D.4 Audit: Selecting beneficiary schools
D.4.1 Context
Once schools have been mapped, they will need to be prioritised to determine which schools will be connected, how much funding is required and how the funding that is committed to connecting schools will be spent. It should be noted that the prioritisation guidance and checklists will only be effective in instances where the funding is not restricted (e.g. if funding is designated as only for rural schools for girls). In instances where conditions are placed on funding that will impact school eligibility, these schools need to be isolated and packaged separately from other schools in the programme. Funding will, however, still need to be looked at holistically to ensure risk and cost reduction. As an example, the funder of rural girls’ schools will need to collaborate with other funders to ensure that their selective approach is not prohibitively expensive. Coordination of this manner is one area where the role of a project sponsor, such as the USAF is critical.
D.4.2 School eligibility scorecard (must be aligned with identified policy priorities)
This school eligibility scorecard seeks to provide an objective way to manage limited funding and to decide which schools get connected. This reduces the potential politicisation of the school connectivity programme where regions or schools are prioritised regardless of need, readiness or expense. The scorecard will need to be tailored to a country’s needs.
The scorecard assumes that the priority is connecting public secondary schools in rural areas. Schools with lower learner/teacher ratios are also prioritised given the potential impact of technology on schools. This is aligned with the prioritisation of schools with trained teachers and ICT in or supporting the curriculum. In this case, the priority is also to connect schools that are already on a fibre-optic route – this is driven by availability of funding. These schools will be the easiest and least costly to connect. Inclusion is a key aspect of school connectivity – inclusion of girls and children with disabilities is an important driver for school connectivity. Similarly, potential for extension of connectivity to the community is key. The prioritisation framework should reflect this.
D.4.3 Ensure school readiness
Before vendors and service providers can implement a project, schools have to be “ready” from a number of perspectives:
- awareness
- vision
- organisation
- infrastructure
- capacity / digital skills
Internet-ready schools in Kenya are secondary schools with electricity supply, secure computer labs, trained ICT teachers and already enrolling students for the Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education examination in Computer Studies.
The project contracts target:
Provision of dedicated 5Mbit/s broadband access to the Internet and unlimited data volume and at least two online Wi-Fi hotspots providing wireless routing to all computers located in the computer lab, library, administrative and staffrooms on site.
Constant monitoring and technical support to ensure on-demand access to the Internet and particularly to the “Education Cloud” portal – the Learning Management System – that is being established by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). This will facilitate ready access to digital content developed by KICD as well as to other approved local or international education content and resources. Provision of introductory (one day) training on Internet access issues to the ICT teacher and other teachers to ensure that they are well prepared to make use of the connectivity.
Vision
Decision tree, organisational readiness
Infrastructure decision tree
Content decision tree
Training decision tree
Since each school is different, there are no formal specifications for the type nor amount of equipment needed. However, there are common guidelines to follow when installing services and equipment to avoid bottlenecks and meet future needs.
Network specifications
The FCC-adopted bandwidth goals provide a great foundation on which to start planning. However, in order to more accurately dimension network bandwidth there are a number of considerations to keep in mind:
Remember to dimension for all users and locations. Keep in mind that there are many users of technology in the school including, teachers, administrators, and other school staff who should be taken into account when planning bandwidth needs. There may also be more locations than just classrooms that need to be connected and factored into the bandwidth projections such as bus barns, workshops, and on campus security cameras.
Factor in concurrent use when planning Internet access. In practice, not every student will need access to a network at the same time. From a network design perspective, the total bandwidth needed should reflect the number of expected concurrent users on the network rather than the total number of possible users.
The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend creates new network requirements. Each device connecting to the network adds additional load. If students, educators, and administrators are using multiple devices during the day, the network may need to have additional bandwidth to handle this traffic.
Size the bandwidth for peaks, not averages. In order to run a digital curriculum effectively, make sure there is enough bandwidth to handle peak events and times when everyone wants to use learning tools simultaneously.
Always add some bandwidth “padding” to the calculation. EducationSuperHighway recommends adding a 20 per cent bandwidth buffer to estimated peak-demand times to cover other applications in use during peak times.
Plan for the future, assuming that bandwidth will continue to grow significantly. The FCC goals forecast a 10-fold increase in traffic needs over four years, consistent with the increasing demand as schools embrace digital learning. With a multi-year contract, it is critical to think about the total bandwidth needed over the lifetime of the contract – and ensure that the service provider is able and willing to scale costs over time.
Monitor the network. The only way to understand if your network is most cost-effectively meeting the needs of your students is to understand how much it is being used. With simple network monitoring you can make sure that you are not over or under-provisioning.
https://www.educationsuperhighway.org/upgrade/types-of-fiber-services/k-12-bandwidth-goals/