Hi all, I've been swamped and unable to reply until now. The teacher training aspect is vital to the process of adding anything "new" at the classroom level. To this end, Atlanta Public Schools is addressing this need for training of teachers for the new Linux thin clients in place and for more to be placed over the next 1-3 years. It looks like APS will be converting to an Open Source system for the students!!! So part of the plan they are getting bids on right now includes basic training in things like Moodle, TeacherTool and OpenOffice. They finally "got it" and recognized that the early adopters and tech savvy teachers should get the training first so as to act a "lightning rods" in each school. This is directly related to the Brandon work and the analysis of the outcome and process. APS really did their homework on this aspect. As for specific application usage in classrooms I see the OpenSource world as being the ONLY place that can actually respond to teacher needs. The other stuff responds to "market" needs (<cynicism> i.e. the marketing director talks to the bean counters and they add fluff and cost </cynicism>). For example: TuxMath is a really cool game. The kids like it because it's a game. (it's a real system hog in a thin client environment BTW) It has a new development team now and they are adding really fantastic features that keep logs of right and wrong answers, offer game play based on specific learning needs such as working addition with the numbers 11-19 or subtraction with positive and negative numbers, and a report generating feature that can be used to give a GRADE (!!) based on a fun activity that really is a test. When it is finished..... (can't wait! I've demo'ed the test code to a few teachers and watched their eyes pop out) So to respond directly to Daniel's "open source trainers for schools", um, yeah, we need to talk as we have assembled just that team to address exactly that need and they are working to respond to the scope of the need. As was discussed at NECC, once the schools stop having to pour million$ into software licenses every year, they can divert their license budget to supporting that front line - teachers. On Mon, 2007-09-10 at 15:39 -0400, Daniel Howard wrote: > Yeah, William and I were discussing that over lunch after our meeting. > We mused that it will be great when enough big districts like Atlanta > Public Schools have Linux deployed everywhere and tell the book > publishers that they want Linux versions of textbook support software... > > In the meantime, I think my eParent model will have to suffice: William > and I provided much of the initial training of our teachers at Brandon, > and then I formed a new PTA committee called the eParents so we could > get parents to help out in learning new software and showing teachers > how to use it. I'll try to assemble a cadre of technology-savvy parents > from this high school, burn some live CDs they can use at home, and have > each of them help. But I have to say these teachers today looked really > motivated to learn this stuff. > > You know Les, that's a really good point: there's probably a growing > market now for software trainers that specialize in Open Source > educational packages. Since Open Source schools are no longer spending > that money on licenses, maybe now they can actually afford to hire a > trainer to come in... > > Daniel > > Les Richardson wrote: > > Hi Daniel, > > > > The larger problem with any of this software use is the training aspect, > > and the teaching materials (if any). > > > > If they are being used in a teaching context, then a teacher will want > > materials for assignments, etc. Having software without that will mean a > > much slower adoption rate. > > > > Thus software is in a symbiotic relationship with support materials and > > documentation, teaching materials, etc. > > > > That is another 'issue' that should be considered in any Linux based > > solution... > > > > Les Richardson > > Open Admin for Schools > > > > > > > > On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Daniel Howard wrote: > > > >> Well, William and I met with the High School principal and his > >> assistant principal this morning, and also met several teachers (math, > >> physics, music, multimedia) and all of them are tremendously excited > >> about getting working Linux computers in their classrooms, and the > >> potential for lots of new Open Source software titles. The teachers > >> have already heard how successful the other Atlanta schools were, and > >> don't seem to care a whit that it will not be Windows based. They > >> just want working computers, and lots of 'em, and they've heard this > >> is good stuff. > >> > >> We've asked them to send us ideas for what they'd like to use the > >> computers for in their classrooms, but at the same time, William and I > >> are guessing they have no idea what they could ask for, so we thought > >> we'd put together a system for them to play with with a bunch of high > >> school appropriate titles on it (like the math titles I listed below). > >> Can anyone suggest other high school appropriate applications for > >> math, science, yearbook publishing, web page development (actually I > >> think William has that one covered), control of MIDI keyboards and > >> music composition, audio mixing (they have a small studio), etc. > >> > >> Thanks in advance, > >> Daniel > >> > >> > >> Daniel Howard wrote: > >>> I'm meeting monday with an Atlanta High School principal that wants > >>> to use Open Source applications in his school. He's familiar with > >>> the K12LTSP program that Atlanta Public Schools rolled out to 7 > >>> schools last year (he was formerly the principal of a middle school > >>> that was in the pilot) and APS apparently has 35 more elementary and > >>> middle schools lined up for it. So he's a big fan of OSS now. But > >>> high schools are different creatures, and there are lots of reasons > >>> why selected classes (like math and science) need stand alone > >>> desktops for CPU intensive processing. > >>> > >>> I'm wondering if there is a Linux package that is geared towards > >>> math/science like K12LTSP is to general education. Something that > >>> installs with FreeMat, Octave, SciLab, etc. built into it. Anyone > >>> seen anything like that? > >>> > >>> Daniel > >>> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Daniel Howard > >> President and CEO > >> Georgia Open Source Education Foundation > >> > > > > > -- > Daniel Howard > President and CEO > Georgia Open Source Education Foundation > -- James P. Kinney III CEO & Director of Engineering Local Net Solutions,LLC 770-493-8244 http://www.localnetsolutions.com GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics) <jkinney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part