Objectives of the ICT guidelines in schools;
·
To integrate ICT into mainstream
educational curricula to provide for equitable access for all students and
teachers
·
To ensure ICT equipment at the
schools is periodically maintained and handled carefully for durability
·
To address the obstacle of lack of
awareness about ICT usages/benefits as being a major and prevalent hindrance to
the establishment of the Information society with in educational institutions.
·
To bridge the gap of lack of skills
for effective utilization of ICTs by the teachers through capacity building
trainings
·
To identify a cadre of e-champions who
will inculcate and head the use of ICTs in educational institutions.
ICT
facility management:
The ICT facility refers to
the computer laboratory where all ICT gadgets/equipment like desktop computers,
laptops, projectors and generators are put to use. The overall manager of this
facility is the head teacher who makes the final decision after consultation
with the computer lab manager or ICT teacher. Any teacher/student who wishes to use ICT gadgets /equipment should
go through the custodian of the equipment who is the ICT teacher.
Maintenance
and Repair of ICT equipment:
ICT equipment maintenance
refers to periodical servicing of equipment to prolong its life. Maintenance is
a necessity in schools because it reduces the risk of equipment break down
while increasing the life span of the ICT gadgets. It is usually advisable to clean all ICT
gadgets on a daily basis and preventive maintenance on a monthly basis.
Preventive maintenance entails activities like blowing, antivirus checks,
software updates and simple trouble shooting and this should be done by the ICT
teacher/custodian. Advanced repairs should be done on a need basis by the ICT
teacher if they have the capacity or outsourced to a trusted external technician
who should be supervised by the lab custodian and approved by the head teacher.
The ICT committee in the school should come up with a maintenance schedule which
should be followed strictly.
ICT training:
ICT training refers to building of the capacity of the
users to effectively utilise the equipment. The trainings are categorized into
different sections to carter for different user needs. These trainings are
categorized into; basic & advanced training for teachers, administrative
trainings for administrators and technical trainings for lab managers. A needs survey should begin the entire
process to ascertain the skills level and the type of training that should be
administered. A training schedule should be drawn by the ICT committee and
these trainings should take on a trainer of trainer (ToT) approach to create a
multiplier effect.
ICT equipment/ lab Usage:
Most of the schools have desktop computers, laptops,
projectors, generators, televisions and printers as ICT equipment. A schedule
for usage is very important. The teacher in charge should develop a usage
schedule which should manage who borrows or uses the equipment and when. The
school should have a requisition procedure which should be followed by the
user, recommended by the head of department, then custodian/ICT focal person
and approved by the head teacher specifying the period of use, purpose of use
and condition of taking/return of equipment.
Procurement of ICT equipment/Services:
Procurement refers to purchase of new equipment. It
can be in form of replacement or buying new. Procurement is always necessary
when the equipment breaks down beyond repair or when it becomes obsolete. It is advisable to try repairing equipment
before procuring. The ICT focal person/teacher should check/trouble shoot
equipment; if it fails, then an external technician should be engaged and
finally if the technician fails, the procurement process should be initiated
through requisitions to the ICT committee. The committee should discuss the
specifications of the equipment that they would want to be procured which
should be checked and verified by the ICT teacher on delivery.
Security of Equipment:
This involves physical safety and security of the ICT equipment.
There should be a database of all ICT equipment with all the detailed
specifications, engraving is important as it separates all property that
belongs to the school from that of individuals. The proper engraving format should include the
name of institution, type of equipment, the number and date of engraving. Access to the facility should be managed by
one person and should always be available; if not the key should be handled by
a defined senior official who takes responsibility. Institutions with the
capacity should boost equipment security by installing CCTV cameras.
System security:
Unlike security of equipment, system security refers
to safety of the system, i.e. protection of the system from intruders, viruses
and unwanted users. There should be clear and defined system boundaries of who
should access what kind of information. For example what should students access,
teachers and school management, who manages access to the systems by
unauthorised users? Management of
different information like exams, student content, teacher materials, accounts,
hospital and stores should be assigned to the responsible persons. Passwords
should be created to give user rights to responsible persons. Periodical
antivirus updates should help to prevent loss of data by viruses and software
like anti-porn should be installed to bar students from accessing pornographic materials.
ICT committee:
The ICT committee is a special group at the school
that is chosen to make important decisions regarding all ICT matters at the
school. This committee comprises of teachers, parents, administrators, and the community.
The main role of the ICT committee is to make important decisions regarding ICT
usage in the institution but it is also a lobby and advocacy voice for the use
of ICT in the institution.
Skilling the students in ICT:
The capacity
of students to use ICT should be built to effectively utilise the equipment.
The government of Uganda through the Curriculum has made computer studies a
subsidiary paper at “A” level and examinable at “O” level. Therefore computer
studies are taught both at the school and community level. However to further
encourage students to appreciate ICT use, ICT clubs at the schools should be
formed so that they can have interclass, inter school and inter regional competitions.
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