Saving Money for ICT

I came across a great article from Open Source Schools, a British web site, that promotes using free software in schools.  The author, Miles Berry, a senior lecturer in the Roehampton University, gives his top ten tips for schools to save money on technology.  From an Irish perspective, I looked at some of his suggestions.

The first suggestion is a subject close to my heart.  It’s software.  Without software, every computer is useless.  You can’t work an IWB without software let alone a laptop or any device.  However, I hate having to pay for it, especially as educational software tends to be overpriced.  Luckily, I’m not alone in thinking this and there are hundreds of free software available that are great for educational use.  Instead of Microsoft Office, OpenOffice is a free alternative.  Instead of Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop, the GIMP is a great alternative (though it has an unfortunate name).  Instead of Paint, TuxPaint does the business.  In fact, there are very few programs out there that don’t have a free alternative.  Even MS Windows has a free alternative – Linux.  I use Linux at home on my computer since it started getting old and it now runs twice as fast as it ever did and I don’t miss any of my previous software.  As well as all this software, a lot of software is now being put “on the cloud”.  You’ve probably been using the cloud for years without knowing it was called the cloud.  If you used Hotmail, Eircom or Yahoo to check your email online, you’ve been using cloud computing.  Essentially, all it means is that rather than your data being stored on your computer, it is all stored on the Internet.  Software that is free and available online includes: Google Apps for Education, TES iBoard and many many others.

Berry continues with something else I have been talking about, especially since the Smart Schools Initiative.  With your ICT grant, you had to buy brand new computers, which cost €400 at a minimum.  While they may be shiny and new, they have more power than schools need.  A while ago, we reached a point where computers running Windows XP were good enough for schools.  This led to companies springing up selling refurbished computers, which I believe are good enough for schools.  They cost as little as €75 each and they work perfectly.  For a full desktop with flat screen monitor running Windows, you’ll easily pay €180 or thereabouts.  This gives you the ability to buy 3 computers for the same price as one computer using the framework and you’re supporting a greener environment.  Better yet is to ask for donations directly from businesses, colleges and even homes.  They come in at a more palatable price of free.

Finally, Berry mentions sharing.  Every school, despite what we think, has a large store of digital resources.  These could be in the form of PowerPoint presentations, IWB Flipcharts, Word Documents, PDFs, Data files from certain software, etc.  Why not upload it to the Internet for others to use?  Even if you don’t feel they’re very good, why not let someone take your effort, improve on it and put it back online for everyone.  This is how some of the best free software becomes available on the Internet, through community development.  There are also a handful of Irish teachers who have done just that.  David Kearney provides hundreds of flipcharts for IWBs on his site, cbiproject.net and Damien Quinn offers loads of printable resources on his popular site, Seomra Ranga.

All the above can cost absolutely nothing.  Berry suggests bringing volunteers into the equation.  With so many skilled people out of work or students looking for valuable work experience, there’s never been a better time to offer out opportunities for people to develop their skills or perform some feats of altruism.

As I’ve said before on this web site, I believe the focus of the Smart Schools Initiative is wrong.  The focus should not be solely on hardware as it is now.  We need to invest in services and support for these services.  The hardware should be cheap and as free as possible.  My school is in the middle stages of going down an interesting route with free technology and we’re hoping for it to be a great success.  With the right support and backing from the right people, I believe we will be able to offer our children the best ICT experience possible.