TIE 532 – Computers and Technology Systems & Related Peripherals

“Buying Computers for the School”

Congratulations! You have been selected by your school to develop a proposal for the purchase of new computer equipment. You have been appointed as the chair of a committee that will provide a recommendation to the administration, which may ultimately go before your board of education for review and probable action.

A maximum of $50,000 may be budgeted for this project. If your project requires less money, you are free to budget a smaller amount. However, you are urged to explain why you will not spend the total amount, given that it will not be available after the current fiscal year if it is not spent, and thus your school will lose the benefit.

Your project will consist of four parts:

1. Needs Assessment - A detailed description of your school's current computer needs. (if you are not currently in a school, you should select a school that you are familiar with). It should detail how you would go about establishing why your school needs new equipment. For example, you could review your school's or school district's most recent Technology Plan to see what work has been done in your district to identify equipment needs of students and teachers. Or, you might develop a specimen faculty survey and describe a scenario (actual or fictitious) that identifies what kinds of computers teachers really need.

2. Market Research - You will detail how you took the needs assessment and how you were able to match your school's needs with what is available in the marketplace. You may use any any or or all of the following:

a. Brand and product information from the Internet, detailing the performance characteristics of the computer, e.g., platform compatibility, computer overall performance and central processor (CPU) speed, hard drive capacity, networkability, and whether it may be upgraded.

b. Information gained through discussion with knowledgeable users.

c. Information gained through the reading of computer periodicals.

d. Any other relevant sources you feel would be helpful.

3. Results and conclusions you have drawn from your research and any further questions you have or information you would like to gain.

4. Your final recommendations, together with a table describing the unit cost(s) of the computers you are recommending for purchase by the school, describing any extras, such as included software, vendor name and contact and a description of warranties and any maintenance plans that might be a part of the package.


EVALUATION GUIDELINES

Cover Page and title:

Please provide a cover page with a title that would be appropriate to a professional proposal in your school context.

Content:

1. In your paper, you will demonstrate that you have an understanding of the kinds of computers currently available and peripherals that might be added later. Make certain that you describe how you narrowed your selection to the product you are proposing. Please include base cost, warranties, and repair service plan options.

2. Your paper will consist of four parts. Be sure to identify each part with a separate heading, i.e., "Needs Assessment", "Market Research", "Results and Conclusions", and "Final Recommendation." Make sure you also provide a table that shows unit and estimated total costs for what you are proposing.

Mechanics:

Make sure that you go through the following checklist before turning in your paper.

__ The report contains no spelling or grammar errors. (Please use your spell checker and thesaurus.).
__ Title will be centered and the body of the document justified.
__ Body text will be double spaced.
__ Indent your paragraphs
__ Use at least two different styles of text
__ Use at least two different fonts of text
__ Use at least two different sizes of text
__ Use automatic page numbering with a footer that has the word Page
__ centered (with a space and then the page numbering)
__ Copy the title/heading information to the end of the document
__ Provide a table to make your comparisons more graphically pleasing and readable
__ Submit document as an attachment via email to craig.cunningham@nl.edu.


Link to Rubic for evaluation.

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Questions.

If any of the above is unclear, please let me know so that we can discuss it before you submit your report.