[Fsfe-uk] OSS in schools

[Simon Morris]

Hellom

This is forwarded on from the LUGMasters list. Do we have any list
members in North Wales?

Thanks

~sm
> > 
> > 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I'm a member of the North Wales LUG with an appeal to users right
> > across the
> > UK.
> > 
> > Here in Wales the Assembly Government (WAG) is setting up a schools
> > ICT
> > Strategy group to produce a draft consultation paper. OSS is part of
> > the
> > remit, and as a result of some lobbying I've been invited to meet
> > one of the
> > group. Hopefully once I've got that far I can get to meet the rest.
> > 
> > The meeting is not for about 3 weeks, but I don't want to go off
> > half-cocked
> > so I'm doing some research and collecting opinions.
> > 
> > My starting point was to suggest that WAG (Specifically Jane
> > Davidson's
> > Education Department) look at the example of Extremadura in Spain
> > and consider
> > using/developing a distro for Wales. I got a bland civil service
> > 'thank you
> > for your suggestion' letter back. So I pursued it and was told there
> > would
> > be 'consultation'.  
> > 
> > I pointed out that 'consultation' usually means civil servants and
> > ministers
> > chatting amongst themselves, and that during many years as a teacher
> > I've
> > been told that as a result of consultation we've decided this, that
> > or the
> > other (or frequently this this year, that next year and the other
> > after the
> > next re-shuffle) but I've never met a teacher who was actually
> > consulted.
> > Result, they are calling my bluff and consulting me.
> > 
> > I still think Extremadura is a good example, after all it's a
> > semi-autonmous
> > region with it's own language. It's bigger than Wales but has a
> > similar size
> > population. It's largely rural mountainous and wet.  It exports food
> > and
> > water to the rest of Spain. It's IT industry was small and backward,
> > but is
> > gaining ground. WIth free software for the entire population IT
> > usage is
> > creeping up, benefitting employment and keeping rural areas in touch
> > with the
> > 21st century.
> > 
> > OSS aside, there are other problems in schools IT. I spent eight
> > years doing
> > tech support for TechSoft. They supply CAD/CAM software for schools
> > and
> > colleges right across the UK. There are a handful of schools with
> > excellent
> > equipment and more importantly well trained staff, but most are
> > frankly poor.
> > My recent experience at schools around here shows them to be pretty
> > average.
> > 
> > Fundamental problem I see is that the kids (and staff) have a
> > superficial
> > understanding of MS Office, Paint and IE6. They grab a picture and
> > some words
> > off the web, paste them into Word and think they've done IT. Few
> > understand
> > anything about image resolution and just shrug when the image comes
> > out with
> > 2mm square pixels. No-one edits the words or uses what they've found
> > to
> > illustrate their own thoughts on the matter. No-one attributes
> > anything.
> > 
> > At an actual IT level, it's even worse. The syllabusses avoid
> > mention of a
> > particular OS or specific software, but in practice almost every
> > school
> > teaches basic Windows. WIndows is THE OS, Word is THE word
> > processor, Access
> > is THE database etc etc. To make life simple for the admins (who are
> > usually
> > over worked teachers with little IT training) the system is locked
> > down
> > tight, consequently the kids can't even see things like Control
> > Panel, they
> > certainly aren't going to learn about hardware, drivers,
> > installing/removing
> > software. Even screen res is usually set to the lowest common
> > denominator
> > 800x600 because it 'confuses the desktop' if the same user logs on
> > to
> > different size screens. Why not allow user access to 'Configure the
> > Desktop'? - Too tricky.
> > 
> > Please email suggestions, examples, links, published research etc.
> > 
> > If we can make progress in Wales, maybe we'll let the rest of you
> > join in
> > later!
> > 
> > BTW, for more info about me, see my website, url below.
> > 
> > --
> > Regards
> > Phil Thane
> > 
> > Bryn Villa
> > Penycoed Road (off Brook St)
> > Llangollen
> > LL20 8LR
> > 
> > 01978 861677
> > 07971 987623
> > 
> > address@hidden
> > www.brynvilla.llangollen.co.uk
> > 
> > 
> >