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[seul-edu] [Fwd: Re: [OS:N:] Re: Moving forward... - RE: Who do we contact?]



This message was sent to me personally and to the OS:N: mailing list,
where a very similar idea to our coalition started a few days after we
started our discussion.  Since we're all pretty much on the same page, I
think we're all talking about the same thing.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [OS:N:] Re: Moving forward... - RE: Who do we contact?
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 15:52:43 -0500 (EST)
From: BMan <bgray@redhat.com>
To: Paul Nelson <pnelson@riverdale.k12.or.us>
CC: Doug Loss <drloss@home.com>, osn <open-source-now-list@redhat.com>

Paul,

Schoolforge, that rocks! ;)  A consolidated effort would be great.  If 
everyone would like me to peruse housing it on Red Hat equipment, I
will. 
 I need to talk with a few folks here about supplying the bandwidth, 
server and logistics if everyone would like me to I will.

I have no problem taking the extra time to build the server, I just need 
to work out the logistics with the powers to be.  

If everyone would like to see this happen, give me a few days to discuss 
this with the proper people and I'll let everyone know. 

Regards,
Brian Gray
BMan

  

On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, Paul Nelson wrote:

> Hello Folks,
> 
> Lots of good ideas coming out here. This great! I just want to echo what 
> Michael and Doug said, consolidation is the goal. In NO WAY am I 
> interested in any type of project bickering. We're all having way too 
> much fun to be slowed down by that!  ;-^)
> 
> I love the idea of schoolforge. What a great domain! And the concept for 
> those of us familiar with sourceforge and newsforge is right on target. 
> I have to admit right from the start here that I am a USER of open 
> source software and I've always been in awe of the folks who are 
> actually working to write it. I spent some time this weekend surfing the 
> various sites put up by folks working on software for schools and I am 
> all the more encouraged.
> 
> What I want to do right away is have some kind of menu system on my 
> sites that links to the others. What I'd like to have soon is a way of 
> bringing everything together so that when a school starts looking for 
> info on using Open Source software, the new user bumps right into us and 
> can easily get the information he/she needs. By us I mean all of us.
> 
> Perhaps we need to put ourselves in the mind of a teacher who has never 
> used Linux, knows nothing about Open Source but does want to explore 
> options for school technology that are more accessible than what 
> proprietary systems have to offer.
> 
> What would an information/education flow chart look like for this user 
> and how can we craft our sites to meet those needs? That's what I'd like 
> to start working on. Maybe it's as simple as a common menu bar we all 
> carry on our sites that link to the other sites as appropriate.
> 
> Example: SchoolForge.net = Info on software and lessons for classrooms
> (We really don't have this info on our k12linux and k12ltsp pages, it's 
> a major shortcoming...)
> 
> Example: http://opensourceschools.org/ is a great /. type of site for 
> schools. There is already much more going on than I can keep up with on 
> the lists. Just today there is a great article there written by Jeff 
> Elkner on the good things that happen when students are exposed to Open 
> Source software and more importantly the Open Source community.
> http://opensourceschools.org/article.php?story=20011202010609709
> 
> We need an interface or menu system of some kind that will draw in that 
> new user and somehow tell the story we all see unfolding here. It needs 
> to include links to at least the following (please help round out this 
> list...)
> 
> OSS info:
> What is the open source movement all about? I'd love to have video or 
> audio of Bob Young telling his story of buying a car with the hood 
> welded shut...  ;-)
> 
> Why is OS good for students, teachers and schools? etc...
> 
> Operating System (Distribution) Info:
> This is where we put the links and how-to's on where to get it and how 
> to install it.I was excited to hear of the "education option" to be 
> included with KDE 3.0 and to see some of the packages they're working 
> on. I'm also excited by the work Eric and Jim (and others) are doing to 
> make LTSP work so well. If you thought that K12LTSP 1.0 was slick, wait 
> until you see the next version!
> 
> Teaching with OSS:
> We really need links to all the cool software packages people are 
> working on. It's going to take some real management to bring all of 
> these to one site. I never realized how much there was out there. The 
> exciting thing is that once a synergy and critical mass is reached, 
> development will only accelerate. I think this will be a big part of the 
> long term success of using OSS in schools.
> 
> A critical piece of this is the "how-to" part of using software in 
> schools. This could include lesson plan data bases and even links to 
> collaborative projects. Schoolforge.net would be perfect...
> 
> 
> Administration with OSS:
> Here's the training section and a place for on-line tutorials and sample 
> configurations that work well in schools. An example would be using 
> SquidGuard for web filtering. http://squidguard.mesd.k12.or.us/ This is 
> what we've tried to do but it's a big job to keep it all pulled together.
> 
> Technical Support with OSS:
> Here's a place for email lists, chat boards, live irc help, LUG 
> supporting school kits, etc...
> 
> My basic point is all of these links should be just a click away 
> regardless of where the user is on any of our sites.
> 
> How can we do this? Does anyone have some kids that are good with Gimp 
> who could put together a good image map for us? If so perhaps we can 
> think about that and build up the link system for addressing these 
> aspects of using OSS in schools.
> 
> These are just my ideas. I'm open to different ways of addressing the 
> needs and even what those needs may be.
> 
> I do think that right now is a good time to move forward though. I think 
> we can surprise the world with the power of the Open Source development 
> model because it applies to more than software. It also embraces a 
> community of users as well. Let's build an infrastructure that brings 
> that community together and maximizes our impact for a whole generation 
> of students around the world. We can do that!
> 
> ;-) Paul
> ======================================================================
> Paul Nelson................................pnelson@riverdale.k12.or.us
> Riverdale School..............11733 SW Breyman Ave. Portland, OR 97219
> (503)636-4511......fax(503)635-6342.....http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us
> 
> 
> Doug Loss wrote:
> 
> > Michael Williams wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>hey Doug,
> >> I actually don't see this as competition. Paul and I are taking the first steps to
> >>consolidate the k12linux listserv and web site. Paul and Eric have already done
> snip...
> >>
> >>If we leverage our resources I believe that we will all be able to accomplish our goals
> >>faster.
> >>
> > 
> > You don't know how glad I am to hear that.  I was afraid we might devolve into the bickering
> > that is unfortunately not uncommon in the open source community when two projects appear to
> > be working toward similar goals.
> > 
> > We've tentatively named our coalition Schoolforge, mostly because David Bucknell already owns
> > that domain (schoolforge.net).  We're still working out just what the major divisions will
> > be, and just what the scope of the coalition will be.  I think different people have
> snip.......
> 
> > 
> > My preference is for it to be more toward the "shell" side of this axis, with links like
> > schoolforge.net/opensourceschools being essentially redirects to www.opensourceschools.org,
> > for example.  Where there's a hole in the current crop of Linux in education sites (no one
> > doing a particular task yet), that could be hosted directly on the Schoolforge site.  I would
> > think the site would be managed by representatives from each of the affiliated
> > organizations/sites.  That way we could all maintain our independence, yet benefit from
> > consultation with other groups working toward similar goals, and could present a unified
> > appearance to visitors from the outside.  And we might be able to modify our goals and tasks
> > so as to have less duplication among ourselves and get more resources devoted to actually
> > accomplishing our goals.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Regards,
BMan
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