‘IZZI’ Type Notebook Computers
All of the teachers are issued with very small notebook computers known as IZZIs. Samsung™ makes the IZZI and they are small enough to be carried in a bag. They are all connected to the wireless LAN (Local Area Network) via the Samsung™ network cards. They also have a touch screen and a stylus for selecting touch screen objects, there is a fault in this because the styli always get broken.
Laptops
Laptops have much the same capabilities as desktops. However, they are smaller, lighter and therefore are much more versatile. These machines are very handy pieces of equipment if you are working for a business that requires lots of travelling, or with limited space and power supplies. This makes them very useful in a classroom environment. Laptops are far more powerful than IZZIs. Laptops can also be connected wirelessly to the Internet via mobile telephones if they are out of range of a wireless LAN making life easier for travellers that need information at the touch of a button.
Printers
The school has a number of different printers. There are three of four mono laser printers that only print black and white and are very expensive to purchase (about £4000) but once they have been bought they provide very economical, fast and very high quality printing.
The school also has a small number of Inkjet printers that while they are cheap to buy they are not very fast or very economical. A new cartridge for an Inkjet printer costs around £25 and they comparatively often (dependant on the amount of use) compared to a laser printer.
Servers
These are pieces of hardware that control the LAN and WAN. A company’s computers are all usually linked by a system that has access points all over the building. These are called LAN (Local Area Network) because they are all in one place or complex. In this system are all of the printers, scanners and other useful pieces of hardware. Large companies such as TESCO® for example, use a WAN (Wide Area Network) to group all of the branches and buildings together. The server is responsible for keeping the system together and supplying the systems and programs to all with the correct clearance for them. It also supplies the Internet connection.
Scanners
Scanners are very useful pieces of hardware that can be connected to laptop or desktop computers. They take an image and copy it into the computer, with the same purposes as a photocopier. With a scanner and the software included with it you can alter the picture and then print it off and/or save it onto the hard drive. The picture is taken by a series of light sensitive cells that pass over the image and the software then sorts the input from the cells into an intelligible picture. There are many different sizes of scanner, with many different purposes. Some scanners even allow you to scan text and then edit it on screen. Scanners are designed so that they do not harm the original copy. In school scanners are mainly used to import pictures for coursework or copies of accounts.
NETWORKING
The school uses three different types of network, a wireless LAN, a wired LAN and a WAN: the Internet. The IZZIs and the laptops are connected via the Samsung™ wireless network to the servers and eventually to the main office where electronic registers are checked using the SIMs software (a database that holds pupil addresses, telephone numbers and other information). Most of the desktops in the school are connected to the wired LAN so that students can save their work in the correct sector of the system.
Wired LAN (Local Area Network)
Most of the stations in Broadoak are connected to the wired LAN, which allows students to save work and to join printer queues. The scanners and digital camera images can be saved onto network folders. Users have their own personal password that must be changed every six weeks and a user name that determines what they can access on the network. Teachers have a higher level of clearance than students.
Wireless LAN (Local Area Network)
The school’s IZZIs are all connected to the wireless LAN, as are the laptops. Receivers are stationed in the ceilings of the school. There are about twenty-five receivers in all. This network is extremely useful because it allows teachers to use the school’s register software, bromcom, whilst moving around the classroom and the school. The Internet is available on the notebook computers on the wireless network.
WAN (Wide Area Network)
The school’s finance office is connected to the Town Hall to aid Broadoak with finance. The school is also connected to the Internet which is a worldwide WAN which has connections in every country. The students and teachers in school can access the Internet via the desktop computers or the notebook computers via the wireless LAN.
SOFTWARE
Software refers to all of the programs that can be run on a particular computer. These include applications packages, content free packages, operating systems, utility packages and anti-virus software.
Applications Packages
These are programs written to solve a specific problem or do a certain job. For example the ALICE software in the library sorts the books by checking their barcodes with a special piece of hardware. This then checks a database and puts the name of the hirer of the book into the database. When the book is due to be returned the software notifies the librarian and a reminder is sent to the pupil.
Content Free Packages
A content free package is a program in which the user has to input all of the information. For example Microsoft® Excel, which can produce charts and accounts, draw graphs and store information in databases. In Broadoak we use content free packages for producing all of our work, Microsoft® Word for coursework and web pages, Microsoft® Access for databases and Microsoft® Publisher for brochures and posters.
Operating Systems
An operating system is a set of integrated programs that helps control an entire computer system. It forms a background between the hardware and the other programs. Operating systems control peripherals, control printing, save and load programs, interface with the user should things go wrong, provide security features (such as passwords and restricted access), and generally manage the operation of all of the drives.
When a computer is purchased it is usually supplied with an operating system such as Microsoft® Windows™. This software is vital because the computer couldn’t function without it. Windows™ is the most commonly used operating system and it is usually supplied with a software bundle containing Microsoft® Word, Excel, Publisher, Access, Internet Explorer, Outlook and Outlook Express. This makes it perfect for home and small business use. MS-Dos is an early incarnation of Windows™ and it was an operating system that used to be used everywhere. Unix is an operating system used on networked computers, mainly by big companies on their mainframe computers. Also used for multi-access networking.
Utility Packages
Utility packages are programs that store information so that if the computer crashes for any reason the work that you have produced is not lost. These are very useful if the user is producing a large piece of work and is not saving regularly. Microsoft® Word now has a built-in auto-save feature that automatically updates the save file whenever that computer is left idle. If the user has this feature turned off it sends a reminder to save your work at certain points.
Viruses and Anti-virus Software
Viruses are simply randomly destructive programs that are inserted into a computer usually via the Internet and e-mail. They replicate themselves very quickly and are sometimes very destructive. Some are also written just to annoy, for instance generating pop-ups whilst you are browsing the Internet. They are programmed to hide and conceal themselves so they are difficult to detect and destroy before serious damage is done.
Anti-virus software attempts to seek and destroy viruses. Programs such as Norton AntiVirus automatically update themselves whenever the Internet is connected this helps them to know the names and positions of any new viruses.
IN CONCLUSION
In school the ICT system has had a huge amount of money invested in it and will have much more in future. The school system was expensive to set-up initially but, on the whole, runs very efficiently. Occasionally there are printer problems but this usually due to connectivity and the toner cartridges running out which is annoying if you need to print work. The ‘Net Nanny’ program that the school runs is generally quite good and only blocks pages with bad language or mobile ringtone sites. Also sites can be added manually to the ‘black list’. It would be less feasible but useful if the students had some colour printing facilities. Students files are well protected by the user-name/password system.