Re: [school-discuss] Re: Best Educational conference - Open Admin for Schools

["Les R" <openadmin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Marc,

Thanks very much. It looks like a lot of fun!  Some impressive folks
coming, and I also like some of the formats. BTW, the URL is somewhat
buggered...  (grin).

Les R.

2008/7/24 Marc Lijour <marc@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> Hi Les,
>
> Check it out, here is the link:
> http://fsoss.senecac.on.ca/2008/p://fsoss.senecac.on.ca/2008/
>
> Marc
>
> On July 24, 2008 11:35:06 pm Les R wrote:
>> Hi Marc,
>>
>> Would they have folks from ATutor coming, too?   It's likely time to
>> start integrating things between applications, if that makes sense.
>>
>>
>> Les R.
>>
>> 2008/7/24 Marc Lijour <marc@xxxxxxxxxx>:
>> > There is one at Toronto (Canada) in Fall, at Seneca College.
>> >
>> > Marc Lijour
>> >
>> > On July 24, 2008 06:02:55 am knowtree@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> >> > Hi All,
>> >> >
>> >> > I was wondering what would be the most useful educational conference
>> >> > to attend to talk about open source educational software (and in
>> >> > particular Open Admin for Schools)?
>> >> >
>> >> > I'm at the Linux Symposium, and it's very interesting, but not really
>> >> > what's of most interest to me...
>> >> >
>> >> > Any ideas?
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Les Richardson
>> >> > Open Admin for Schools
>> >>
>> >> Les --
>> >>
>> >> This is a very good question. I don't think it has an easy answer, which
>> >> is probably why you bothered to ask :-)
>> >>
>> >> (I hope you don't mind that I cross-posted this to the Open Slate
>> >> mailing list.)
>> >>
>> >> There are so many different kinds of gatherings. IT conferences.
>> >> Open-Source conferences. School administrative and governance
>> >> conferences. Teacher conferences. Success is more likely when all sides
>> >> are addressed. Visit a FOSS conference and you can dazzle your audience
>> >> with the technical design of your software, but you won't find many
>> >> educators there. Visit a teachers conference and the people you meet
>> >> will not comprehend what your software does, or the significance of it
>> >> being FOSS. The trick will be to convince the FOSS folks that
>> >> educational software is a good thing, and at the same time get the
>> >> teachers and administrators to appreciate the value of FOSS. The bridge
>> >> across that divide has yet to be built.
>> >>
>> >> The biggest obstacle I see in dealing with public schools is the
>> >> resistance to change. Even when I find a teacher who is interested, they
>> >> are not the decision maker. Neither is the Principle. Neither is the
>> >> PTA. It is a lot safer for them to keep their head down and continue to
>> >> do what has been done. Or, even more frustrating, to only do things that
>> >> studies have shown are of value. No study, no data, no chance.
>> >>
>> >> In the face of this I have turned my attention to homeschoolers. My
>> >> project, like yours, was designed for a typical brick-and-mortar school,
>> >> so naturally I find myself having to reinvent it in the environment in
>> >> which homeschooling operates. It's too soon to say how successful this
>> >> approach will be. I'll be the first to admit that homeschoolers have a
>> >> tendency to be mothers seeking an old-fashioned, home spun, nurturing
>> >> environment for their children, a situation that is as distant from the
>> >> technical nature of Open Slate as a teddy bear is to a PS3. The good
>> >> news is that many homeschoolers I have met are concerned that their
>> >> children won't get enough IT skills to be successful out in the world,
>> >> and are looking for ways to introduce more IT into their curriculum. The
>> >> problem I have with that is that I want Open Slate to be a lot more than
>> >> an opportunity to learn *about* computers. I want it to be the essential
>> >> basis for how learning takes place.
>> >>
>> >> This is not to say that I have turned my back on big schools. What I am
>> >> counting on is the success of the Open Slate concept with homeschoolers
>> >> to generate a ripple effect, so that the big schools come to us.
>> >>
>> >> As for Open Admin, I suggest you look for homeschoolers who join
>> >> together to form a loosely knit cooperative. This approach seems to be
>> >> very popular. The coop would set up and manage an Open Admin system.
>> >> Obviously things like time and attendance will be different. You might
>> >> offer to host these little groups rather than rely on them having a
>> >> Linux guru available. Give it some thought.
>> >>
>> >> Gary Dunn
>> >> Honolulu
>> >> Open Slate Project
>> >>     http://openslate.net/
>> >> 73 BMW E9 (3.0 CS) 2213583 (rust repair research project)
>> >>     http://e9erust.blogspot.com/
>
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