Re: [school-discuss] Presentation for local SD

[Richard Andrews <bbmaj7@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You might be interested in http://openeducation.org.au - there's some work done
there on how FOSS applications can fill curriculum needs (Victoria, Australia).

I've been keeping notes on presenting in schools here:

http://openeducation.org.au/wiki/index.php/Linux_For_Education_Institutions#Selling_Linux_and_Open_Source

To summarise (so discussions can occur on list)


Suggested guideline for spoken and written communications

    * Don't dwell on zero cost, it makes FOSS look flimsy
    * Focus on the applications and show what they can do
    * Use the term Open Source in preference to FOSS or Free Software
          o FOSS is more correct but only use it with other geeks
          o Free Software has the word free, see zero-cost above 
    * Present applications by name and short description
          o FOSS project names tend to be quirky or in-jokes, not appreciated
          o Providing a three word descriptive title will drive home the
purpose of the package 
    * Open Source software is reliable
    * It's built by communities as a labour of love
          o The developers take pride in what they have created and will show
you how to get the most out of it
          o The developers use the software themselves so the software will
work well 
    * Open Source communities are powerful
          o Open Source people are about helping one another
          o Open Source schools are forming their own communities to help one
another
          o Schools can share Open Source programs with each other any time 
    * Open Source is about sharing knowledge and educating the user
          o Teach programming by taking an already working program and
modifying it
                + More immediate gratification to students
                + Not as hard to get into programming
                + Open Source programs are written so they are easy to modify
by anyone who wants to 
    * Open Source Software has no licensing headaches
          o You can legally copy it as many times as you want (you are
encouraged to do so)
          o If you find a good program give it to your colleagues
          o You will never be committing piracy 


--- Richard Houston <rhouston@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone had any advice, ideas, suggestions or anything
> that would help make this presentation as effective as possible. If you
> have testimonials that I could quote that would be great. I will also
> promote the schoolforge.net site as a great resource for the Trustees to
> get more info.
> 
> Also I was thinking that it might be a good idea to put together a info
> package skeleton that others doing this kind of thing could use to kick
> start there presentation. What do ya think? Good Idea or not?



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