Nursery Technology

Nursery aged children generally aren't techno snobs or geeks, they don't demand iMacs or Sony Vaios. They don't even demand an operating system, they just want to use the computer - to draw or play a game, just to use it. New PCs or Macs that can run the latest and 'shiniest' applications are expensive, but if someone just wants to 'use' a computer do they really need new?

There is an alternative to Windows and iMacs - it is called Linux and as well as being free, it is also efficient, meaning it can run on older hardware. There is a specific version of Linux aimed at educational users called Edubuntu, it even comes with a set of educational programs.

In terms of specification it will run on a 1GHz processor with 256MB of memory - think 10 year old system. For those of you with out of school programs this is a double bonus, you can use pretty much any system that you have bought over the last 10 years, or even systems that parents have donated.

There are a couple of sites that have large lists of software that run on Linux - OSALT and FLOSS

Edubuntu is fully web compliant so any online games or interactive web sites can be used on an Edubuntu system. With Flash compatability it is even more web savvy than an iPad or an iPhone.

With the widespread adoption of Wireless technology (WiFi) there are numerous peripherals that can be combined to make a flexible security systems. For example take a wireless router (no need to put it on the web, we are just using the wireless connectivity), a number of IP cameras (these are self powered with built in web servers) and any number of the new low cost tablet devices (Binatone is bringing one out at just over £100).

The low cost tablets all have WiFi connectivity with built in web browsers and can access the web servers in the cameras from anywhere in your building.

So you with each component costing around £100, you can monitor your entry door, office and four rooms for less than £1000 with minimal cabling to be run. As everything is wireless, the only connection required is power.

The cameras have a built-in SD card slot for recording still images and video. These images/videos can be recorded automatically when motion is detected or recording can be activated remotely. Recordings can then be sent via email, so the cameras can handle a passive security monitoring role out of hours, completely unattended. This could have been profoundly useful where we are based in Shropshire, there having been a recent spate of nursery burglaries.

The scope of such a system can be expanded to as large as needed, by using a private IP address range and paswords the security camera network can be kept secure from the outside. Similarly a secure gateway can be provided via DSL or other Broadband internet connection to offer remote monitoring access.