Modernizing Education through Computer Technology

Cavite School of St. Mark

Any school that wants to offer a modern curriculum -- meaning, one where computer technology is a major component -- faces several hurdles. Their tight financial conditions usually mean that they have to content themselves with no-name clones.

Cavite School of St. Mark, a family-owned, non-profit, non-stock school offering both basic education and tertiary courses in Bacoor Cavite, has to face these hurdles.

"The other year, we upgraded our computer systems. We had been teaching Wordstar and Lotus on XTs, and believed that we should modernize both the hardware and software," explains Mr. Ariel J.V. Arias II, school administrator of Cavite School of St Mark.

"So we purchased several clones under a three-year maintenance contract which we canceled before its completion because we were not happy with their reliability. We did manage to start teaching Microsoft Word, although the frequent breakdowns diminished the efficiency of the educational delivery. So last year, we started looking at branded computers."

The Viable Option

"Our most viable option, given our cash flow, was leasing," continues Mr. Arias. "We chose Fujitsu Philippines, Inc (FPI) in part because the interest rates were lower than the IBM resellers'."

Mr. Arias adds, "Furthermore, Fujitsu committed a one-day delivery schedule. We were talking directly to the manufacturer, not through a reseller, so that helped. We completed the purchase on June 7, 2001."

St. Mark's hardware from Fujitsu consists of 22 800Mhz Pentium-III Fujitsu Deskpower desktop computers, a Fujitsu Lifebook P-1000, and various printers and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSes).

The 20 PCs will be used in the laboratory and offices, the other two at their hospital in Quezon City. The Lifebook is assigned to Mr. Arias.

"You might be interested to know that we have Internet access in the computer lab, through Bell Telecomm wireless broadband. That's why we have an antenna on our roof," says Mr. Arias. "We encourage our students to use the Internet to augment their studies. We're proud of the fact that this Internet access is already incorporated in the fees that they pay, in contrast with other schools where access to the Internet is additional."

Free of Distractions

Mr. Arias expects the computer classes to be free of distractions caused by hardware failures, so students and teachers both can concentrate on learning the software.

The inherent reliability of the hardware, the assured supply of the hardware's electrical power (thanks to the UPSes), and the broadband connection to Bell's network, all assure smooth and continued Internet access.

Obsolete-free equipment

"The processing power of the computers means that we are insured, to a certain extent, against obsolescence," says Mr. Arias. The recent availability of systems based on the Pentium-IV notwithstanding, "the current configuration should serve us for maybe three more years," says Mr. Arias.

"When we were using clones," he adds, "we wanted a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio, but with the breakdowns, we were forced into two-to-one. The Fujitsu solution should get us back to 1:1 again soon."

"We plan to upgrade the multimedia capabilities, possibly with DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) drives," continues Mr. Arias.

Source:

http://www.fujitsu.com/ph/casestudies/st-mark.html