Managing a Computer in the Classroom

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Surviving in the One-Computer Classroom Computer Management Issues

Location of the computer in the room
Integrating the Computer
Recommended Hardware
Backing Up
Student Disks
Viruses

Where do I put it?

Where you put the computer will depend on the layout of your classroom. Here are some factors to consider:

Make sure the display faces the classroom. Nothing will keep students on task better than knowing you might be looking over their shoulder.
Keep the computer in a low-traffic area. Computer are not all that fragile, but better to keep them in a spot which students don’t pass on their way into or out of the room.
If you’ll be using it for presentations, put it in the front of your room.
If you’ll be using it as a learning center, make sure a small group can gather around it.
If you use the computer yourself, you may want it close to your desk.

Post instructions and computer use policies at the computer.

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Integrating the Computer

Integrate the Computer into your existing lessons. Start with a small, manageable task in one of your lessons and build from there. To get some ideas for ways to use the computer, take a look at our page on using the computer, and take a look at our links to lesson plans

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Recommended Hardware

Printer:: Get an inkjet printer rather than a laser printer. You can get a low-budget color inkjet printer for $100, a good inkjet printer for $250. If you get to pick the brand, check the rankings in a computer magazine or on the Internet. Or just buy the most expensive Hewlett Packard inkjet you can.
Display:: If you’re going to use the computer with the whole class, you’ll need a display bigger than a 15" monitor. Here are some suggestions.

Get a bigger monitor. You can buy a low-resolution 31" monitor for about $700, a high-resolution 37" monitor for $6,000.
Get a scan converter. These small boxes connect to your computer and to a regular TV, and show what’s on your monitor on the TV. They cost about $200.
Get a TV video card. These cards are inserted inside your computer and perform the same function as a scan converter. These cards start at about $160.
Get an LCD panel. Put one of these on your overhead projector and show your computer screen on the big screen. You can get a decent panel for about $1,600.
Get an LCD projector. Plug one of these into your computer and display everything on the big screen. Cheap units are about $2,000. Bright, clear units cost about $6,000.

Which to choose? For most uses, a TV video card or scan converter card is enough. Given the choice, the video card is usually better, because they usually serve other purposes as well, and often come with interesting software. If you have a little more money, consider one of Gateway’s Destination monitors for a slight improvement in clarity. LCD panels and projectors are a nice idea, but you won’t get a unit that has good brightness and clarity for less than $4,000. If you can darken your room when you want to use it, then you can get a cheaper unit. Have the vendor demonstrate the unit you plan to buy in your room before you buy.

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Back up

Make sure you have some way to back up all your data. The storage media for computer information are not eternal. The ideal is to have some high-capacity removable media like a Zip drive and a back-up program to automate your back-ups. But more realistic for most teachers is keeping a copy of all your important files in two places: your computer’s hard drive and a floppy disk, or on two separate floppies.

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Student disks

You have some sticky decisions to make when it comes to student files.

Can students store files on the hard drive? In most cases, this is OK in the beginning, but it will eventually lead to a jumble of files spread all over your computer, and guess who gets to clean that up.

Will each student get her/his own floppy? If you give each student a floppy, you can keep your hard drive clean, but floppies are not a terribly stable medium, and over the course of the school year, you can expect at least one student to lose all files.

Can students bring floppies from home, or take their class floppies home? Students with a computer at home will naturally want to do some work at home, but you’ll have to watch for viruses (see below). You may want to think about equity issues if only some students have computers.

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Viruses

"Viruses" are malignant programs which spread themselves from computer to computer over networks and through floppies and other removable media. Viruses are everywhere, and it’s not possible to avoid them entirely, but you can take steps to reduce your chances of "infection."

Know where your floppy’s been. Sharing floppies among computers is probably the most common method of spreading viruses. Try to restrict floppy use to disks that you know are clean, and certainly don’t use a floppy you think is suspicious.
Watch those downloads. Files downloaded from the Internet are the main source of the viruses being spread on floppies. Don’t download any programs to your hard drive unless they come from a reliable source.
Get anti-virus software. For about $50, you can buy software that detects and disables viruses. No computer, especially a computer used by students, should be without such software.

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The ETTC was created by a grant from the NJ Department of Education.