First Pillar of the Infovek – Building Technical Infrastructure

Building technical infrastructure is taking place in the form of equipping selected schools with the hardware, software tools necessary for their safe and continuous work and in the form of connecting the schools to the Internet.

Specification of the technical equipment has been set up in accordance with so-called sufficient hardware equipment definition, defined in the Proposal of the Government Concept: “Integration of the Information and Communication Technologies in the General Education“ (Kalaš, 1999). According to this criterion, proper hardware for schools is multimedia PC because only such hardware can serve for the wide educational goals. Internet-multimedia classroom contains a local network, well accessible way of connection to the Internet (fixed line, ADSL), printer, scanner, tablet as well as a higher capacity computer for the teacher. The package for building network contains all components and tools, which will enable ICT coordinator at the school to connect the computers into the network. The technical equipment also includes basic software necessary and safe connection to the Internet. This software includes office package, software for the anti-virus prevention, administrator tools, network operation system etc.

In the area of the technical equipment we support schools, at which there has been created the local academy of the Cisco Networking Academies Program (CNAP), through the purchase of the hardware package for teaching of the extended semesters of the CNAP program.

In the framework of the support of the research activity of teachers in the pilot projects at schools, some schools receive additional specialised hardware in accordance with the specification of the Committee for the Technical Realisation of the Council of the Minister of Education for the Infovek Project.

We provide annually to the schools, participating in the Lego Robolab project new construction sets for their utilisation in the process of teaching or in the framework of the activities, taking place aside of it.

Budget alocated for the Infovek project increases annually and so does the possibility to support the schools. The total number of the elementary and secondary schools in Slovakia is 3,200.

Year 1999

20 million Slovak Crowns was alocated in the state budget for the project. 189 schools applied for the participation in the project. First 80 schools have been supported in the framework of the Infovek project.

Year 2000

80 million Slovak Crowns was alocated in the state budget for the project. 589 schools applied for the participation in the project. 230 schools have been supported in the framework of the Infovek project.

Year 2001

210 million Slovak Crowns was alocated in the state budget for the project. 1,600 schools applied for the participation in the project so far. 500 schools have been supported in the framework of the Infovek project.

Year 2002

266 million Slovak Crowns is alocated in the state budget for the project. The support from the side of the commercial companies increases. 1850 schools applied for the participation in the project so far. About 1,000 schools will be supported in the framework of the Infovek project (31.2% of all schools).