Re: [school-discuss] The real roadblocks to Linux in education: ZDNet Australia: News: Software

[tom poe <tompoe@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello:  If we assume the author's correct in his conclusion that no
changes will happen, until there is movement from the top down, and if
this does not occur the option left is to ramp up a mainstream media
campaign, I'd like to offer another option to consider:

UNESCO has published a guide to community multimedia centres:
http://tinyurl.com/8z8zk

This tells us that we have the interest of international organizations
that would be a receptive audience for a program that benefits
children.  What would such a program look like?

One possibility is to gather tens of thousands of donated computers, and
load them with Open Source multimedia software, and distribute the
computers to schools throughout the country, to be used by children,
guided by training and support from thousands of volunteers familiar
with the specific applications housed on the computers.  A sound
business plan could be drawn up, and presented to UNESCO for
consideration.

The key factor here, is, in my opinion, that such a program is
initiated/supported by UNESCO, rather than individuals.  Something to
think about?  Maybe?  In the meantime, if there is any interest in
pursuing such a project, our organization would like to help in any way
we can.
Tom Poe
Open Studios
Reno, NV, USA
www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/ 

On Sat, 2005-05-14 at 08:08, Doug Loss wrote:
> I just came across this and thought it might be of interest:
> 
> <http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39191668,00.htm>
> 
> -- 
> Doug Loss              Unquestionably, there is progress.
> drloss@xxxxxxxxxx      The average American pays out twice
>                        as much in taxes as he formerly got
>                        in wages.
>                           H. L. Mencken
> 
>