[seul-edu] [Fwd: [OS:N:] Re: Moving forward... - RE: Who do we contact?]

[Doug Loss <drloss@home.com>]

Paul Nelson wrote:

> Hello Folks,
>
> Lots of good ideas coming out here. This great! I just want to echo what
> Michael and Doug said, consolidation is the goal. In NO WAY am I
> interested in any type of project bickering. We're all having way too
> much fun to be slowed down by that!  ;-^)
>
> I love the idea of schoolforge. What a great domain! And the concept for
> those of us familiar with sourceforge and newsforge is right on target.
> I have to admit right from the start here that I am a USER of open
> source software and I've always been in awe of the folks who are
> actually working to write it. I spent some time this weekend surfing the
> various sites put up by folks working on software for schools and I am
> all the more encouraged.
>
> What I want to do right away is have some kind of menu system on my
> sites that links to the others. What I'd like to have soon is a way of
> bringing everything together so that when a school starts looking for
> info on using Open Source software, the new user bumps right into us and
> can easily get the information he/she needs. By us I mean all of us.
>
> Perhaps we need to put ourselves in the mind of a teacher who has never
> used Linux, knows nothing about Open Source but does want to explore
> options for school technology that are more accessible than what
> proprietary systems have to offer.
>
> What would an information/education flow chart look like for this user
> and how can we craft our sites to meet those needs? That's what I'd like
> to start working on. Maybe it's as simple as a common menu bar we all
> carry on our sites that link to the other sites as appropriate.
>
> Example: SchoolForge.net = Info on software and lessons for classrooms
> (We really don't have this info on our k12linux and k12ltsp pages, it's
> a major shortcoming...)
>
> Example: http://opensourceschools.org/ is a great /. type of site for
> schools. There is already much more going on than I can keep up with on
> the lists. Just today there is a great article there written by Jeff
> Elkner on the good things that happen when students are exposed to Open
> Source software and more importantly the Open Source community.
> http://opensourceschools.org/article.php?story=20011202010609709
>
> We need an interface or menu system of some kind that will draw in that
> new user and somehow tell the story we all see unfolding here. It needs
> to include links to at least the following (please help round out this
> list...)
>
> OSS info:
> What is the open source movement all about? I'd love to have video or
> audio of Bob Young telling his story of buying a car with the hood
> welded shut...  ;-)
>
> Why is OS good for students, teachers and schools? etc...
>
> Operating System (Distribution) Info:
> This is where we put the links and how-to's on where to get it and how
> to install it.I was excited to hear of the "education option" to be
> included with KDE 3.0 and to see some of the packages they're working
> on. I'm also excited by the work Eric and Jim (and others) are doing to
> make LTSP work so well. If you thought that K12LTSP 1.0 was slick, wait
> until you see the next version!
>
> Teaching with OSS:
> We really need links to all the cool software packages people are
> working on. It's going to take some real management to bring all of
> these to one site. I never realized how much there was out there. The
> exciting thing is that once a synergy and critical mass is reached,
> development will only accelerate. I think this will be a big part of the
> long term success of using OSS in schools.
>
> A critical piece of this is the "how-to" part of using software in
> schools. This could include lesson plan data bases and even links to
> collaborative projects. Schoolforge.net would be perfect...
>
> Administration with OSS:
> Here's the training section and a place for on-line tutorials and sample
> configurations that work well in schools. An example would be using
> SquidGuard for web filtering. http://squidguard.mesd.k12.or.us/ This is
> what we've tried to do but it's a big job to keep it all pulled together.
>
> Technical Support with OSS:
> Here's a place for email lists, chat boards, live irc help, LUG
> supporting school kits, etc...
>
> My basic point is all of these links should be just a click away
> regardless of where the user is on any of our sites.
>
> How can we do this? Does anyone have some kids that are good with Gimp
> who could put together a good image map for us? If so perhaps we can
> think about that and build up the link system for addressing these
> aspects of using OSS in schools.
>
> These are just my ideas. I'm open to different ways of addressing the
> needs and even what those needs may be.
>
> I do think that right now is a good time to move forward though. I think
> we can surprise the world with the power of the Open Source development
> model because it applies to more than software. It also embraces a
> community of users as well. Let's build an infrastructure that brings
> that community together and maximizes our impact for a whole generation
> of students around the world. We can do that!
>
> ;-) Paul
> ======================================================================
> Paul Nelson................................pnelson@riverdale.k12.or.us
> Riverdale School..............11733 SW Breyman Ave. Portland, OR 97219
> (503)636-4511......fax(503)635-6342.....http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us
>
> Doug Loss wrote:
>
> > Michael Williams wrote:
> >
> >
> >>hey Doug,
> >> I actually don't see this as competition. Paul and I are taking the first steps to
> >>consolidate the k12linux listserv and web site. Paul and Eric have already done
> snip...
> >>
> >>If we leverage our resources I believe that we will all be able to accomplish our goals
> >>faster.
> >>
> >
> > You don't know how glad I am to hear that.  I was afraid we might devolve into the bickering
> > that is unfortunately not uncommon in the open source community when two projects appear to
> > be working toward similar goals.
> >
> > We've tentatively named our coalition Schoolforge, mostly because David Bucknell already owns
> > that domain (schoolforge.net).  We're still working out just what the major divisions will
> > be, and just what the scope of the coalition will be.  I think different people have
> snip.......
>
> >
> > My preference is for it to be more toward the "shell" side of this axis, with links like
> > schoolforge.net/opensourceschools being essentially redirects to www.opensourceschools.org,
> > for example.  Where there's a hole in the current crop of Linux in education sites (no one
> > doing a particular task yet), that could be hosted directly on the Schoolforge site.  I would
> > think the site would be managed by representatives from each of the affiliated
> > organizations/sites.  That way we could all maintain our independence, yet benefit from
> > consultation with other groups working toward similar goals, and could present a unified
> > appearance to visitors from the outside.  And we might be able to modify our goals and tasks
> > so as to have less duplication among ourselves and get more resources devoted to actually
> > accomplishing our goals.




--
Doug Loss                 Always do right.  This
Data Network Coordinator  will gratify some people
Bloomsburg University     and astonish the rest.
dloss@bloomu.edu                Mark Twain