounted to around $200 per laptop: a total of around $345,000. [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. 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