Re: [school-discuss] my puzzle about OSS in education

[Sydney Weidman <weidmans@xxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2005-06-02 at 11:54, Rob Rittenhouse wrote:
> > Quoting Greg Farrell <erac_greg@xxxxxxxxx>:
> > 
> > 
> >>Does anyone who's switched to OSS applications, like
> >>the ones Marilyn's listed here, have any available
> >>statistics that evaluate student's performance before
> >>and after the switch?  What were the metrics used?
> >>
> >>I'm trying to get a sense of learning content value,
> >>so anything along these lines would be a help
> >>
> >>Greg Farrell
> 
> The big question would be whether or not learning with computers helps. 
> I don't see that there would necessarily be much difference between OSS 
> and proprietary software in this area (do you actually learn 
> significantly more or less by using the Gimp vs Photoshop? OpenOffice vs 
> MS Office? TuxType vs Mavis Beacon?)

Some jurisdictions, like the one I live in, made technology integration
mandatory across the curriculum. Sadly, no one asked at that time
whether technology integration would be a net educational benefit to
students. Since removing pervasive technology isn't feasible, shouldn't
we at least favour a technology that shares the same core values as
education, i.e. those of a knowledge sharing community? Let me present
the dilemma more bluntly: Would you hide information from a student to
gain some material or political advantage over that student? Proprietary
software makers do just that.

Regards,
Syd