New Media Equipmentlist for an Imaginary school
I will for the purpose
of this task assume that the school has a basic setup, meaning at least one set
of computers. I suppose most of the schools fulfill this condition today.
The first thing that would be important to me as a history and English teacher would be licenses to important internet resources, so my pupils are able to conduct research. To my mind it is an important task of the schools to teach pupils how they are able to find relevant information online. To have people not only rely on Wikipedia entries, providing access to online encyclopedias like Brockhaus is a good way to create a useful learning environment. The expenses for this will be around 1000€.
Also I find project work an important and as this approach always includes reflections on the process I would like to buy digital cameras to able to document the work that is done. Another area where they are helpful is in creative tasks which include taking pictures like photo stories and collages. In this field teachers can approach topics like the difference between a picture and reality. To be able to work with a class of 30 pupils at least two of them should have one camera. That would add up to an amount of about 1,200 €.
In university today students get used to working with modern equipment like projectors when they do presentation. That is something young teaching degree students want to keep up when they start working at a school. For this a school should provide suitable equipment. With new modern methods of presenting content the lessons also become more interesting. Last but not least, it is a good thing for the pupils to learn how to do a good presentation using Powerpoint or similar software. Thus I would buy at least four projectors that teachers can take to their classes. That would cost about 4,000 €.
In the foreign language classroom speaking and listening play an important role. This is an area where most schools do not have the equipment the teachers need to do interesting projects with their students. I would want to buy a good set of portable audio recorders and CD /MP 3 Players. The recorders can be used in producing an audio drama with the class, which is a task that is both creative and improves pronunciation. Also pupils can hear themselves speak in the foreign language and are able to find mistakes themselves and to better them. The CD / MP3 Players are basic for listening tasks. Almost every book comes with recordings of the texts in it which cannot be used without these devices. 15 audio recorders and about the same amount of CD / MP3 Players would add up to about 2,500 €
This leaves me with a rest of 1,300 € for further equipment. This I would spend for DVD / Blueray players, at least four for the projectors I want to buy. Videos and movies become more and more important for teaching. They even comprise a part of the most curriculums, so a device is needed to show them in class. The last thing I would want to purchase also falls into this area. Digital video cameras can be a very good helper in creative work with pupils like composing a short film or recording a stage play. The rest of the budget could probably buy four players and two cameras.
The first thing that would be important to me as a history and English teacher would be licenses to important internet resources, so my pupils are able to conduct research. To my mind it is an important task of the schools to teach pupils how they are able to find relevant information online. To have people not only rely on Wikipedia entries, providing access to online encyclopedias like Brockhaus is a good way to create a useful learning environment. The expenses for this will be around 1000€.
Also I find project work an important and as this approach always includes reflections on the process I would like to buy digital cameras to able to document the work that is done. Another area where they are helpful is in creative tasks which include taking pictures like photo stories and collages. In this field teachers can approach topics like the difference between a picture and reality. To be able to work with a class of 30 pupils at least two of them should have one camera. That would add up to an amount of about 1,200 €.
In university today students get used to working with modern equipment like projectors when they do presentation. That is something young teaching degree students want to keep up when they start working at a school. For this a school should provide suitable equipment. With new modern methods of presenting content the lessons also become more interesting. Last but not least, it is a good thing for the pupils to learn how to do a good presentation using Powerpoint or similar software. Thus I would buy at least four projectors that teachers can take to their classes. That would cost about 4,000 €.
In the foreign language classroom speaking and listening play an important role. This is an area where most schools do not have the equipment the teachers need to do interesting projects with their students. I would want to buy a good set of portable audio recorders and CD /MP 3 Players. The recorders can be used in producing an audio drama with the class, which is a task that is both creative and improves pronunciation. Also pupils can hear themselves speak in the foreign language and are able to find mistakes themselves and to better them. The CD / MP3 Players are basic for listening tasks. Almost every book comes with recordings of the texts in it which cannot be used without these devices. 15 audio recorders and about the same amount of CD / MP3 Players would add up to about 2,500 €
This leaves me with a rest of 1,300 € for further equipment. This I would spend for DVD / Blueray players, at least four for the projectors I want to buy. Videos and movies become more and more important for teaching. They even comprise a part of the most curriculums, so a device is needed to show them in class. The last thing I would want to purchase also falls into this area. Digital video cameras can be a very good helper in creative work with pupils like composing a short film or recording a stage play. The rest of the budget could probably buy four players and two cameras.
License for Brockhaus
Digital Cameras (15)
Projectors (4)
Portable Audio Recorders (15)
MP3 / CD Players (15)
Blueray Player (4)
Digital Video Camera (2)
Digital Cameras (15)
Projectors (4)
Portable Audio Recorders (15)
MP3 / CD Players (15)
Blueray Player (4)
Digital Video Camera (2)
1,000 €
1,200 €
4,000 €
1,500
1,000
300 €
1,000 €
__________
10,000 €
1,200 €
4,000 €
1,500
1,000
300 €
1,000 €
__________
10,000 €
10,000 € is of course not a very large amount for good equipment. Things look a little differnent if this budget quintuples and I would be left with 50,000€. This leaves room for adjustments as well as some extra expenses that are helpful in new media teaching.
The first change to the 10,000 € list would be buying three times the blueray players as planned. This way the media equipment would not have to carried around school all the time. This would add 600 €. Video Cameras are also great for documenting work or making video projects. Having two of those is a good thing but for a project with whole class this is not nearly enough. For a class of thirty, I would think twenty cameras would be a good number adding 9,000 €.
The next thing that I deem really helpful is Interactive Whiteboards. They are a big expense but when handled right they can make teaching a lot easier and at the same time more interesting for the pupils. Not only can graphics and videos better be incorporated, but what is written on the board can also be saved and e-mailed to the students, a function that saves a lot of time. I w at least five of those at a price of about 2,000€ which would add 10,000 € to the shopping list.
Another expensive but very useful thing to have is a good set of portable laptops. This not only allows a teacher to work with computers in his normal classroom, but also enables pupils to work outside. When handled carefully they can even be brought to a class trip, where for example research tasks can directly be digitalized. At a price of about 500 € per laptop this would add up to another 10,000 € for twenty laptops. I think this number is not too high with classes of thirty pupils.
Although working on the computer is important, normal work in class should not be neglected, so for the remaining 5,400 €, I would buy equipment that helps transfering paper products to the computer and digital products onto papar. For the latter task I would choose really good laser color printers. One of those costs about 500€ and I think having at least four, mainly for the teachers to use, would be a good idea. That makes 2,000 €. For the transition the other way around from paper to a digital product there would be two more devices I would buy. The first thing is a Smart Document Camera for the Interactive Whiteboards. Three would be enough as they are not needed in every whiteboard session. This makes about 3,000€. The last thing would be traditional scanners. For the remaining 400 € I would be able to afford four of those.
Products from the list above
Additional
- Blueray Player (8)
- Digital Cameras (18)
- Video Projectors (5)
Interactive Whiteboards (5)
Laptops (20)
Laser Color Printers (4)
Smart Document Camera (3)
Scanner (4)
Additional
- Blueray Player (8)
- Digital Cameras (18)
- Video Projectors (5)
Interactive Whiteboards (5)
Laptops (20)
Laser Color Printers (4)
Smart Document Camera (3)
Scanner (4)
10,000 €
600 €
9,000 €
5,000 €
10,000 €
10,000 €
2,000 €
3,000 €
400 €
________
50,000 €
600 €
9,000 €
5,000 €
10,000 €
10,000 €
2,000 €
3,000 €
400 €
________
50,000 €
