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fOSS in schools

Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 by Miguel Guhlin

There is a very good argument to be made that yes, kids do need to be introduced to Office 2007 so that they can go out and compete and get good jobs.

However, the question remains whether schools have the budget for the licenses. Here in the US, school budgets are being slashed. For example, the school that I am supporting has costs of about $8,000 per student per year, but funding of only $5,000 per student per year. The principal is expected to fundraise the difference!!!! That is the primary reason that the principal considered using FOSS. The principal herself uses ONLY Microsoft products, and she does not ask her staff to use FOSS. The school recently has gotten a grant for some older Mac notebooks that the teachers use. But the students are using a Linux LTSP network because that is all that the school could afford.

Also, perhaps the most important argument of all in using OOo as opposed to Office 2007: While it is true that it is important to expose kids to Office 2007 (if you can afford it), the more important thing is to teach the kids HOW TO THINK. The kids will always be exposed to a variety of technology, and it is important to teach them to understand that they reason from the specific to the general and back to the specific. It is not necessary that they memorize the location and function of each of the icons in Office 2007 as it is that they learn how to learn and how to adapt to new technology.

So if the budget falls $3,000 short each year for a school, how are they supposed to afford Office 2007 licenses? Many of these schools have no art budget, no gym budget, and just teach the very basic basics to kids. It's shameful, really. So when you talk about Office 2007 to many California educators, they laugh in your face, because it means that you do not understand the realities of their harsh budgetary constraints. There is no way that the school could afford to pay someone for the maintenance of that I provide for the thin client lab. It's just not in the budget. I'm talking about not having enough money for school lunches and text books, let alone Office 2007 licenses.

So, do you think this assessment by Christian Einfeldt is on target?

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Big6 Process

Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 by Miguel Guhlin

This past week, someone asked me, "How would you implement Big6 campus-wide?" I would love to have your suggestions to share with that person.

In the meantime, here's a table I put together to combine the Super 3, Big6, and the questions that go with each.

The Big6

http://www.big6.com/kids

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