[K12OSN] Interviews with Maddog Hall and John Selmys; Coming Up--Doc Searls and Richard Stallman

[Eric Harrison]

Steve,

Thank you so much for these interviews and your analysis.

This is simply great work.

-Eric


Steve Hargadon wrote:
> http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/jonmaddoghall.mp3
> 
> http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/jonmaddoghall.ogg
> 
> 
> http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/johnselmys.mp3
> http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/johnselmys.ogg
> 
> This week I've spoken to Jon "maddog" Hall and John Selmys about Free
> and Open Source Software in schools. Their recorded interviews are
> linked above. Tonight at 5pm PDT I interview Doc Searls (see
> EdTechLive.com to participate or listen real-time), and on Saturday,
> October 7, I'll be interviewing Richard Stallman at 7:30 am PDT.
> 
> Maddog (and he told me only his mom calls him Jon) is the Executive
> Director of Linux International, and even though I was struggling with
> a flu bug, he did a great job of succinctly communicating the value of
> Free and Open Source Software in education.
> 
> John Selmys is the organizer of the Seneca College Free and Open
> Source Software Symposium being held in Toronto this coming October 26
> - 28.
> 
> While Maddog gave a great overview of the theoretical value of FOSS in
> schools, John S. gave a somewhat discouraging practical report on the
> lack of progress for FOSS in Toronto schools. In many ways, the
> combination of these two interviews is reflective of the reality of
> the situation with Free and Open Source Software.
> 
> Now, I know I must sound like I'm beating the same drum over and over
> again the last few weeks, but as Maddog was talking about the
> grassroots kind of assimilation that the FOSS world hopes for into the
> classroom, and John S. was talking about the top-level decision-making
> that is precluding FOSS from getting to the classroom, I couldn't help
> but continue to reflect on Larry Cuban's remarks from a couple of
> weeks ago. The lessons seem to be:
> 
>   1. Decision-making about technology in most schools is not made by
> the teachers themselves, but by higher-level policy-makers. And this
> is a political game, with lots of money at stake.
>   2. Teachers are extremely busy (it was a little heart-wrenching to
> hear John S. talk about the restructuring in his area that has made it
> even harder for teachers). We cannot place the burden on them to learn
> about and integrate technology into what they do, as most simply don't
> have the time and are measured on other factors.
>   3. There are early-adopter teachers who are utilizing technology
> actively in their classroom, but their adoption pattern is not the
> same as the average teacher, and so attempts to roll out technology
> initiatives on their experience historically haven't proven effective.
>   4. Even though billions of dollars have been spent on educational
> technology, the computer has not really penetrated or transformed the
> average classroom experience.
>   5. For technology to be truly integrated into the classroom, it
> will have to be so reliable and easy to use so that average teacher
> can participate in a grass-roots movement to bring it into the
> classroom, since it will likely buck the trend of decision-making at
> higher levels.
> 
> Now, I am sure that this is an oversimplification, but to me this last
> point really helps to explain why FOSS has not made more inroads in
> the classroom. It's not going to come from the top, since even though
> the cost savings and the openness of FOSS would have value to the
> school or district, the existing proprietary vendors have a financial
> interest in keeping their programs in use. And it can't come from the
> bottom, because to the average teacher, Linux and FOSS are no easier
> to use than their existing computer tools and the cost savings and
> openness are not as important to them. Linux, in particular, is
> significantly less difficult to maintain from an administrative level
> (where the decision-making won't necessarily be about that), but at
> the classroom level can even be harder to use for a teacher because it
> is unfamiliar.
> 
> So far I've focused on the classroom, but the computer lab (or
> technology training program) is another story that I'd still like to
> figure out. Maddog makes some great points about the use of Free
> Software (which is his preferred term) for training.
> 
>   1. Free software can be given to the students, and so there is no
> economic barrier to learning or to continued use outside of or after
> school.
>   2. Much of the technologies that drive the Internet and the Web are
> based on Free Software, and so teaching these programs would be much
> more advantageous to students.
>   3. Free software teaches you three times: once when you use the
> code, once when you investigate what it does and how it does it, and
> once when you improve it to make it better (particularly for the older
> students).
>   4. Free software introduces students into the world of
> collaborative programming.
>   5. Free software allows students to create their own computer labs
> (a la LTSP).
>   6. Free software allows students to investigate everything from
> embedded systems to supercomputers.
> 
> I'm particularly fascinated by the potential for computer and
> programming classes to provide students with the opportunity to work
> on collaborative programs that would benefit their community. If you
> are seeing this done, would you please let me know so that I might
> focus some attention on it?
> 
> Steve
> -- 
> Steve Hargadon
> steve at hargadon.com
> 916-899-1400 direct
> 
> www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology)
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> www.TechnologyRescue.com - (Linux Thin Client Solutions)
> www.LiveKiosk.com - (Web Access and Content Delivery Solutions)
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> www.SupportBlogging.com (Public Wiki)
> 
> 
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