Other hardware

Printer: Determine its primary use: administration, child portfolio sheets from the day’s activities.

This will establish the need of colour versus black and white. If you choose a colour printer ensure it uses separate colour ink cartridges, rather than one colour cartridge, as this will save you money in the long run.

Camera / Video: Again, determine the primary use of such a device.

If you want still pictures then go for a good digital camera. If you want video then consider a digital video camera. A digital video camera will have an initial higher purchase cost but will most likely come with a sufficiently higher specification for still picture functionality as well.

External hard drive: Try to limit the amount of data stored on the hardware used within the centre environment. The more capacity used the greater the likelihood of reduced hardware performance. Using an external plug-and-play hard drive will allow you to store data (photos and documents etc) whilst maintaining performance.

Data projector: This enables teachers to demonstrate or present to a wider audience of children at one time. Factors for consideration are portability and brightness of the environment.

Early childhood services are able to access the purchase pricing of the Ministry of Education’s Projectors for Classrooms Initiative. The Ministry has negotiated significant reductions with manufacturers on a number of high quality data and video projectors. The projectors have been tested and evaluated independently and chosen specifically for classroom use.

To request a logon and password to the online ordering site please contact the Ministry of Education TELA Project team at info.tela@minedu.govt.nz

Interactive whiteboard: The computer image is projected onto an interactive whiteboard, making it easy for all to see. The board is touch sensitive and can run any software that runs on your computer. This can be great for visual learning experiences.

Other points to consider

• Ensure any hardware that is being used in the children’s environment is sufficiently robust as the odd bump or drop is unlikely to be avoided.
• For functionality, all external devices should be instantly accessible when connected.