[K12OSN] Defending education usage for k12ltsp

[Gentgeen]

First, I want to say "Good Luck to you, I wish you all the best".  

That said...

I think the main thing I would try to focus them on is the ultimate
cost.  Manpower, software, hardware, spyware, virus, security issues
etc. costs involved in a Windows lab (particularly a Win98 lab) will all
add up VERY quickly. I assume that this would all have to be a 'new
cost' that would have to be explained, approved, and bugeted.  And since
you have already proven that for the last 1 1/2 years your current
set-up is acceptable they /SHOULD/ have to do a lot of explaining. 
(Especailly since they will be going to an OS that is no longer
supported and will not have secuity updated after June of 2006)


As for the educational software, find out what it is they want to do. 
There are a TON of sites out there now that students can use for no
cost, and even more if you include those sites that can be used when a
school pays for them.  Many of those sites 'for cost' sites then allow a
student to use the application while at home as well.  Also focus on the
idea that we should be teaching students ideas, not applications. A
pet-peeve of mine is when someone says "we should be using MS Word since
everyone does."  Lets teach the kids how to write, not how to use a
particular application !!!!! (RANT OVER)
 

Odd thing is as I am typing this, my 2nd grader is playing on
www.starfall.com and my 4 & 3 yr olds are happy playing along with her. 
Some other sites she likes are:

http://www.starfall.com
http://www.funbrain.com
http://www.primarygames.com
http://www.iknowthat.com
And although i do not like about.com -- this can be a good place to
start to look for other:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/games/


  


On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:58:09 -0400
Joseph Bishay <joseph.bishay at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> Hope all is doing well.
> 
> So tomorrow I have to go into the school and meet with the new
> principal, where I have to defend that the linux lab has some sort of
> educational value. As the message that was left for me said, "All the
> educational software on the market is for Windows."  This is
> independent of the fact that the lab was running for the past year and
> a half under the old administration, supporting their educational
> needs with no problem.
> 
> Part of the problem is that she has a trusted advisor (not at the
> school) who seems to have a lot of experience (years and years) with
> computers is pushing this idea onto the principal. Seems they both
> feel that only Windows can support the educational software that they
> have heard of.
> 
> This seems to be an urgent issue, as they were about to go ahead with
> the dismantling of the lab without even talking about it, so I only
> have one chance before they decide to change all the machines to
> Windows 98 (I have no idea how they will go about doing this, but the
> machines cannot support anything more and that's what they have
> suggested).
> 
> So what do you all think?  This is a small elementary school and I
> know many other schools out there use k12ltsp - how do you deal with
> this situation? I'm thinking 2 things - 1) many applications may
> already exist for linux that I just need to show them or
> download/install and show them and 2) maybe you know about windows
> programs which could have previously required installation but now run
> through a browser off a website and therefore no longer need Windows.
> 
> help!
> 
> Joseph
> 
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