A Crash Course in Devices for Your Lab

So many options, combinations and applications are available in computers today that we can't be very specific in making recommendations. Besides, the speed of change in technology, systems needs and prices means that the best choice for today may not be best for tomorrow. This section defines some basic terms and lists some general issues to consider in choosing hardware for your center.

General Hardware Issues

• The bad news is that computers are still expensive, but the good news is that prices continue to drop dramatically. Start by developing a computer budget for the entire center, beginning with the systems you want for the labs. In addition to traditional sources of grant money, try hooking up with local high-tech companies who may be interested in sponsoring or making donations, given your interest in technology. When creating your budget, don't forget to include telecommunications needs, including phones and Internet connections and service.

• Look for donated or recycled equipment. Many groups and bulletin boards are available to help find equipment in almost every area of the country.

• If you have the funds, hire a technology consultant to help with your budgeting and big decisions, such as the specifications for your systems, your telecommunications requirements, and whether you need a Local Area Network (LAN) to connect all the computers in your center. They may also be able to set up the initial configuration of your computers.

If you can't afford such a contractor, try going to local technology companies and professional groups for assistance. Many, many people in the industry are willing to donate their time and expertise, and many companies encourage their employees to do so. You may be able to find people willing to provide training for your staff in using computers and various software programs as well.

Whether you have professional help or are on your own, be sure to commit considerable time to technology planning. Evaluating your center's immediate and long-term needs from the very beginning will allow you to gradually build a lab that works. It also will give you time to educate the leadership of your organization, including your board, about the real costs of technology. A number of resources on the Web are designed to help nonprofits develop technology plans.

• In your budget, build in the hiring of a reliable support firm. Even if things don't go wrong—although they will go wrong—you'll have questions over time that you'll need answered, from how to upgrade the system to how to add new components. You'll need a service contract that takes your unique needs into account. The support firm also may be able to get you better deals on buying new computer equipment.

• Try to set up labs with several computers—ideally, one workstation for every two kids in class. Find out more about setting up equipment in a computer lab.

Recommended Equipment for Each Workstation

• The computer itself (the CPU), which is the main processing chip in the machine. The faster the chip, the faster your machines will run, so get the fastest you can afford. Computer speed is measured in megahertz (MHz).

• A keyboard and mouse. Many systems do not include these essential input devices in their basic price.

• A monitor, which can come in various sizes and resolutions. Resolution refers to the detail and quality of the images the monitor can display.

• Memory, which is what the computer uses to perform calculations and operations while you are using an application. The more memory you have, the better, especially if you will be using memory-intensive applications like PhotoShop or working with video. Additional memory can be added to most computers, but buy as much as you can afford at the outset. (Check with your technology consultant, but as a general baseline, computers using the Windows 95/98 operating system need at least 64 megabytes (MB) of memory, with 128 MB recommended. Computers using Windows ME/2000 need at least 128 MB, with 256 MB recommended.)

• Storage devices, which are where you keep your files.You will absolutely want a hard drive of at least 10 gigabytes built in to every machine, as well as a 3.5" floppy drive. The hard drive is where you will store the applications you use on the computer, most of the files you and your kids are actively working on and, possibly, archives of old files.

  • Hard drives are the most efficient way to store data and applications so that the computer can access them quickly. You'll want a floppy drive because floppy disks are the easiest way to transfer small and average-size files other than over a network. If you have floppy disks, you can transfer files from a digital camera and let kids take their files home or to school to continue work. Keep lots of disks around as part of your store of supplies.

  • You may also want a CD-ROM drive or Zip drive, which offer convenient ways to store and transfer great masses of data. They are not essential to have on every computer. Of these other types of storage devices, CD-ROM drives are the next most valuable because many large applications ("application" is just another word for a software program) only come on compact discs (CDs). As a result, CD-ROM drives are becoming a standard part of most new systems.

  • Zip drives are mainly used for archiving files and transferring very large files, and they are one option for backing up your computers. Back ups are an important part of a computer center's routine. Things frequently go wrong with computers, from crashes to power failures to accidentally spilling liquid on them. It's essential that you back up all the computers in your lab regularly, at least once a month, either to a Zip drive or, preferably, a tape drive, so that you can recover anything you lose if there's a problem. Also remember to keep a library of all the original disks and CD-ROMs of the software programs that you buy.

  • Other types of storage-related devices are available as well, including DVD drives, which are used largely for playing videos (they are becoming more and more common on new machines), and devices that let you create your own CD-ROMs. These are not really necessary for the average lab, but if you have the opportunity to acquire them without making other sacrifices, you may want to consider them.

Teach kids to save their work frequently. Anyone who's used a computer for any length of time has lost hours of work at some point when the computer inexplicably crashed. It's something you don't want to have happen. Also, be sure to back up and archive all of your files at least once a month. You'll be sorry if you don't. Yes, we are trying to scare you: Save and back up often!

• A modem to connect to the Internet, unless you have created a LAN for your center.

• In addition to the components above, you may want to add some of the following accessories to one or more of the computers in your center:

• External speakers to add quality or volume to audio from the computer

• Additional storage devices

• Additional memory

• Expansion cards, which can help with specific needs like video quality or support of special devices.

• All computers should be plugged into a reliable power supply because electrical surges, brownouts and blackouts can damage computers and cause you to lose files. At very least, a surge suppressor is needed, but an uninterruptible power device is much better because it will continue supplying power to the computers for a brief period after the power goes out, allowing you time to save files and turn off the computers. The warranty on any such device is a good indicator of its quality.

Never use the computers during storms or if a storm is kicking up. At best, you may only lose files if the power goes out, but you may ruin the computers beyond repair in the event of a major power surge. And never let kids (or adults, for that matter) bring drinks or food into the computer lab.

Printers and Output Devices

There's no telling how many printers you'll need across your center, but try to have two in each lab: (1) a sturdy, fast, high-volume black-and-white printer you can use for text, drafts, tests and large print jobs and (2) an inexpensive, color inkjet printer. If you can only afford one, get the color printer.

Talk to your consultants about how to connect the printers. For simplicity's sake, you may want to have them connected to just one main computer, or you may want to have them attached to the LAN (if your center has one) so that all computers can use them. A third option for connecting multiple computers to one or more printers without a LAN is to do so through switch boxes.

You'll also need print drivers on every computer that is connected to a printer. Print drivers are software programs that translate between the computer and the printer languages. They should come with the printers, but you can also get them at the manufacturer's Web site, if necessary. Remember that you'll also need cables to connect the printers to the computers or LAN. Most printers do not come with cables, and you have to be sure to have the right cables for your printer and its connection to your computer and switch boxes.

The other output device you may want to consider is a projecting device that can be connected to a computer in the lab or to laptops brought in by others. This device will allow you to project whatever you're working on to a screen or wall for demonstrations. They tend to be expensive, but they can be a big help when doing presentations to larger groups; also, because they're portable, you can take them along when visiting potential funders or others outside the center.

Input Devices

Some other digital devices we recommend for capturing or working with images are as follows:

• Digital cameras. The prices on digital cameras have dropped dramatically in recent months, especially for what are now considered low-end cameras. (Just last year the same cameras were considered cutting edge!) Being low end isn't a problem, however, because most of the cost in a digital camera comes from features that improve the image resolution quality.

  Most display technologies, like computer screens and the Web, can't even show images at the resolution of today's high-end cameras—you can only see the improvement when the images are printed by expensive printers or very high resolution monitors. As a result, you can purchase perfectly fine cameras for your needs at a fraction of recent costs. If at all possible, we recommend getting several cameras so that many students can work on projects simultaneously without having to wait for others to finish. Whatever type of cameras you get, make sure that they have the following features:

  They should use 3.5" disks to capture and store the images. Even though many of the newer cameras use memory cards instead, we strongly recommend floppy disks. With disks, kids can take their photos and move them over to the computers, quickly passing the camera on to other students. Memory cards allow you to take more and bigger pictures, but they require cables to transfer the files to the computer, so you'll be creating more of a bottleneck by tying up both the camera and the one computer it connects to. If you do get cameras that need cables, make sure that the devices are compatible with your operating system.

  Try to get cameras that also allow you to capture sound and short videos.

• Scanners. You may want to consider getting a flatbed scanner so you can scan pictures and text into the computer. Scanners have become fairly inexpensive and, depending on the projects you undertake, may have certain advantages. If your budget allows both cameras and a scanner, go for it, but if you can only afford one item (especially if you want to make photography a part of your activities), we recommend the camera over the scanner.

• Drawing tablets. If you're going to do serious art projects with older kids, you may want to get a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet for one or more of your computers. This device replaces a mouse with a digital pen, which feels and acts much more natural than the awkward mouse. When used with sophisticated graphics programs like PhotoShop, it can even draw thick or thin lines, depending on how hard you press.