[HLUG] OSS in schools

Tue Oct 17 22:25:13 BST 2006

Hi Phil

Good luck with your campaign ! You may wish to read up on a recent
article about FLOSS (Free and Libre Open Source Software) in Schools
that was in Linux Format a few months back. One of the writers, whose
name escapes me, works now for MOST - Midlands Open Source Technology,
Richard ???. You may wish to get in touch with him, as he has an
excellent grasp on the Schools Linux potential, more info in the
article.  

Contact details for MOST are below:-

MOST
c/o BVSC
138 Digbeth
Birmingham B5 6DR
UK

email: most at bvsc.org
Telephone: 0121 678 8844  

Another suggestion for Wales is to speak to the Powys County Council
System Admins who have used Linux on servers I believe since about 1998,
due to cost and the geographical constraints of their county. Since they
are keen on Linux and OSS, there may be some leverage they could exert.
Not directly relevant, but working case studies of existing Linux and
OSS use is always useful.

I think Peter Linnel in our group had an interest in similar areas to
yourself, so he may also be in touch.

Good luck

Julian Robbins

On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:50:17 +0100, "Mark Broadbent"
<mgjbroadbent at googlemail.com> said:
> From: Phil Thane
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I'm a member of the North Wales LUG with an appeal to users right across
> the
> UK.
> 
> Here in Wales the Assembly Government (WAG) is setting up a schools ICT
> Strategy group to produce a draft consultation paper. OSS is part of the
> remit, and as a result of some lobbying I've been invited to meet one of
> the
> group. Hopefully once I've got that far I can get to meet the rest.
> 
> The meeting is not for about 3 weeks, but I don't want to go off
> half-cocked
> so I'm doing some research and collecting opinions.
> 
> My starting point was to suggest that WAG (Specifically Jane Davidson's
> Education Department) look at the example of Extremadura in Spain and
> consider
> using/developing a distro for Wales. I got a bland civil service 'thank
> you
> for your suggestion' letter back. So I pursued it and was told there
> would
> be 'consultation'.
> 
> I pointed out that 'consultation' usually means civil servants and
> ministers
> chatting amongst themselves, and that during many years as a teacher I've
> been told that as a result of consultation we've decided this, that or
> the
> other (or frequently this this year, that next year and the other after
> the
> next re-shuffle) but I've never met a teacher who was actually consulted.
> Result, they are calling my bluff and consulting me.
> 
> I still think Extremadura is a good example, after all it's a
> semi-autonmous
> region with it's own language. It's bigger than Wales but has a similar
> size
> population. It's largely rural mountainous and wet. It exports food and
> water to the rest of Spain. It's IT industry was small and backward, but
> is
> gaining ground. WIth free software for the entire population IT usage is
> creeping up, benefitting employment and keeping rural areas in touch with
> the
> 21st century.
> 
> OSS aside, there are other problems in schools IT. I spent eight years
> doing
> tech support for TechSoft. They supply CAD/CAM software for schools and
> colleges right across the UK. There are a handful of schools with
> excellent
> equipment and more importantly well trained staff, but most are frankly
> poor.
> My recent experience at schools around here shows them to be pretty
> average.
> 
> Fundamental problem I see is that the kids (and staff) have a superficial
> understanding of MS Office, Paint and IE6. They grab a picture and some
> words
> off the web, paste them into Word and think they've done IT. Few
> understand
> anything about image resolution and just shrug when the image comes out
> with
> 2mm square pixels. No-one edits the words or uses what they've found to
> illustrate their own thoughts on the matter. No-one attributes anything.
> 
> At an actual IT level, it's even worse. The syllabusses avoid mention of
> a
> particular OS or specific software, but in practice almost every school
> teaches basic Windows. WIndows is THE OS, Word is THE word processor,
> Access
> is THE database etc etc. To make life simple for the admins (who are
> usually
> over worked teachers with little IT training) the system is locked down
> tight, consequently the kids can't even see things like Control Panel,
> they
> certainly aren't going to learn about hardware, drivers,
> installing/removing
> software. Even screen res is usually set to the lowest common denominator
> 800x600 because it 'confuses the desktop' if the same user logs on to
> different size screens. Why not allow user access to 'Configure the
> Desktop'? - Too tricky.
> 
> Please email suggestions, examples, links, published research etc.
> 
> If we can make progress in Wales, maybe we'll let the rest of you join in
> later!
> 
> BTW, for more info about me, see my website, url below.
> 
> --
> Regards
> Phil Thane
> 
> Bryn Villa
> Penycoed Road (off Brook St)
> Llangollen
> LL20 8LR
> 
> 01978 861677
> 07971 987623
> 
> phil at brynvilla.llangollen.co.uk
> www.brynvilla.llangollen.co.uk
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Mark Broadbent
> Herefordshire LUG Master
> 
> * http://www.wetlettuce.com/
> * http://www.herefordshire.lug.org.uk/
> 
> Warning: `class Bob' only defines a private destructor and has no friends
>   --- GCC C++ compiler:
> 
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