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Re: [school-discuss] FOSS Professional development courses for teachers



> I think this is a bit heavy for our target audience - although I have to say,
> on first reading I'm unsure what the goals of openslate actually are.

Total integration of IT with curriculum and learning activities rather than
IT as a subject of study or a replacement for a typewriter. Open-Source
softwae and courseware as an alternative to commercial textbooks and
educational software. A collection of resources driven by the user
community, providing what the community wants.

 
> We're looking at approaching the subject based on introducing web apps first;
> show educators what powerful OSS applications exist. 

Some really good stuff are not web apps. Tux Paint, for example. And if
your target is older kids, there is The Gimp.

> Part of the training would
> be to promote OSS ideas and resources; but that would be secondary because
> expousing ideologies often turns people away.

True, yet you need to create a context. You need to convince the good
people of River City that they have a problem in order to get them
interested in starting up a band. You need to do the feature-benefit thing.
 You may be excited that Moodle is FOSS, or that it is a web app, but those
other folks in the room won't even know how to interpret this information.
FOSS ideology may not be what you want, but you still need a context.

As for "heavy," well, if that's the way my writing sounds, and that's a
problem, I apologize, because I do not mean it that way. What I want is for
people to feel comfortable about getting involved with Open Slate and Chalk
Dusk. That is why I set up the wiki, to promote participation. Come on in
and check it out.

Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
http://openslate.net