[K12OSN] Re: Schools and the OPM Addiction

[Huck]

smartboards? fairly cheap... $1400...from SmartTechnologies

awesome interactive software with the board...

this is what teachers ask for more than anything(I wish they'd ask for 
training :)

--Huck

James P. Kinney III wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-12-03 at 20:46 -0500, Todd O'Bryan wrote:
>> About $3k for the SmartBoard, if I remember correctly. There are other
>> brands that do similar things for less, but I think a tablet PC with a
>> projector is more flexible and gives you about the same functionality.
> 
> Or a room full of Linux thin clients with graphics tablets at
> teachertool!
>> Todd
>>
>> On Dec 3, 2007 7:35 PM, Peter Scheie <peter at scheie.homedns.org> wrote:
>>> BTW, what do Smart Boards cost?  I've heard that a few will be going into my
>>> son's elementary school, while the district is looking at a $1 million shortfall
>>> next year.  I'd rather the money used for SBs went to teachers & assistants,
>>> especially since I've heard of people largely replicating SBs by using K12LTSP
>>> and TeacherTool.
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim Kronebusch wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:07:19 -1000, R. Scott Belford wrote
>>>>> I fear that far too often good-willed and well-intending education
>>>>> advocates fail to fully understand the extent of OPM addiction in the
>>>>> American education system.  More successful advocates have learned to
>>>>> enable the use of OPM within the schools.  They fund this addiction with
>>>>> enticing technology trinkets and strong-armed contractual agreements.
>>>> Funny, but sadly true.  I find that like with any addiction, the problem starts with the
>>>> dealers.  They make this stuff sound too fun to not try.  A quick example of how this
>>>> hurts schools.
>>>>
>>>> We just had 3M give the school a grant to buy some technology.  The teachers involved
>>>> went to a seminar about cool new products in schools.  The teachers decided the best way
>>>> the money could be spent is with EBeam projection systems.  They thought this could be
>>>> as useful as SMART Boards but for a third of the cost.  They ordered them.  The teachers
>>>> use OSX as their operating system this year.  As part of my schools second wave of Linux
>>>> integration we were going to move all teachers to Linux next year.  EBeam is OSX/Windows
>>>> only.  So now thanks to this grant (OPM), and the flashy presentation by the dealers, we
>>>> now have a huge obstacle to overcome with making these EBeam systems useful while still
>>>> trying to switch to Linux.  So our $5,000 grant (OPM) is putting our $60,000 savings and
>>>> all the other benefits of switching to Linux in jeopardy.
>>>>
>>>> Other cases are where the dealers of the OPM provide the stuff the first time for free,
>>>> but in doing so give us new addictions that we cannot afford.  Sure we get new
>>>> projectors, but can't afford to replace the bulbs or the system when it fails.  We get
>>>> software, but can't afford the upgrade cycle.  This list could go on.
>>>>
>>>> Used wisely, there is no problem with OPM.  However I believe the dealers are the first
>>>> in the chain who need to wise up, then the users will follow.
>>>>
>>>> Jim
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> K12OSN mailing list
>>> K12OSN at redhat.com
>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12osn
>>> For more info see <http://www.k12os.org>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> K12OSN mailing list
>> K12OSN at redhat.com
>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12osn
>> For more info see <http://www.k12os.org>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> K12OSN mailing list
>> K12OSN at redhat.com
>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12osn
>> For more info see <http://www.k12os.org>