Conclusions

Whilst some of the projects that I've been involved in have cost large sums of money, some of the most effective methods of improving an ICT area can be done for very little money. Below are some bullet-points of reasonably cheap enhancements you can do in school:

• I get irritated when I see pathetic little speakers attached to a classroom PC. A 2.1 sound system with a bass box and 2 satellite speakers usually costs less than £50 but delivers good quality sound to enrich videos and music on the main classroom PC.
• If you can't get a DVD player for the classroom, why not buy a DVD drive for the computer? Most are bundled with software to play DVDs and usually cost less than £30. If this is combined with good quality speakers, you've effectively got a cinema system for less than £100.
• If your computer is running slowly, it could probably do with some more memory. Increasing your computer's memory is amongst the cheapest and most effective ways of boosting performance. You will probably need to talk to someone who knows what they're doing if you want to do this because there are hundreds of different types of memory available and it also means changing a chip inside the computer.
• Keep your projector maintained. Clean the filters out every month and have your projector professionally cleaned every 12 or 18 months to stop dust building up. Some of the projectors at the centres I manage are over 6 years old and the image they give off is just as good as the day they were purchased.
• If you have many computers but only 1 printer, set up printer sharing so that all the computers can print. How this is done will depend on the type of network you have in place, but it should be easily achievable for all types.
• Install some network management software if you have a large number of computers in a room. The ability to look at student's screen, show student's work on the main screen and lock computers is very useful. I use a piece of software called NetSupport School which is very effective but other software is available.

These are just some general tips that will improve any classroom for not much money. Of course, some improvements can be expensive ones and I'm not going to recommend them as they may not be suitable for all.