IT in schools has always been a sore point. In the UK many schools bought Acorn RISC machines thanks to misguided government recommendations. Now they are stuck on this hopeless path without the funds to buy more maintstream PCs.
Why is it that schools rarely make the right choices with IT or ever implement IT convincingly?
I think I know why. Schools aren't run like businesses, they don't have the same resources, experience and levels of organization to cope with projects as slippery and difficult as IT. IT is very expensive, the computers have to survive a battering from pupils. Schools often hire IT managers who have to teach and run a network, they are seriously overworked. Also schools often fail to implement a constant policy of upgrading and renewing equipment so to prevent it going out of date.
Its a lot for teachers to think about on top of their already hectic jobs, which is why a current corporate trend may be better suited to the educational environment. Outsourcing would be ideal for schools. Pay some large company a monthly fee to supply computers, support staff and all the other resources. A large company with many such contracts would have the infrastructure to support each school more cheaply and efficiently than any home-grown solution could. Also the firm would own the equipment and so would be responsible for updating it all. So EDS, here's another market for you to conquer!
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