TIE 532 – Computers and Technology Systems & Related Peripherals

Note: this assignment has two parts.

Part I: “Buying Computers for the School” (Emailed to instructor by October 21 start of class)

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.

Part I consists of four sections:

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

1. Please provide a cover page with a title that would be appropriate to a professional proposal in your school context.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 automatic page numbering with a footer that has the word Page centered (with a space and then the page numbering)
   __ 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 for Part I.

Part II: Peripheral Purchase (Emailed to instructor by October 28 start of class)

The Problem

Your district has received a new state technology grant under the Illinois Peripherals For Schools Program. Your principal has just received a check for $30,000 and you have been asked to help him spend it. The documentation reads, “Purchases made pursuant to this program must be used for computer peripherals that will enhance classroom instruction and associated staff development activities.” It further stipulates that “two-thirds of amount of the grant must be spent on peripheral equipment, one-third on staff development. Your principal tells you that she wants to appoint you as the coordinator for this grant, since you did such a wonderful job as chair of the technology committee that recommended those fine computers just a short time ago. Of course, you accept readily, since you will have a lot of latitude in deciding what is to be purchased, and you have some equipment needs of your own in your own classroom teaching.

What you now must do. You have to work with teachers in your school to decide on what peripherals need to be purchased as well as what staff development activities will be planned. You need to somehow survey the staff for what is needed most, work with a special grants committee to decide on who gets the extra equipment, develop the budget for staff development activities, and prepare the final documentation for the state.

Part II should include the following four sections.

Needs assessment. You have decided to ask teachers individually to submit their ideas by a given date. What you purchase will be based on the what teachers ask for and on what money is available. (You will probably need to keep your purchases about $500 less than the projected total cost as a cushion against incurring any school district expense on this project.

Market survey. You will, of course, look for the lowest price on all your purchases, so that you can spread the grant resources out as fairly as possible. You can estimate the cost by surfing the Internet for prices, or use specific company catalogs in pint.

Documentation. You will describe which teachers (by subject or grade) will be receiving new peripherals, describe how the peripherals will be used, and describe how the teacher will assess the effectiveness of the equipment in classroom instruction.

Budget (spreadsheet) page. You will report the cost of all purchases and shipping costs under a heading called Equipment and provide a sub-total. You will also report the cost for staff development under a heading called Staff Training. The latter will consist of the stipend to be paid to the workshop presenter(s) and the stipend to be awarded to each teacher participant. The presenter’s stipend will be whatever you negotiate with him/her. Teachers’ stipends will be based on your district’s policy for awarding stipends to teachers who staff after hours for workshop training. You can decide how much to spend on the cost of producing worksheets and step-by-step instructions. As the grant coordinator, you may factor in 2% of the total grant to pay for the extra work you do in running the project.

Please follow the same style guidelines and part 1. Here is a link to Rubric for evaluation for part 2.

Questions.