> there are legitimate cases where it makes sense to not expose the filesystem directly and disallow native apps. This has the benefit of better security.

I always found the better security argument to be a red herring in a school environment and always pushed back against it. If a computer breaks then re-image it. malware spreading? Wonderful! There's an amazing learning opportunity!!

The point is moot at my school now though as all students are required to bring their own device (Mac or PC), and of course they have full control over their own system. As it should be ;)

That's a much better situation than I've seen at many schools. Good on 'em. The school computer has been the worst one since the home computer started being practical.

It's a school, and people are there to learn. Knowing how to maintain a computer is a pretty darn useful life skill.

Indeed but in a class on geography it can make the teachers life easier if the students can focus on the 3-7 applications you want to use throughout the year and those are 1 click away rather than a download+install procedure away. Not every class will want/need to teach computer maintenance.

If you want teachers & students to use tech it needs to be truly frictionless.

I love my daily typing with the elevator. (me)->floor[6+1]