[SLUG] Library display -text

[Bob Garrood]

Hi

Here is a first draft (unfinished) of the text for a sheet on Linux and 
Education.  Plus one of 3 or 4 inset panels that would be part of the 
display.

"                          SCARBOROUGH LINUX


           Linux, free software, KDE and education.

Free software, Linux especially, is great for anyone in education, and great 
for anyone with a child in education. Most of our schools and colleges don't 
use it.  This is a shame.  Free software has at least as much value as 
commercial software and costs about half as much.  BECTA, the British 
Educational Communications and Technology Agency says so.  The fast growing 
economies of the Pacific rim use it. Our children will have to compete in a 
world that uses it. 

You might expect that this would make schools enthusiastic about free 
software.  Very few are.  One reason is that they need to bid to become 
specialist schools.  The sponsorship they need to do this often locks them 
into a single commercial supplier for their most important software.  You can 
find a report on this at: 
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/11/ms_specialist_schools_deal/ 
Another reason is that using this software properly needs training, and it is 
hard for schools to find time.

Some schools exploit free software to the full, and use it for networking and 
operating systems.  This is where Linux comes in.  Linux provides the best 
and most widely used software for networking.  Linux can allow you to use 
older computer systems that might otherwise clog up landfill sites as thin 
client servers.  These work without the most failure prone feature of the 
computer, its hard disc.  This can make them both cheaper and more reliable.  
You can find a full account at: 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/linux_case_study_orwell_high_school.html  
The best way to exploit free software at home is by installing a Linux system.  
You can find plenty of information from FLOSS.
You can use free software in education without installing Linux.  Firefox and 
OpenOffice are essential for both the college student, and for the family 
that wants to have reliable access at home to a computer that does not eat up 
their budget.  One really useful site is 
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm ....................   
which allows you to download an entire maths textbook. Try Floss 
on http://www.schoolforge.org.uk/index.php/Try_FLOSS_Now .  The world of free 
software changes all the time.  Box 3 explains how a very recent new 
development will expand the range of ways in which schools can interact with 
those students who are absent through illness or other reasons.

If you install Linux you should consider a version that uses the KDE window 
manager, and you should look for one that comes with the Kdeedu programs 
already installed.  This is an expanding collection of programs which 
contains various language games and activities, a touch typing tutor, a 
planetarium, a program for plotting graphs and much more.  Many of these 
programs, if purchased commercially could cost a great deal."
 
Also 3 or 4 inset panels.  Dealing with BECTA there is:

"                                 BECTA-WHAT OPEN SOURCE COSTS IN SCHOOL.

A report produced by BECTA last May concluded that both primary and secondary 
schools could provide computer software for their pupils by using Open Source 
at about half the cost of commercial suppliers like Microsoft.  There is a 
short account at:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39197751,00.htm

The report stresses the importance of training for the teachers who use the 
software.   This reduces the need for specialist technical support.  The full 
report is available at: 
http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/publications/documents/BEC5606_Full_report18.pdf"

By the way I was planning to use Kword, which doesn't have Helvetica.


Bob