1. Introduction

This article is focused on the use of information technology at schools, both before the school is open and once it is running, with a specific focus on the use of open source technology and free or secondhand computers.

Too many schools fail to incorporate a technology strategy into their planning process, and for this reason end up ‘bolting-on’ technology solutions later. IT can be a powerful tool that saves time, enriches the learning experience, and generates new ideas that improve the school—but only if implemented from an informed strategic perspective.

IT covers many domains: the physical devices such as computers, networks, and cellphones/PDAs; the software used in the school for scheduling, tracking, publication, collaboration, and more; and the relationships with community, parents, and students that can be enriched and deepened through its use.

2. Get Free Computers

New computers for a school can cost a large portion of a school’s budget. What if this money were instead spent on enrichment experiences for teachers and students, or on marketing and promoting school activities to a wider community? There is no need to buy new computers for your school. With a little planning, you can create a computer lab at your school without spending a dime.

How? Many companies throw away last year’s computers. You can get these computers donated to your school—someone on your planning committee might know someone who can make this happen. There are also many organizations that take secondhand computers and refurbish them for educational use. Check out The Computer Recycling Center for an example. Use the opportunity to get the computers as a learning experience for your students— they are helping preserve the environment, since computers typically cannot be simply disposed of in landfills. They contain mercury and other chemicals we don’t want in the earth.

3. Make Them Work Together

You might think that these computers, being secondhand, won’t be fast enough or good enough to use at your school. Here is a typical configuration of a free computer (example taken from the Geek Bar, a computer lab at Bucketworks:

Pentium II
450MHz
256MB RAM
10GB hard drive
Ethernet card

These are all the ingredients you need to create a fast computer terminal for students and teachers. With the addition of a fairly inexpensive network switch and some cable, you can create a computer lab for less than $100.

4. Make them Useful

It’s true that your secondhand computer might not run Photoshop or Microsoft Office very quickly, but we won’t be using those programs anyway… because they cost money!

4.1 Open-Source Software: FREE

Even non-profits and educational institutions have to pay for software such as this. But there exists a whole world of high-quality free software, known as open-source. Open source software is different from what you’d buy over the shelf. The intellectual property—the programming code—is itself free (for more information, visit the Open Source Initiative website) for anyone to use in any way, change, modify, and distribute— as long as they keep it free. (What a great example this makes for students as well—there are plenty of ways to become involved in the Open Source Community for students who take an interest. SourceForge, a website which helps software authors share and distribute their free software, has more than 100,000 different projects published on its website.)

4.2 Getting Office for NOTHING

There are free office applications such as Open Office, which provides a word processor, spreadsheet, calendar, presentation software, and more— all of which are compatible with Microsoft’s programs but which cost absolutely nothing.

4.3 Desktop Publishing, Design, and more

There are free image manipulation and creation programs, such as the Gnu Image Manipulation Program, which is like Photoshop for free.

4.4 Organize your school ONLINE

Furthermore, there are many other free applications that help staff and teachers work together—shared calendars, shared document libraries, website software, and more. SchoolTool, for example, is a completely free system for schools:

SchoolTool will provide a robust and reliable means of managing their school or classroom, saving time on routine tasks like managing class rosters, tracking student attendance, assessment and demographic information, helping teachers coordinate their schedules and reserve resources like projectors and computer labs. The system will be accessible through a web interface or specialized desktop applications. SchoolTool’s interface will be easily translated for use around the world and accessible to people with disabilites.

The good thing is that this tool works through a web browser, which every computer in the world already has— you can work with your school from home, from a friend’s house, or anywhere else you can get online.

4.5 Linux: Like Windows, but FREE

Windows, the operating system used on many PCs that makes the computer work, manages the files, and runs the programs, is itself not free—but there is something called Linux which does exactly the same thing as Windows but costs nothing. You can put an entire computer system on one CD-ROM, stick it in these old computers, and in five minutes have a fully-functioning workstation for a student or teacher.

Some Linux versions are designed for educational use. One version, called Ubuntu, created a special version of their operating system called Edubuntu, which is custom-designed for classroom use. The operating system comes with a whole suite of educational applications for K-12 environments—and it fits on one CD-ROM, and can be installed on any computer, even secondhand.

5. Summary

With a bit of research and planning, you can make computers a part of your school without breaking the bank. And since you can get the computers for free, you can get as many as you might want or need—get a computer for a special project, such as setting up a timelapse camera for your classrooms, or making a Media Station designed just to scan documents and publish them on the school’s website.

Rather than buying an expensive computer, give your teachers a party! Promote your school play in the community newspaper! Buy a new aquarium! And help keep nasty chemicals from being buried in the earth.

6. Next Steps

I will continue writing about small school websites, and more.
If you find any free or open technologies you recommend for use at schools, edit this page and add them below.