[Wylug-announce] Open Source in Schools Event

[Nigel Metheringham]

[Forwarded on, please note the comments about relevance to education]

-------- Original Message -------- 
                           Subject: 
[MK] Open Source in Schools Event
                              Date: 
Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:54:09 +0100
                              From: 
David Willington
<david.willington at ntlworld.com>

Dear All

I've been asked by Hemel Hempstead School to help organise a conference
putting together schools with an interest in Open Source software with
businesses and individuals that can offer support and advice.  I'm based
in Sheffield where I've just organised one for schools up here.  I called the
event OSCARS (Open Source Choices and Resources for Schools) and it came
about as a result of this year's FLOSSIE (Free, Libre and Open Source
Software in Education) conference in Bolton where the view was that
everyone there already know about FLOSS and what was needed was a
conference to inform people who don't know about FLOSS.  The reason for
Hemel Hempstead is that I know the new Head there and she said that
Sheffield was too far to come.

This is the second OSCARS.  I learned a few lessons from the first one.
Firstly I'm going to try to keep a clear focus on education - the
school's getting the schools together, and I'm approaching the Linux
community. I'm keen to avoid a room full of Open Source converts, which
is what happened at FLOSSIE. I'm planning to get about 10 businesses
offering a range of solutions that are directly relevant to education
and which are open source based, and ask the school to guarantee at
least 25 schools.  One of the companies that came to the first one was
(as far as I can tell) offering Open Source on the back of a proprietary
package.  There's nothing wrong with this, but I'm eager to point out to
schools that Open Source can come without ties. In other words, an
exclusively Open Source event, although companies and businesses working
with proprietary software are welcome along so long as they're
demonstrating their open source options.  From the businesses' point of
view, experience in schools is good, but I don't think it's essential.
However services need to be clearly relevant to education. 

If anyone would be interested in being involved I'd be delighted to hear
from you.  The proposed date is Fri 27 Jan 2006 and the venue is 
Hemel Hempstead School, Heath Lane, Hemel Hempstead.

Thanks

David Willington