TWENTY YEARS AGO...

MANX INDEPENDENT

Friday, September 18, 1998

Bus to drive on superhighway!

By ANDREW WHITTAKER and ROB PEAKE

THE launch of a tele-computer bus means primary schools across the Isle of Man have some of the world's most advanced technology at their fingertips.

The bus is the product of a scheme set up by the Department of Education, backed by Manx Telecom.

It has been converted from a passenger bus, donated by Isle of Man Transport, into a stateof-the-art travelling computer centre which will spend two days every term at each of the Island's 35 primary schools.

The conversion cost more than £50,000. All the Internet connections were provided by PDMS, Castletown.

Secondary schools will also benefit from the project, with the bus being able to support special projects like field trips to remote locations in the Island.

It is the first bus of its kind in the British Isles and, as well as access to the internet, e-mail, and video-conferencing links using high-speed digital ISDN lines, it also contains flatscreen monitors, which have only been on the market since May.

Children will be instructed with the aid of an 'interactive white board', similar to a giant computer screen and on which teachers can draw using just the pressure of their fingers.

Supervising the progress of the children will be Alex Townsend, former head of information and communications technology at St Ninian's High School, Douglas, who has set up the computer systems in the bus and who is also qualified to drive it from school to school.

At the launch of the bus on Friday at Sulby School, Manx Telecom managing director Ron Thomas said: 'The telecomputer bus is an ideal medium to ensure that communications skills are developed at an early age.

'Manx Telecom's expertise in the field of communications makes the venture a perfect opportunity for the company to support education within the Manx community.'

EXCITED

'I feel very excited having just looked at the bus. I would like to compliment and congratulate the people involved as this is a tremendous achievement.'·

Director of education Ralph Cowin said: 'We are delighted by this project. This kind of internet opportunity is tremendous. It is an opportunity for different ways of teaching and learning.

'Youngsters can exchange views with different databases all over the world. The children 'e'ill be able to talk to other children in other countries. I wish I'd had this opportunity when I was younger.'

He thanked Manx Telecom, the Department of Transport and Tours (IoM) for their help and said: 'It really is exciting for the department that we are working with industry to get this project going.'

GREAT

The children seemed just as excited. Daniel Robinson, eight, of Clifton Park, Ramsey, said: 'I think the computers are great. They're so small, and I will learn a lot from them.'

Laura Harrison, also eight, of Cronk Aalin, Andreas, said: 'The computers are very good. On some computers they don't teach you as much as these and I think the screens are much better than the bigger ones.· I think they will help me learn a lot of new things.'

The bus has been painted by Eric Quirk, based on the designs of art students from the Isle of Man College. Des Clague, of advertising agency The Creative Studio, adapted the designs before their use.

TWENTY YEARS AGO...

06/09/2018

SEPTEMBER 1998 saw the launch of the “Manx Telecomputer Bus”.

The event took place at Sulby School and was reported in the local press...

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Magic bus: Set to take the Island's children into the next century, the bus will visit all 35 primary schools for two days each term (IP)

The openers: Ralph Cowin and Ron Thomas watch Thomas Lord and Katherine Barham cut the ribbon officially to launch the bus (IP)

He's a whiz: Peter Sates, five, of Andreas Road, Lezayre, tries out one of the educational programs (IP)

Techno kids: The children of Sulby Primary School get to grips with the state-of-the-art technology on the bus (IP)

And a trip on 14th September 1998 to Fairfield School was reported thus...

Techo teacher hits the road on a computer bus for youngsters

THE Department of Education's new computer bus has begun its journey around the primary schools of the Island, and the first stop was Fairfield Junior School in Douglas.

Deputy head teacher of the school Ian Longshaw said: 'It was excellent, really, really good.

'It's got excellent educational resources, and the children really enjoyed it. The whole school went through, all doing different things.'

Supervisor of the . bus Alex Townsend said: 'It's extremely hard work, but the teachers are all very helpful with what's going on.

'We've been doing mostly data logging and graphics work so far, but we'll be doing word-processing as well.'

The bus was a joint initiative between the Department of Education and Manx Telecom, which sponsored the £50,000 project.

The bus was donated by IoM Transport, and was converted from its normal passenger status to a state-of-the-art, travelling computer centre.

It will visit each primary school in the Island for two days every term.

Destination the Future: The computer bus man with some of the children from fairfield school in front of the bus (998221/2)

Techno teacher: Alex Townsend in the bus with a class from Fairfield (998221/5)

NOTES:

1.The bus was not ‘donated’ by Isle of Man Transport as stated. The Department of Education was charged £5,000 plus the cost of repainting.
2. It is unlikely that the bus was the ‘first’ of its kind. But it has certainly proved to be the longest lived. The original plan was for three years. Critics at the time gave it between six and twelve weeks. Over 20 years later - and three trips to the UK - it is still going.
3.It is sometimes overlooked that in addition to Manx Telecom, TOURS (Isle of Man) were crucial to the project going ahead, providing covered accommodation and technical support for the bus until 2009 (see photo below).
4.Back in 1998, few had any idea what the internet was. Much of the early work was explaining “www dot - no spaces”.
5.It was never the intention for the bus to “visit each primary school in the Island for two days every term” as stated in the articles.
6.The repeated references to “techno” this and that reflected the term ‘Techno Trousers’ used in the film The Wrong Trousers, released just a few years before...
7.The picture captions in the second article were transposed in the original.

Left to Right: TOURS (Isle of Man) Bernie May, Mike Kelly, David Castle, Roy Lightfoot holding an early design for the computer bus back in 1998.