Keeping ICT Equipment in Schools Up-to-Date
ICT technology is marked by rapid changes. In order to keep up with the changes and offer meaningful, relevant and interesting computer science courses, ICT equipment must continuously be upgraded.
Challenges with Upgrading ICT Equipment in Schools
Limited resources are the greatest challenge for most schools in upgrading their ICT equipment. Purchase and maintenance of a large amount of computers requires a major investment, while new technologies are quite expensive. The prices always fall after a certain period of time but considering that the main goal of computer sciences programmes is to “produce” students who are desirable by employers, waiting for the prices to drop obviously is not an option.
Teachers’ digital literacy is the second challenge in keeping ICT equipment in schools up-to-date. Most teachers keep up with the changes and development in computer sciences and provide their students with up-to-date information and training. Some, however, are having difficulties keeping up with the changes and may be reluctant to use new equipment.
Overcoming the Challenges in Upgrading ICT Equipment
Different schools use different methods to overcome the issues with resources and inadequate digital literacy of their teachers. Some of the most commonly used methods include:
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Teacher computer science courses. These often put an additional pressure on already dramatically cut school budgets. Up-to-date ICT courses, however, can be provided only if the teachers’ knowledge is up-to-date. As mentioned earlier, most computer science teachers keep track of novelties in the field of computer sciences but even those that have up-to-date knowledge may require help in the form of teacher courses. These enable them to learn how to transmit their knowledge to their pupils.
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Engaging the parents. Parents often know less about computer sciences than their kids but they can help in the financial aspect. An excellent example is the use of own laptops which allows the schools to reduce the costs of ICT equipment to providing wireless networks.
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Engaging the businesses. They can help schools keep their ICT equipment up-to-date by providing an advice as well as financial support. The latter can be in the form of donations in equipment or financing teacher courses.
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Renting ICT equipment. Rather than purchasing new ICT equipment like this is the usual practice in most schools, a growing number of schools decide to rent it for a limited period of time, usually a period of two years. Afterwards, they either prolong the agreement or replace the equipment if newer and better is available.