bulk coffee pods
Take a look at this chart – it shows that the average number of computers in both primary and secondary schools has almost doubled since 2002 - up from 25 to 50 in primary schools, and from 173 to 317 in secondary schools – which gives a combined total of just over 2 million computers – an increase of 1 million!
And at an average of 150 watts, assuming they’re switched on for 40 hours for 40 weeks, that’s an increase of about 240,000,000 KWh – or about £24m at 10p/KWh.
For a secondary school, an increase of 100 computers equals about £2,500 a year more on your electricity bill.
You’ve probably seen the EnergyStar labels on some of your equipment – it’s an environmental standard from the US Environmental Protection Agency – which not only defines how the equipment operates but also how it should be configured. For example, it specifies that:
- Computers must enter system standby or hibernate after 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity.
- Monitors must enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity.
One of my colleagues from the US has 
* Makes it sound like a Soviet-era economy doesn’t it – after hearing the “Radiator Monitor” story, I wondered whether there’s one massive thermostat somewhere in the DCSF offices – set to a steady 24o C - that controls the temperature of the radiators in every classroom in the country. And so in every school up and down the country the classroom temperature is regulated by opening and closing windows!
They’ve been at it again in the TES – being nice about the things we do, and especially about some of the clever things that schools do with some of the technology we’ve created.
Brave New World
This week, Saturday morning’s post brought me cheer when they wrote about the Innovative Schools programme – the series of detailed case study videos we created earlier this year, exploring what four schools have done with to bring about change, and how they have achieved it (and, of course, the role of ICT). I especially liked the first quote from the headteacher at Broadclyst Primary School, because it’s something I really believe
Peter Hicks, Broadclyst’s headteacher, believes that technology plays a central role in achieving this goal. “We’re moving towards a fully global economy, so academic qualifications no longer guarantee success,” he says. “Today’s children will trade on their human capital, their ability to collaborate with other people around the globe. It’s technology that will help them learn those social skills.”
The article, A similar tactic has worked wonders at Twynham School in Dorset. When the school was designing its online learning resources, using Microsoft’s SharePoint technology, it began by thinking about how pupils use the internet. Pupils were involved in every stage of development, disclosing the secrets of their surfing habits and owning up to their blogging addictions.
The end result was a learning gateway that they enjoy and find easy to navigate, and which reflects the kind of websites they use in their spare time.
“Blogging addictions” sounds a little worrying doesn’t it? I think the message is that “Build it and they will come” doesn’t always work, and that you can move faster if you link in to the ways students are already using technology.
Some of the interesting statistics from the article: