Does Mr Cummings, the school groundsman, have to come into school at weekends to water the flowers in the school greenhouse?
This seemingly simple question in Mrs Turton’s ICT classroom led to some fascinating reflections on technology, work and flowers. Mr Cummings does not have to interrupt his weekends as temperature and humidity levels in the school greenhouse are digitally controlled, to the extent that sprinklers are programmed to water the flowers when conditions are particularly hot and dry.
This school-based exploration of ICT monitoring and control systems genuinely engaged the students. They became so caught up in the plight of the flowers and the flower-friendly computers that they have started their own sunflower growing competition. Whilst we can’t as yet offer flower-cam, we will provide regular updates on the growth of these flowers to see who has selected a sunflower hotspot.