The Cutter Project
From Schoolforge-UK
Cutter is an Open-Source software project intended mainly for schools and academic institutions wishing to use reliable, low-cost desktop software for office automation and other tasks. Cutter's goal is to simplify the process of selecting and installing software that works well and to ensure that there is commercial support for its users. Cutter is suitable for a wide range of environments outside the academic area too.
It is not appropriate or cost-effective for most institutions to spend the time and effort building a solution like Cutter for themselves. The Cutter project reduces that effort and reduces the risk.
website: http://www.cutterproject.co.uk Contact: andy.trevor at cutterproject.co.uk or mike.banahan at cutterproject.co.uk
The Cutter context:
The Becta Review 2005 - Evidence on the progress of ICT in education.
Most schools do not make systematic cost-benefit analysis of their technical support and it is rare for senior management to make use of the information available on how their network is used. (Ofsted (2004), ICT in Schools: The Impact of Government Initiatives Five Years On, HMI 2050,Ofsted, London.)
Sustainability
As the number of computers in schools has increased over time, schools need to manage both the purchase of new computers and the re-use or disposal of older equipment. The ICT in Schools Survey 2004 found that in primary schools, 47 per cent of computers used for teaching and learning were more than three years old. The actual number of computers over three years old in secondary schools has increased since 2003, from 66 to 75 on average per school.
Many primary schools do not yet recognise the necessity to plan for technical support in the total cost of ownership of ICT. Ofsted recommends that, at a national level, consideration should be given to ways of stimulating schemes for sharing technicians among primary schools and at LEA and regional level, ensuring that adequate technical support is included as an essential element of planning for ICT. Inspection evidence suggests there is anxiety in many schools about basic maintenance and replacement costs and whether these can be sustained. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) also identified concerns about future levels of ICT funding in relation to institutions’ ability to plan for sustainable provision. While most schools had a broad awareness of ICT sustainability issues, many – particularly primary schools – were not planning effectively in this respect (PwC). One in three primary schools indicated that their plans did not allow for the replacement of equipment after its life expectancy had expired, for example.
In terms of realising the potential for ICT to facilitate home-institution links, the ICT in Schools Survey 2004 found that 29 per cent of secondary schools and 12 per cent of primary schools operated networks that were accessible beyond the school premises. In 2002, 81 per cent of pupils had access to a personal or laptop computer in the home (Hayward et al, 2003). There is a general pattern across key stages for pupils to spend more time using computers at home than at school.
There is a potentially critical networking barrier to the integration of curriculum and management information. In a significant minority of schools, the network does not support both curriculum and management functions (Becta). In addition, some management and administrative computers in schools are not connected to the internet, suggesting that the underpinning infrastructure is not in place for integrating learning and data services.
More than a fifth (21 per cent) of primary and special schools and 54 per cent of secondary schools have some access to wireless networks, and this is growing (Prior and Hall, 2004).There are still particular technical challenges in this area, though, and schools require support to deal with these. For example, in 2003, 12 per cent of secondary, 20 per cent of primary and 25 per cent of SEN/PRU schools did not have sufficient security for operating wireless elements of their networks (Becta).
What do we provide that addresses some of these issues?
We have analysed the cost of purchasing equipment, technical support and software in the context of reliability and sustainability and are convinced our solution saves money in the short and long term. A new Becta report supports our claim, indicating primary schools could cut their costs by nearly half, and secondary schools by at least a quarter by considering solutions based on Open Source technologies. We believe our thin-client model makes additional long term savings and are happy to give you a more detailed breakdown of our calculations when compared with a conventional network. These are based on a real school working environment. See our case study costings on the Cutter website http://www.cutterproject.co.uk/
We provide an extremely cost effective managed solution. We consider it possible for a number of schools to share a technician to do the day to day management of a Cutter installation. This would be particularly true of a secondary school supporting its feeder primary schools. Upgrades and remote monitoring are provided as a core service. Our research suggests most larger High/Secondary schools with networks of over 150 computers have at least two technicians, or rely on one technician and a considerable amount of teacher support, usually through the Head of ICT. We are successfully running networks of over 250 workstations with a single technician and the Cutter support package (which is cheaper than a second technician). This provides long term cost benefits, and releases teacher time for teaching where they are being used to provide support. Savings made can be used for long term replacement of equipment.
We are running 4 and 5 year old workstations as thin clients, and expect them to provide years of life yet! They work as effectively as new machines, and require a fraction of the maintenance a conventional workstation does. Old workstations can be configured as spare thin client machines and kept as emergency spares in case of hardware failure of a machine on a network. No school could really contemplate keeping conventional workstations as spares just in case…To replace a failed machine on the network takes minutes. There is no software to install, no hard disk, less noise and less heat. Energy savings from a thin client network are significant, and the classroom working environment is much quieter.
The secure working environment we provide enables us to integrate both student and administration networks on the same cabling structure, allowing safe sharing of resources such as Internet access. Staff data is secure against student access. Student data is secure from access by other students. Email, spam and content filtering can be core products supplied by us. Routine reports are available for staff to monitor both email use and Internet access.
Our package provides access to school from home, with easy and secure transfer of student work between the two environments. The NoMachine NX client software provides access for students to curriculum software from home, and much of our software base is freely available for students to download and use at home. This ensures you make best use of the potential student’s home computers provide to extend the working day and improve student access to ICT resources you have in school.
Our experience of students using laptops in schools has led us to believe that the dramatically improved security and reliability offered by using an Open Source platform should be given serious consideration. Linux based laptops ensure reduced threat of virus attacks, improved desktop security and seamless integration with the existing core Cutter network. Wireless machines become a realistic extension of the wired network rather than a liability.
