About to purchase a truck load of computers? Read on.

There’s no denying, the amount of money currently being spent by schools around the country on technology is astronomical. Desktop’s, laptops, software and even mobile devices are being considered by most schools as the new learning platform.

You may say it’s all happened too fast. It’s a good point, it certainly seemed to come from out of nowhere. Some teachers, principals included, have expressed they’re just not ready. Well it’s here, but there’s no reason why you can’t explore your options thoroughly before taking this enormous plunge to enable your school to make a well informed choice. Your purchasing decision will affect teachers, students and the school as a whole.

After being a teacher of IT applications in both creative and business environments, from novice to advanced, I’ve developed a solid understanding of what makes for good usability, both for the experienced and not so experienced user. I can tell you one thing for certain, it’s not very often the cheaper option proves to be the best long term, nor short term solution for that matter.

As somebody who is passionately aware of a world full of throw away disposable products and the inevitable environmental impact, not to mention the financial impact to the consumer, I genuinely want to see people make an informed decision when it comes to purchasing hardware that will last, particularly if the purchase fills the back of a truck.

I’m sure you’ve had some level of frustration with technology in the past. Am I right? I’m referring specifically to desktop and laptop computers. I know I did, so much so that I became an expert in keeping my system clean just so it would keep running as it should. Look up ‘registry cleaner’ on google and you’ll see just how many people are making money from selling registry cleaning software. I’m referring to the software that flushes out all those nasty cookies, data miners, trojans and adware that fills our hard drives and over time drastically slows performance of your pc.

For what reason are you buying computers? What will you be doing with them?

This is the big one.

What are students doing with them outside the classroom? I can tell you they’ve moved far past simply surfing the net or throwing together a word document with some pictures. Spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations are so yesterday.

You may have heard the buzzword, ‘Web 2.0’. It’s hard to define what that means exactly but one unanimous explanation is that it encapsulates ‘User Generated Content’. Nowadays, that means a whole lot more than text. Audio, video and animation are now common place for the youth of today. They expect to be able to create, collaborate and distribute to express themselves in the digital realm. So I ask you; will the tools you’re about to purchase and hand to your students enable them to immediately begin creating multimedia rich content or will it become the start of a stream of software downloading, compatibility issues and further hardware purchases?

“Will you be exploiting 21st century technologies in the classroom?”

Recently I attended a talk where an Education Queensland representative was demystifying the model of 1:1, the implications and the funding. The most popular issue raised was that of the cost of maintenance. If the longevity of a product is such a major issue, why would you settle for the cheaper option? What if spending a small amount more for a more robust, reliable, more fully equipped machine meant a less stressful future with technology?

Weighing up your purchasing options

When it comes down to the final decision please oh please consider the following:

  • Is it susceptible to viruses, trojans, data miner’s and internet nasties? If so, how much will you need to spend on anti-virus software and how much will you have to pay someone to install it, upgrade it and maintain it? How well will it be running in 2 years from now?
  • What operating system will it run on and does that operating system have a good track record?
  • What office software is available? How much will it cost, how much do upgrades cost? Is there an alternative? Perhaps that alternative can run the office software you’ve become dependent on.
  • Does is integrate seamlessly with a mobile device?
  • Does it come with a microphone, webcam and/or speakers? Or is that another cost you will need to factor into the equation?
  • WHAT exactly do you want to do with these computers? Does the computer come with all the applications you need to create engaging 21st century multimedia rich content the students can get excited about? Podcasting or Movie making for example; what applications are available to do that? What kind of quality can that application produce? How easy is it to learn?
  • This is a huge expense on behalf of current and future students and teachers involved with your school, have you explored all the options? Is this a thoroughly researched purchasing decision?

So if you’re about to take the plunge, if you haven’t already, please consider the above. Review the decision you’re making and make sure it is based on the long term cost to all concerned, not the short term expenditure.

Written by Brad Halcrow.
Brisbane Beyond Chalk Facilitator