What should Red Hat be doing...

[Bryant Patten]

On Apr 17, 2007, at 7:15 AM, fedora-education-list-request at redhat.com  
wrote:

> So let me throw this question out to you all.
>
> What *should* Red Hat be doing in the educational space?


Greg -

	FIrst off, it is exciting that you are asking this question.  The  
main obstacle I find getting people to consider Open Source solutions  
for schools is, as you know, the 'who am I going to call?' issue.   
Any initiative from Red Hat should help along this line.

	Here are a few of quick thoughts I wanted to share with you:

	First, one place within Red Hat you may want to look is at the Red  
Hat Academy.  I think that is a hugely under-used resource in the  
K-12 space.  The pricing is problematic for small high schools but  
the potential is amazing.  Think about applying that model to K12LTSP  
and you might solve two problems at once.   First, if Red Hat  
developed a similar packaged solution and created a K12LTSP  
certification program, that might deal with the legitimacy issue.   
Furthermore, if such a program were then designed with high school  
students in mind, the school could grow its own support staff.  I  
think schools would be very interested in such a 21st century, flat- 
world, digital vocational program.  I am in discussions with our  
local schools about this kind of a program, pointing out that this  
would be a career track for kids that aren't going to a 4 year  
college but want to stay in town and make a decent living. However, I  
haven't had much luck getting support from the RH Academy team  
(thought they have been very polite) because small, rural high  
schools are not their target market.

	Computer skills training relates a bit to my second point regarding  
another issue you discussed:

> All of this tells me that a lot of folks have been selling the whole
> "computers in schools" concept completely wrong.  In Indiana, they are
> not, not, *not teaching computers*.  They are teaching *kids*, and  
> they
> are *using* computers to do it.  It seems like an arbitrary  
> distinction,
> but it is in fact a *fundamental* distinction -- and it's a  
> distinction
> that so many people seem to miss.  Until very recently, myself  
> included.
> Sometimes you have to see these things firsthand to understand the  
> impact.

If I read this correctly, this is often stated as 'computers should  
be fully integrated into the curriculum and not taught as a special  
subject'.  Maybe it is just a pet peeve but I think the pendulum  
needs to swing back into the middle on this topic.  It shouldn't be  
an either/or situation.  Computers should be seemlessly integrated  
into the curriculum AND we should also make sure, in some way, we  
teach ABOUT computers.  Computers should be used transparently in  
math, social studies, english, etc AND there should be a computer  
course offered that talks about website creation, media literacy,  
programming, cybersafety, databases, spamming, phishing, and a  
variety of other subjects that are not in the domain of math, history  
or english teachers.  In some of the schools I am working with, they  
don't want 'any computer training just integrated curriculum.'  Given  
the pervasive nature of computers in society, the general student  
body should have some brief exposure to core concepts (pardon the  
pun).  And like art, music, chemistry, and politics, there are some  
students who will find this is an area that really lights them up and  
it is the school's responsibility to provide that opportunity to this  
subset of students.  Red Hat could use it considerable creative  
talent to make these materials world class.

Another idea I have been pursuing is a road show for schools.   I can  
talk forever about the value of FOSS software but when people sit  
down and use it for 10 minutes their eyes light up.  Red Hat might  
consider helping with sponsorship of such a road show, both with  
hardware purchases but perhaps more importantly with the production  
of leave-behind materials.

So how does Red Hat make money in the education space?

   -Charge for a RHA-like K12LTSP certification program, partner with  
Dell as Jim K. suggests and charge for a K12LTSP turn-key product  
that is installed and maintained by your certified technicians -  
which ideally would be students in that very high school.  If these  
kids can earn a money with their certification, they will pay you  
$100/yr to keep it current.

   -Charge a nominal fee for a cutting edge computer curriculum that  
could be taught by a savvy tech coordinator.  These material could  
have 'sponsored by' logo attribution.  Ultimately, schools will not  
be huge revenue source but as MS, Apple and VISA knows, getting mind  
share in high school pays off in college and as they move into the  
work force.  If they are only exposed to the Shadowman in college or  
as they enter the workforce, it may be too late.

   - Design a RHEL licensing program that as more flexibility for  
contractors working with schools.  I originally paid for RHEL for  
some of my school clients but ended up switching to Fedora because I  
couldn't make the licensing work for one-off installs. And the money  
wasn't the problem!  I would have paid more because of the legitimacy  
that the RH logo provided.


Once again, this is great that you are asking the question.


Bryant Patten
White Nitro, LLC
Vermont, USA



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-education-list/attachments/20070417/3a9ca346/attachment.htm>