From OpenEducationWiki

Table of contents

1 Linux for Educational Institutions 1.1 Initial thoughts 1.1.1 Server side 1.1.2 User side 1.1.3 Other considerations 1.1.3.1 Collaborative Apps 2 Selling Linux and Open Source 2.1 Approaching Schools on FOSS 2.2 General 3 What Makes FOSS Successful in Schools 3.1 Failures 3.2 Successes 3.3 Theories 3.3.1 Teachers, not Technology Are the Problem 3.3.2 Clear Direction at the Top is Important

Linux for Educational Institutions

Not a great title, I'll grant you, but it is a start.

On this page I would like to open up discussions of the creation of a linux orientated project aimed at being able to provide educations IT administrators with an easy, ready to use system specifically for administering large numbers of laptops running linux.

This idea was spawned from the recent advances in cheap and affordable laptops some of which are being targeted towards the education market.

This opens up opportunities for schools to introduce reasonably priced laptop programs for families that previously would have been locked out of the market due to the relative inaffordability of the devices.

From the IT administrator's point of view this opens up a host of issues - namely resources being available to maintain an influx of additional laptops that will require attention. If a relatively simple way of looking after the software side of maintaining a fleet of laptops can be created then open software and other similar initiatives have an opportunity to gain a foothold in a traditionally proprietary marketplace.

Initial thoughts

Server side

At this stage I feel a VMWare appliance or some sort of preconstructed virtualised environment would be a good starting point for the administrative server. There are a wide range of alternatives out there including many open source virtualisation environments. But at this point in time VMWare is the most widely known and the Player and Server versions are still available to the end user at no cost.

Base installation on VMWare Player/Server/Fusion so far:

1. Ubuntu server 8.04 pre alpha. Standard install.
2. icewm or fluxbox

Tools to be installed include:

1. Puppet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_(tool))
2. Nagios (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagios)
3. opsview (http://opsview.org/)

User side

Projects such as OLPC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child) are already covering the needs of the younger audiences. A server device is already in the makings (a reference will be added later).

In 2007 Asus released their range of "eee" PC laptops. These ship with Linux by default (Mandriva). They are small and very portable, which is good for the younger audience they are intended for. They are also very affordable at around $500AUD or under. They can also be booted from a USB memory stick or SD Card which makes it useful for testing purposes. This is likely to be the first testing ground for the user distribution.

Other considerations

At the time of writing this (Feb 2008) the Federal Government of Australia is introducing a grant scheme to provide computers to schools for every student between years 9 and 12.

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Hoju 20:38, 20 Feb 2008 (EST)

This could be bad news for any FOSS promotions based on the cost premise. Schools will be given a budget to equip each child with hardware and software. This is the point to show how much better that budget can be spent with OSS solutions.

Getting more "bang for your buck" is certainly the point that is trying to be made here. Any cost savings that can be gained through using Open Source solutions can be used to provide the necessary infrastructure and support network that sometimes becomes neglected in cost considerations.

Collaborative Apps

There appears to be momentum towards collaborative learning processes, particularly applications which allow students to directly interact with each other and their coursework in a way that promotes cooperation and teamwork. User:BBmaj7

Examples of projects that are gaining momentum in this arena is Moodle and LAMS. Each of these has a strong userbase and following throughout the world. Moodle in particular is very popular and was initially developed in Australia.

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Selling Linux and Open Source

This section is intended to provide a discussion forum about how to successfully sell the benefits of Linux and Open Source to schools.

Approaching Schools on FOSS

This section discusses how (psychologically) to approach a school about using FOSS. This is about good bedside manner.

• Teachers and admin are overworked and underpaid. They will not appreciate you suggesting changes which will take effort. No matter how much they may agree with you on technical or philosophical grounds, they just don't have the time to learn much in the way of new tools.
• Listen. Ask what current ICT challenges the school has. Solving a real world problem is what can help them most. Solve a problem and they will be more comfortable with FOSS.
• Think about small changes. Maybe adding one or two FOSS Windows apps (eg. OpenOffice or Inkscape) where there is an unmet need. Don't try and replace an existing application unless there is an indication that there is a problem that you can solve.
• School staff can feel suffocated by ICT, being used to proprietary restriction and feeling trapped and powerless. There is dissatisfaction with Microsoft, but no understanding of how to get out of the trap.
• Don't make teachers or admin feel inadequate because they have little knowledge of FOSS or technical matters. Don't get indignant if there appears to be irrational push-back; there is always a reason. Be patient. Listen. There is probably a fundamental misunderstanding.
• School administrators must avoid risk. They have no discressionary budget and cannot afford to have failures, or to lose time. Understand their perspective.
• Save the philosophy lesson. No one enjoys being lectured. If you must discuss FOSS philosophy consider framing it as a personal story, eg. "I identify with FOSS because ..." rather than "everyone should use FOSS because ..."
• FOSS can help improve equity and reduce the digital divide. This can occur because all students have equal access to software that might be unaffordable for some under proprietary terms.
• Schools are not training centres for Microsoft and Adobe. Diversity of experience is beneficial for students. Be careful with this one as any new initiatives have a cost in staff training and material preparation.
• Open Source isn't just about software. Educational content licensed under copyleft schemes such as GNU FDL and CC licenses can provide valuable building blocks for teachers to forge new units.

General

Suggested guideline for spoken and written communications

• Don't dwell on zero cost, it makes FOSS look flimsy
• Focus on the applications and show what they can do
• Use the term Open Source in preference to FOSS or Free Software
  • FOSS is more correct but only use it with other geeks
  • Free Software has the word free, see zero-cost above
• Present applications by name and short description
  • FOSS project names tend to be quirky or in-jokes, not appreciated
  • Providing a three word descriptive title will drive home the purpose of the package
• Open Source software is reliable
• It's built by communities as a labour of love
  • The developers take pride in what they have created and will show you how to get the most out of it
  • The developers use the software themselves so the software will work well
• Open Source communities are powerful
  • Open Source people are about helping one another
  • Open Source schools are forming their own communities to help one another
  • Schools can share Open Source programs with each other any time
• Open Source is about sharing knowledge and educating the user
  • Teach programming by taking an already working program and modifying it
    • More immediate gratification to students
    • No as hard to get into programming
    • Open Source programs are written so they are easy to modify by anyone who want to
• Open Source Software has no licensing headaches
  • You can legally copy it as many times as you want (you are encouraged to do so)
  • If you find a good program give it to your colleagues
  • You will never be committing piracy

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Richard Andrews 2008-02-22

What Makes FOSS Successful in Schools

There are many stories floating around of success and failure of FOSS pilots or rollouts in an educational setting. I'd like to use this space to try and distil some patterns and develop theories and strategies.

Failures

• Strathcona

Successes

• Kamloops SD73

Theories

Teachers, not Technology Are the Problem

Linux and FOSS is more than technically capable to provide the full gamut of educational software. The lesson to learn from Strathcona is that some teachers just want to keep using what they know - aren't interested in learning new tricks. This becomes dangerous if there is an opportunity for such individuals to undermine a FOSS rollout with impunity.

• Need more examples of undermining and info on reasons given for not wanting FOSS.

Clear Direction at the Top is Important

SD73 is an amazing success story in the speed and depth of its linux rollout. The factor that I see as unique to SD73 is that the linux and OSS push has had unequivocal support from the top with principals and administrators backing it.

Under these conditions it is difficult for slackers to undermine a rollout as to do so is in clear violation of the direction provided by the highet ranks. This contrasts with schools where the principals take a wait and see attitude. In this case, the subtext message is that there is no clear direction and so undermining the project is not going to be in defiance of the direction of the administration.

• Need examples of schools with a clear 5 year plan.
• Check for counter examples where clear direction was provided but failure occurred.