How to Design a School Computer Lab
Designing a school computer lab can be a difficult process because computer technology is constantly changing. To design a good lab, you should consider the precise needs of the students, the time frame for upgrades, software preferences and safeguards for the students.
Instructions
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Determine purpose of lab. A school computer lab can serve many different needs of students. It might simply provide access to a word processing program and the Internet. You can also develop it into a full-fledged learning center with courses to teach students various programs. If your school is oriented toward preparing students for future high-tech careers, consider computer systems built with graphic design software and hardware. For multimedia applications, you'll typically need faster systems and editing software for video. You'll also have to decide whether you prefer PC, Mac or both.
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Determine size and budget. The size of your computer lab will greatly depend on both how many students will be using it and how often they will be using it. To make a budget, inquire with each hardware and software manufacturer about what kind of academic discounts are available. Your budget should also take into account the cost for tech support, future upgrades and regular maintenance. Academic vendors include AcademicSuperStore.com, JourneyEd.com and Studica.com. Upgrade computers every two to four years depending on their specific use.
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Set up security and safeguards for students. Not only do you want a lab that is secure against viruses and spyware, you want a lab that filters out unwanted content. You can use consumer-level anti-virus programs for school computers. If the can log on to the Internet, you will need to set up a content filter to keep unwanted sites from being accessed. Popular programs include the Pearl Software suite of products, Safe Eyes and Net Nanny. Both the Federal Communications Commission and state government have laws regarding access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. There is most likely already an official policy set by each school district.
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Set up accounts for each student. To make sure that you know who is using which computer, you should set up log-in accounts with password for every student. You can also have the network administrator of the lab restrict access to programs and files for each individual student.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Young girl working on the laptop image by Christopher Meder from Fotolia.com
