[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
www/education dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in...
From: |
Dora Scilipoti |
Subject: |
www/education dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in... |
Date: |
Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:27:34 -0500 (EST) |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Dora Scilipoti <dora> 20/11/10 13:27:34
Modified files:
education :
dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html
teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html
Log message:
Some changes.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/education/dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.2&r2=1.3
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/education/teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.1&r2=1.2
Patches:
Index: dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html
===================================================================
RCS file:
/web/www/www/education/dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html,v
retrieving revision 1.2
retrieving revision 1.3
diff -u -b -r1.2 -r1.3
--- dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html 8 Nov 2020
19:57:54 -0000 1.2
+++ dangers-of-proprietary-systems-in-online-teaching.html 10 Nov 2020
18:27:34 -0000 1.3
@@ -45,15 +45,14 @@
to the COVID-19 sanitary emergency. For many schools, this constituted
a first important step towards digitalization. However, the
transition to <strong>remote teaching has brought an unwelcome guest:
-nonfree software</strong>.</p>
+nonfree software for classes online</strong>.</p>
-
-<p>Most of the software that is being adopted, like video conferencing
-programs and Learning Management Systems (LMS), are proprietary
-software used by software development companies as weapons against
+<p>Many schools have adopted video conferencing programs and Learning
+Management Systems (LMS) that are proprietary software. These nonfree
+programs are used by software development companies as weapons against
students' and teachers' fundamental rights to computer freedom and
-privacy. These programs are the antithesis of education since they
-forbid the sharing of knowledge and are specifically designed to
+privacy. Nonfree software is the antithesis of education since it
+forbids the sharing of knowledge and is specifically designed to
prevent it. <strong>There should be no place for nonfree software in
educational environments</strong>.</p>
@@ -133,7 +132,7 @@
<p class="unprintable">Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2020/11/08 19:57:54 $
+$Date: 2020/11/10 18:27:34 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
Index: teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/education/teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html,v
retrieving revision 1.1
retrieving revision 1.2
diff -u -b -r1.1 -r1.2
--- teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html 8 Nov 2020 19:19:57 -0000
1.1
+++ teachers-help-students-resist-zoom.html 10 Nov 2020 18:27:34 -0000
1.2
@@ -39,18 +39,16 @@
<h2>Teachers: Help Your Students Resist Zoom</h2>
<div class="article">
-
-<p>Today more than ever, technology has become an instrument of
-surveillance and oppression that can only be fought back
-by empowering citizens with the ability to inspect and control the
-software they use. It is the responsibility of all educational
-institutions to provide the means to that end by teaching and
-installing only <a
-href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free/libre software</a>.</p>
+<p>In the wake of the global COVID-19 emergency, the urgency of
+ensuring the continuity of classes left little to no space for a
+healthy debate on how to favor software that empowers students to
+learn. As a consequence, freedom-denying and privacy violating
+software has seen widespread adoption in education.</p>
<p>Zoom, a proprietary online conferencing program that is becoming
more and more dangerously popular, is an example of such harmful
-technology. No educational institution should ever use it.</p>
+technology. <strong>No educational institution should ever use
+it</strong>.</p>
<p>Please don't force students to install Zoom on their computers, or
to use its web version.</p>
@@ -71,11 +69,12 @@
<p>There are better programs you can use for teaching remote classes,
free/libre programs like <a
-href="https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/">Jitsi</a> or <a
-href="https://bigbluebutton.org/">BigBlueButton</a>. By choosing these
-programs you are enabling motivated students to learn about the
-software they use everyday, and some of them one day will be able to
-adapt it to their needs, serving a larger community. Those who will
+href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jitsi">Jitsi</a> or BigBlueButton.
+By choosing these and <a
+href="/software/free-software-for-education.html">other free programs
+for education</a>, you are enabling motivated students to learn about
+the software they use everyday, and some of them one day will be able
+to adapt it to their needs, serving a larger community. Those who will
not pursue such curiosity, will still benefit from using a software
that respects their freedoms and doesn't spy on them.</p>
@@ -93,8 +92,9 @@
<p>If Zoom was imposed on you by your school's administration, we
recommend you to contact them and ask to drop Zoom in favour of a free
-program. Ask other teachers for help, and explain why software freedom
-is paramount for education.</p>
+program. Ask other teachers for help, and explain <a
+href="/education/edu-schools.html">why</a> software freedom is
+paramount for education.</p>
<h3 id="last-resort">Last resort</h3>
@@ -114,9 +114,9 @@
alongside.</li>
<li>Tell them that you regret the use of Zoom and show them which
-are the free programs to replace it. Explain <a
-href="/education/edu-why.html">why</a> proprietary software such as
-Zoom has no place in schools (and in any other aspect of life.) You
+are the free programs to replace it. Explain that <a
+href="/education/edu-why.html"> proprietary software such as
+Zoom has no place in schools</a> (or in any other aspect of life.) You
could take this opportunity and talk about free software, and why <a
href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">software
freedom is even more important today</a>.</li>
@@ -129,12 +129,12 @@
such as examinations, and students refuse to use Zoom, then you, as a
teacher, could set up a different meeting in parallel or an
alternative exam session using one of the free programs mentioned
-above. Or you could provide a computer in your school with Zoom
-installed, and ask the student to join the exam using that computer.
-That way, the student won't be forced to install non-free software on
-their computer, and the use of Zoom will be limited to the exam. If
-you opt for this choice, we recommend the school computer to run a
-<a
+above. Another possibility is to provide a computer in your school
+with Zoom installed, and ask the student to join the exam using that
+computer. That way, the student won't be forced to install non-free
+software on their computer, and the use of Zoom will be limited to the
+exam. If you opt for this choice, we recommend the school computer to
+run a <a
href="/distros/free-distros.html">free software distribution</a>.</p>
<p>Simply by telling students about this possibility, which you can do
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@
<p class="unprintable">Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2020/11/08 19:19:57 $
+$Date: 2020/11/10 18:27:34 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>