I wonder if people here would be willing to weigh in any thoughts
on this...
A lot of people here must have some experience here... :)
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Dfey-general-discuss] Remember *that* meeting?....
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 10:50:11 +0100
From: Joe O'Dell <address@hidden>
Reply-To: address@hidden
To: address@hidden
Hello All,
It seems such a long time ago since we held the meeting at the
hackspace
- and nothing really has been done since!
I've got a lot of free time now, as I've just come back from
holiday, so
I am willing to get cracking on the main idea - a booklet
describing and
explaining FOSS in schools.
Here are the key points that I think should be included - please add
points or expand on them, but bear in mind it is a booklet, not an
essay!
1. Introducing FOSS
Describe (in short terms) the philosophy of FOSS, the fact it has nil
cost, and that it is improved and repaired by the whole community?
2. Taking Baby Steps
Here should be ideas of the first things a school should use if it
were
going to change over to FOSS - things like OpenOffice.org, Moodle,
Firefox, Audacity and Inkscape.
Do a "Popular Misconceptions" section like "Oh, it's open source so I
can't lock it down - FALSE: Many applications that are open source
can
be locked down, and some made even more secure than proprietary
alternatives"
Perhaps it would be worth getting some of us to ask IT
Teachers/Lecturers/Technicians what their main fears/thoughts about
using FOSS are? I can ask mine when we get back in september.
Also talk about the open education disc?
3. Complete Overhaul/Starting Afresh
Explain that if they are thinking of a complete overhaul, or if
they are
just venturing into IT Solutions, that Linux and FOSS alternatives
are a
key player.
Expand on the cost aspects, the compatability, the fact there are not
viruses, that it can be locked down heavily (sometimes even more
secure
than MS), and the fact that it is much more resource-friendly.
Give options such as Ubuntu (Edubuntu for Primary schools) for
desktops,
Easy Peasy for laptops (based on ubuntu), SmoothWall for proxy
filtering, Ubuntu Server/CentOS as an alternative to WIndows Server.
4. Providing Resources
I am thinking that it would be worth including CDs/DVDs of Ubuntu,
Ubuntu Server, SmoothWall, the OpenEducationDisc and perhaps another
distribution (fedora? I can get a fair amount of fedora dvds
direct from
fedora if you want them). These could then go into plastic wallets at
the back?
The only reason I am thinking this is because we are only going to
send
them to schools/LEAs - not hand them out in public - and as such
if we
can ply them with as much FOSS stuff as possible, they have a higher
rate of using it.
Also include links to DFEY, Ubuntu etc. etc. - please add them if you
want to see them here!
So that's my idea at the moment - the only thing I will request is an
EPS of the DFEY logo - as we discussed at the hackspace, FOSS DTP
software is far from brilliant, and as I have a Quark license, I am
happy to build it on that.
Finally, there is the printing (and postage) charges for all of
this -
Outsourcing printing is the only reasonable option, as in-house
printing
on an A4 inkjet is going to look terrible. The only problem being
paying
for it.
However, there is O2 ThinkBig that can provide up to £2000 for
projects
- this fits into their "Learning" category - as well as providing
mobile
credit, a laptop and internet etc. etc.. If we could tap into
that, it
could pay for a print run of the booklets, plus postage, plus media.
Please, give me as many ideas as you can - I am definitely all ears.
Joe
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe O'Dell
GreenerClassrooms Project Co-Ordinator
http://www.greenerclassrooms.org.uk
Fedora Ambassador & Contributor (FreeMedia)
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ascenseur
bedsLUG Co-Ordinator
beds.lug.org.uk
DFEY Member (SouthEast)
dfey.org