Re: [school-discuss] Do Something Dot Org

[David Bucknell <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I like this:
"brainstorm and come up with ways to create a series of recurring
local and/or regional events where we and others can present and
champion open source, demonstrate open source, teach open source, give
them open source to take home with them, etc.  There are many ways for
all of us to contribute to such an effort and we could brand it as a
Schoolforge sponsored event, with common templates for presentations
and documents and maybe drive more traffic and membership to this site
and list."

We also need docs.

I get that, as Charles said, the "sharing" language can sound watered
down.  We do have to convince people to check out great alternatives
-- and they are great.  On the other hand, I still think that
integrity also sells and FLOSS has that; we have to point it out well,
but it's something that's generally missing "out there."


On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 12:20 AM, Casey Adams <jcaseyadams@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Wow,  I guess  I did not think fast enough before I made my comment as well
> as not research the mission of the group.  Just for the record, I was not
> referring to my own business interests, but rather marshaling resources
> behind any worthy effort related to open source that makes good sense and
> can have impact.  Personally, I am much more inclined to open source
> solutions that directly impact the classroom, which is what I personally
> believe is the most important piece of the education process and where my
> personal interests lie.
> Coordinating our efforts behind something open source doesn't only mean
> solutions and sorry if my comment steered it that way.  I think there are
> multiple ways we could impact open source. in an effective manner that could
> help drive more or faster change.  The simple idea was to unite behind
> something that we all considered worthy of a group effort and with that
> group effort impact change in a faster and more meaningful way.
> I think a great place to start a coordinated effort is with Laura's idea:
>  "I think there's a lot of opportunity to share knowledge and resources, to
> help let others know what's going on with projects and to inform people
> what free and Open Source resources are currently available out there just
> waiting to be used."   Maybe we could brainstorm and come up with ways to
> create a series of recurring local and/or regional events where we and
> others can present and champion open source, demonstrate open source, teach
> open source, give them open source to take home with them, etc.  There are
> many ways for all of us to contribute to such an effort and we could brand
> it as a Schoolforge sponsored event, with common templates for presentations
> and documents and maybe drive more traffic and membership to this site and
> list.
> And maybe an even simpler next step is to organize meet and greet sessions
> for those of us in close proximity to one another.  Perhaps these could grow
> into larger groups and meetings that would result in tangible outcomes for
> the local area.
> Just some simple ideas, but it definitely got some conversation going!
>  Thanks everyone.
> Casey Adams
> Phone: 205.612.5489
> Fax: 717.326.3543.
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 11:37 AM, David Bucknell <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>>
>> Excellent points, LM, and I think you're offering ways to bring in the
>> excitement (and effectiveness) that Casey is missing without losing our
>> mission of promoting our members, all of them, in their efforts.
>>
>> David
>>
>> ----- Message from lmemsm@xxxxxxxxx ---------
>>     Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:39:45 -0400
>>     From: LM <lmemsm@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Reply-To: schoolforge-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Do Something Dot Org
>>       To: schoolforge-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 10:27 AM, David Bucknell <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> This is an interesting idea.  It may be that you are right; however,
>>> as exciting as it would be to get the old engine fired up, before we
>>> jump into that kind of role, and I am certainly for a more vital
>>> group, let's look at our mission.
>>
>> I think David's made some very good points.  It's great to advocate
>> certain projects, but if you're struggling with just trying to get a
>> school district to accept open source software in the first place, other
>> priorities come first.
>>>
>>> Here's the "mission" statement from the Web site:
>>>
>>> "SchoolForge's mission is to unify independent organizations that
>>> advocate, use, and develop open resources for education. SchoolForge
>>> is intended to empower member organizations to make open educational
>>> resources more effective, efficient, and ubiquitous by enhancing
>>> communication, sharing resources, and increasing the transparency of
>>> development.
>>
>> This is important and this is where individual users can help improve
>> communication between different projects and recommend they share resources
>> and intercooperate when possible.  The more communication we can help
>> facilitate between different projects that could cooperate or share
>> resources, the better.
>>>
>>>   SchoolForge members advocate the use of open source and
>>> free software, open texts and lessons, and open curricula for the
>>> advancement of education and the betterment of humankind."
>>
>> This, however, is also very important, especially to those of use who are
>> working with others that don't know enough about or aren't anxious to accept
>> free and Open Source resources.  I think the case studies at the web site
>> are helpful and if we could do more to show the effectiveness of using free
>> and Open Source, that would be very helpful for Districts that haven't
>> accepted Open Source yet.  It's not just cost savings that will bring
>> schools over to Open Source.  Our District claims it's interested in cost
>> effective ideas and improvements, but I've yet to see them act on any of
>> them.  Other factors, like support when there are issues and just finding
>> ways to motivate people to change the status quo are important when
>> advocating Open Source to non Open Source users.  If we could work on some
>> ways to help people switch more easily, help motivate them and to make them
>> feel more secure about switching (letting people know that there are ways to
>> ensure support is available if needed and how to go about getting it), maybe
>> that would be useful.  I think more case studies and sharing some project
>> plans on how to implement these kinds of changes and what the results were
>> from switching would be very helpful.
>> We also have to keep in mind, some places FLOSS will make a difference on
>> a District level and as a standard and in some cases, it'll have to win
>> educators over one person at a time.  It would be nice if we could offer
>> resources, ideas, etc. for both these levels.  If Schoolforge members have
>> resources to help advocate Open Source, the web site might be a good place
>> to share them.  For instance, sharing slide shows on switching to Open
>> Source via the web or references (like http://www.ncose.org/node/3 which was
>> posted to the list a while back) can be very helpful.  Also, for those
>> wanting to make the switch, Schoolforge could offer help figuring out what
>> the best choices for the person or organization are.  The web site's
>> software list is a very good start in that direction, but being able to talk
>> to other users and ask pros and cons is also very important.
>> I think there's a lot of opportunity to share knowledge and resources, to
>> help let others know what's going on with projects and to inform people
>> what free and Open Source resources are currently available out there just
>> waiting to be used.
>> Sincerely,
>> Laura
>>
>> ----- End message from lmemsm@xxxxxxxxx -----
>>
>> --
>>
>> --
>> Come visit our new office!
>> NEW Office Address:
>> IKN E-Learning Center
>> 91 Suthisan (Soi Pracha Suk), Opposite Soi Inthamara 30
>> Din Daeng, Bangkok 10401
>> http://intknowledge.com
>> Map: http://ischoolnet.org/map
>>
>> Hosting, Design and Development: http://www.web4you.in.th
>>
>> NEW Mailing Address: PO Box 90, Suthisan Post Office
>> International Knowledge Networks, Co., Ltd.
>> Din Daeng, Bangkok 10321
>> Thailand
>> +66(0)84 329 1183 (cell); +66(0)2 693 8144 (Don't dial the zero (0)
>> outside of Thailand.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>> This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
>
>



-- 

--
http://intknowledge.com
For Schools: http://ischoolnet.org
For Teachers: http://flossed.org
For You:
Hosting, Design and Development: http://www.web4you.in.th

New location: (Map: http://ischoolnet.org/map)
NEW Mailing Address: PO Box 90, Suthisan Post Office
International Knowledge Networks, Co., Ltd.
Din Daeng, Bangkok 10321
Thailand
+66(0)84 329 1183 (cell); +66(0)2 693 8144 (Don't dial the zero (0)
outside of Thailand.