ICT for schools is a rapidly changing technology - is your school set up and able to cope with the rapid changes

ICT for schools is a rapidly changing technology as too is the inherent infrastructure, and for kids and teachers to maximise the benefits, ICT for schools learning environments should be of the highest quality available. This doesn't just mean the equipment has to be able to deal with the rapidly changing IT environment, it is also encapsulates the entire learning suite in which teacher and students operate in.

If you just regress a mere five years or so what was once completely unheard of in most schools and education establishments are now the norm. Interactive white boards (as a for instance) were hideously expensive and seldom seen in mainstream educational establishments. Nowadays they are considered the norm and regarded as essential pieces of equipment which enable the teachers and students to gain maximum benefit from the education process.

Increasingly wireless networks and secure infrastructure are becoming essential elements of every school as more and more students use laptops and hand held devices as elements of the modern learning environment.

Now more than ever IT suites and learning environments require professional install and maintenance, in addition to being as future proofed as possible. Future proofing is what is referred to be IT professionals as making an environment able to accept future technology innovations, without the need for major capital investment on new hardware and infrastructure elements.

Your school or college may run several different courses which are heavily reliant on different layouts; indeed, every establishment has one or other different requirements. Even subjects as diverse as CAD (computer aided design) and website design, computer language courses and science/chemistry subjects require essentially different hardware and software plans.

 Every school’s requirements are different and yet in the same breath the infrastructure is pretty much the same; all will require hardware such as the following:

• ·         Servers
• ·         Laptops
• ·         Computer work stations
• ·         Networked printers
• ·         Network switches and hubs
• ·         Cat 5e/6 structured cabling
• ·         Air conditioning for server rooms
• ·         Fiber optic cabling
• ·         Security applications and hardware

It is true to say that many classrooms and learning centers are still fairly traditional although it is changing. Your school or educational establishment has to be prepared for the future by adapting to the rapid changes in the most efficient and cost effective manner as possible. With the right equipment and structured room plans and products that fit your individual requirements perfectly, you will be adding many benefits to the education of your children and/or young adults.

For more information about future proofed ICT for schools and other educational establishments, log on to the website of Netcom ICT today, the address of which is www.netcomict.co.uk.

ICT in schools is evolving almost on a daily basis - fibre optics, Wi-Fi and network security are essential elements of any connected establishment

ICT in schools is evolving rapidly and what is considered the norm now wasn’t always so, even a mere five or so years ago. The emergence of laptops and hand held devices as elements of the learning features of ICT in schools has created the need for wider Wi-Fi usage, faster fibre optic connections and enhanced security.

The security elements may include but are not limited to:

• ·         Secure access servers
• ·         Hardware and software firewalls
• ·         Antivirus tools
• ·         Network monitoring tools

Not only does enhanced network security protect the infrastructure of the entire network, it also protects the hardware and software used on that network. You cannot begin to understand why anyone would want to hack into a server, computer or other hardware let alone create a malevolent virus to attack hardware and software. However, it does happen and network and hardware managers in schools and other educational establishments have to be on their toes at all times.

Not only is security an important issue in schools so too is the protection of the network from advanced redundancy. That is to say, any network or hardware supplied to run a network or operate software applications upon it should be future proofed against early redundancy. 

The rapid advances being made in computer hardware and the architecture upon which it is built plus the software which is designed to run on it, can and frequently does render equipment obsolete before its time. By strategically planning for advances and innovations it is possible to efficiently and cost effectively create an ICT environment which will be safe from advancing technology for many years to come.

One of the biggest changes in recent years to the application of ICT hardware is the use of voice communication and other bandwidth hungry applications. These may be computer aided design (CAD) applications, server based web design suites or video conferencing. These specialist applications are ‘bandwidth hungry’ and will slow down an inefficient or poorly designed network exponentially.

 

In order to create the most efficient infrastructure, with the most advanced equipment laid out in an efficient teaching layout, you would be best to obtain the advice of an expert. Whatever your current set up or intended set up, it is far better to get it right first time than have to keep spending money on future upgrades which could have been avoided. 

For more information about future proofed ICT in schools and other educational establishments, log on to the website of NetCom ICT today, the address of which is  www.netcomict.co.uk