Computing made more accessible

Government schools can benefit significantly from the Microsoft National School Agreement by receiving a free package of Microsoft software for computers and servers in schools. This programme was launched eight years ago to make technology accessible to all schools.

Angela Schaerer, academic programme manager at Microsoft, explains why schools should take advantage of this opportunity.

What is the Microsoft Schools Agreement about and what does it entail?
The school agreement is a donation of Microsoft software that is available to all public or government schools in South Africa. Most of the desktop and server products a school needs are included in the package. The base operating system is not included, but the school agreement allows schools a free upgrade to the operating system (for example, upgrade from XP to Vista). Schools need to enter into a legal contract with the school agreement and sign an acknowledgement form to accept the terms and conditions of using the software. Compute, a company that has developed a practical methodology with regard to providing outsourced information technology solutions and provides hardware, software and internet connectivity, administers this process.

How can schools benefit from the agreement?
Schools can access Microsoft software for which they would ordinarily have to pay. The idea behind this is to make the technology more accessible to and affordable for all South African schools.

What are the benefits?
Schools need to pay for the media (that is the disk with the software on it), but there are no licence costs. Teachers benefit from the programme because they can load the school agreement software on to their home computers (for lesson preparation purposes). However, the numbers of teachers loading the software should not exceed the number of machines in the school. So, if there are 20 machines at the school, 20 teachers may load the software on to home computers. The package does not include the base operating system, but it does include a free upgrade to an operating system. Most machines are sold with the base operating system already installed. Teachers receive a free copy of the digital literacy curriculum (DLC), with the school agreement software, which can be loaded on to any school or home machine to help improve digital literacy skills. The DLC course covers the following topics:

• Computer basics;
  
• Internet and the web;
  
• Productivity programs;
  
• Internet safety and security; and
• Digital Lifestyles www.microsoft.com/digitalliteracy

Which programs are part of the agreement?
The list below indicates some of the software available:

• Zero Charge MS Licence Agreement (for government schools only);
  
• Office 2007 Enterprise All Lng Lic/SA Pack MVL Partners in Learning (with One Note and Groove);
  
• Office 2007 Professional Plus with Publisher;
  
• Windows Vista Business Upgrade/ SA Pack MVL w/Vista Enterprise;
  
• Core CAL All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL Device CAL;
  
• Encarta Premium 2008 Lic/SA Pack MVL
  
• Visual Studio Pro All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL;
  
• Office SharePoint Designer 2007 All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL;
  
• Project Pro Win32 All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL w/1 Project Svr CAL ;
  
• Visio Pro Win32 All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL;
  
• Windows Svr 2008 Std All Lng Lic/SA Pack MVL;
  
• Exchange Svr 2007 64 BIT Only Lic/SA Pack MVL (Please note: hardware implication for Exchange Server 2007);
  
• SQL Svr Standard Edtn Win32 All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL;
  
• SQL CAL All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL Device CAL;
  
• Windows Terminal Svr CAL WinNT All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL Device CAL;
  
• ISA Server 2006 Std Ed All Languages Lic/SA Pack MVL 1 Processor Licence;
  
• MS Office 2003 Professional Media Kit;
  
• MS Windows XP Pro Upgrade Media Kit;
  
• MS Windows Server 2003 Std Media Kit;
  
• MS Exchange Server 2003 Std Media Kit; and
  
• MS Digital Literacy 2003/2007

Should the school wish to purchase additional servers, the following are available: