Mount Temple School (Dublin - Ireland) is implementing the Irish government's broadband and school networking strategy. Our classrooms will have access to the Internet and e-mail services proposed by the Department of Education and Science (DES), as well as to files and applications from the local server. These provisions will enhance the learning experiences of our students immeasurably.
The Mount Temple Project shows technology at the service of the community - it is innovative, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Innovative

The project's use of Open Source software provides the staff and students with free, stable software. While this approach is vendor-independent, many commercial companies such as IBM, Sun, Hewlett Packard, Dell promote Open Source.
The use of a thin-client server model to deliver Linux desktops to our networked classrooms attracted the attention of IBM Ireland and the support of SharpText.
The project is an early implementation of Debian-edu Skolelinux in the English-speaking world. See map above.

Communal

Debian-edu Skolelinux is a distribution of Gnu/Linux, developed in Norway for schools and local authorities, and it provides an application that is shared and supported globally.
See http://www.skolelinux.org/portal

IBM Ireland and SharpText have demonstrated a willingness to support the Mount Temple Project as part of on-going commitments to community development.
Mount Temple has also given back to this community. This project is a model that may easily and cost-effectively be replicated in other schools, anywhere. Moreover, members of the project team have contributed to establishing an on-line source of help, a list, for English-speaking administrators of Skolelinux.
See https://init.linpro.no/mailman/skolelinux.no/listinfo/admin-discuss

Cost-efficient

The model used in Mount Temple is designed to minimize maintenance and replacement costs through the use of cheap thin-client computers: that is, we use old computers to connect to an ultra-modern server, which serves files and applications on demand. The old computers simply require 20€ special network cards and this work will be carried out by the students, perhaps as a TV or LCV mini-company.

Environmentally Friendly: we can engage the school community of staff, students, parents and local businesses in re-cycling old computers. The server and the network do the rest!

Conclusion

Mount Temple's whole-school broadband network seamlessly blends educational and information services, technological development, Irish government strategy, and private sector community support.
Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a modern, Irish, publicly funded school. This project highlights how school-based knowledge, initiative and imagination, mixed with government funds (DES) and business sector support (IBM Ireland and SharpText) can contribute to the greater good.

Author: John Evans                                   06-February-2005