Every day or two we are informed of yet another wave of retrenchments.
In many instances layoffs are done indiscriminately. For example, when a company closes down, everyone in the organization is without a job. However, sometimes arbitrary rules are applied to determine who will be retrenched, such as the LIFO principle – the last ones in will be the first to be out . Some companies may also use a downsizing situation as an opportunity to move closer to their employment equity targets.
In the current economic climate nobody has absolute job security. Even people employed by the state, or contracted to state-run projects, could be affected when cut-backs are considered.
Layoffs are sad for the victims and their families, but may present a good opening for an organization to get rid of its dead wood.
Dead wood is defined as "people in a group or organization who are not useful any more and who need to be removed". During an economic squeeze, organizations can no longer afford to carry dead wood, even if it was tolerated during more prosperous times. If staff members have to go, it makes sense to let go of the useless ones and retain the useful ones.
Successful organizations will allow the get-rid-of-the-dead-wood rule to guide their downsizing strategies, rather than directives such as LIFO and EE.
Employees who treasure their jobs want to ensure that they are not regarded as dead wood – they must go out of their way to prove that they are valued fruit-bearing branches of their trees. This may just save them from the pruning knife of the retrencher.
| related link
The phrase Total Cost of Ownership – often referred to as TCO – means exactly what it says. When the term is applied to a laptop, it refers to the accumulated costs incurred from the time you purchase the device until you dispose of it.
It is a mistake to think only about the purchase price of a laptop. There are many other costs that must be considered as part of the total cost of ownership of the machine.
An analogy may help to explain the concept of TCO.
A ten year old boy, Thabo, wanted a dog. He saw all his friends walking around with their dogs but his parents could not afford to buy one for him.
Then they heard that puppies were available at no cost from the animal welfare society. Thabo’s father rushed out to select Fluffy, a cute puppy with some Labrador blood in him. The boy was ecstatic.
At first the puppy ate leftovers from the table and slept in the house. As he grew, his appetite increased and he became too big for the box in which he slept in front of Thabo's bed. The family could not afford a kennel, since their resources were already stretched to the limit by the dog food that was required by the growing dog.
At this time the municipality passed a by-law demanding that all dogs be neutered or spayed, or else a tax would be levied for permission to keep the dog. Thabo’s parents could not afford either. A distemper epidemic broke out among the dogs in the neighbourhood, and the cost to vaccinate Fluffy was high. The family realised that they were faced with a dilemma: the boy and the dog were inseparable, but they could not afford to keep the dog any longer.
What went wrong? Simply: they did not consider the total cost of ownership of a dog before they took Fluffy home.
Owning a laptop is similar. A teacher may acquire one at no cost, or at a fraction of its normal purchase price, but could forget about the cost of keeping a laptop.
Before rushing out to bring a laptop home, do the wise thing: calculate the total cost of ownership. Then consider if you can afford one.
| related link
During summer vacation periods in the Western Cape, schools are the target of criminals. This year many schools were vandalized once again. But only two out of a thousand Khanya computer facilites were broken into with a loss of only a few pieces of equipment.
This is good news amidst all the bad news we receive daily.
To what could this good fortune be attributed? Strict security measures undoubtedly play a major role. Windows, doors and ceilings are secured – yes, the ceiling is an easy way for thieves to enter the computer room. Alarm systems and the presence of security guards also act as deterrents.
The Khanya Story gives a glimpse into some of the efforts that go into securing the computer facilities in schools:
The safety bars must not be thin
They must be thick and strong
The burglars – may they never win –
Their tries must all go wrong
The stone guards on the outside wall
Firm be they and robust
No stone or rock may through them fall
They are an abs’lute must
A flimsy gate is not enough
To keep intruders out
One's needed that is strong and tough
The thieving one to flout
Attempt to find a safety door
One made of heavy steel
Impossible through it to bore
No one the goods can steal
Fort Knox – a place that’s quite secure –
The lessons to be learned
Of entry points make doubly sure
Full safety will be earned
The same rule you can here apply
Pants with a belt you hold
To feel secure and keep them high
Are braces to you sold
A double safety door is not
An over kill at all
It will keep out the wicked lot
The thieves both great and small
So brace it up and bolt it down
Of thieves who’re bold beware
Protect the lab like a fine crown
Be brave and take good care
In addition to our own safety precautions, Khanya formed a partnership with ITCrimes – all components of each piece of computer equipment are recorded electronically and made available to the police force. In this way stolen equipment could be tracked with ease. I believe that this initiative plays a major role in making thieves think twice before they would target a computer room protected in this way.
If, in spite of all these precautions, criminals still get away with the loot, a paid up insurance policy will soften the blow. Schools are encouraged to keep their policies up to date to ensure that they are adequately covered.
In our experience, the most effective protection mechanism is the committed involvement of the community. When community members are actively involved in the process of creating a computer facility for the school right from the start, they are sure to assume a protective role. The low incidence of burglaries in computer rooms this year once again proves the wisdom of this approach.
We will continue to use belts, braces, buttons, bolts and whatever bulwarks can be built to bolster the security of precious technology facilities at schools.
| related link
A laptop makes subject knowledge available to you at the press of a button.
There are different circumstances under which teachers may feel that a need to improve their subject knowledge.
• You may be a new, inexperienced teacher and still have to grow in the depth and breadth of knowledge of a particular subject.
• Perhaps your teacher training did not equip you with sufficient content knowledge.
• It may be required of you to teach a new subject – one that you have never taught before. You need to bring your knowledge of this subject to an acceptable level.
• A change in curriculum may result in gaps in your subject knowledge that you would like to fill.
• The world changes all the time. Phenomenal advances in knowledge and understanding of some subject areas, such as natural science, take place. For your teaching to remain relevant you must keep your own knowledge up to date.
• You may simply have a desire to grow beyond your current knowledge level.
Do you relate to any of these circumstances? If your answer is yes, a laptop could be a great help to you.
• A wealth of subject information is available in electronic format on the internet. If your laptop is connected to the internet you can do research on any topic.
• Much subject information is available on CDs and DVDs; these too can be accessed by means of a laptop.
• National curriculum statements are available in a format that can be put onto the laptop and will then be available for you to study.
• When you take a laptop with you to subject specific meetings, you will have all your information with you and you could also obtain information from others.
• Discussion forums, portals and blogs cover all conceivable subject areas and your laptop will give you access to these.
A laptop will only help you to increase your subject knowledge to the extent that you are willing to use it.
It is up to you.
| related link
Administration is such an unpleasant mouthful that we tend to soften it by using the term admin when we refer to that part of our job that relates to administrative duties.
Admin is, without question, the least glamorous part of teaching. The good news is that a laptop could help you to ease your admin burden. It is particularly useful when dealing with repetitive and time consuming tasks. Time saved in this way allows you to focus on the more enjoyable and rewarding aspects of teaching.
There are many types of admin tasks for which you can use a laptop.
A laptop, with the aid of a word processor, could be used for preparation of examination papers, test papers, worksheets, lesson plans and similar documents. The documents you create can be saved for later use. A laptop also makes it easier to share these documents with colleagues. The beauty of this is that you can receive resources created by others and thereby speed up your own work.
You can use your laptop to keep records of test results and class attendance by means of a spreadsheet. A great advantage of this tool is its automatic calculation ability. This means that if one figure is changed, no manual recalculation is required. A spreadsheet is a time saver and ensures accuracy.
A computer has powerful filing capabilities – all your lesson plans, notes, lists, reports and other documents can be filed and stored in one place. This results in an orderly system and saves searching time. It also saves a lot of space – when all your documents are stored on your laptop, you may get rid of all your paper files.
If you take your laptop along to a meeting you will be able to take minutes while the meeting is in progress. Just imagine how much time you could save if you prepare and issue the minutes on the spot.
A laptop can help you to automate routine tasks and take the slog out of admin. As you use your laptop you will discover more ways in which it will save you time and effort.
Please share the ways in which a laptop helps you with admin tasks.
| related link
Back Next
Kobus van Wyk - Blog
|
      Copyright © Kobus van Wyk 2008
|
|
Calendar