[Scale-planning] Open Source in Education Track at SCALE 6x

[Tim Frichtel]

Orv and I talked about possibly having a track dedicated to Open Source 
in Education at the next SCALE.

Here are some initial thoughts, I hope this isn't too long.

Tim Frichtel

“Education Day” at SCALE 6x

* Key topics for Educators:
* * Software that can be used in classroom and at home
* * General purpose software (OO.org, Gimp, N|Vu, Inkscape, Scribus, 
Jashaka?)
* * Educational software (GeoGebra, TuxMath, TuxType)
* * “Web 2.0” -- blogging (Wordpress) and wikis (Mediawiki)
* * Possibly programming – Logo, Python, PHP, Java etc.

* Software for school management
* * Moodle - this is a no-brainer! Great tool, lots of success stories, 
solves a real need.
* * SugarCRM - seemingly odd, but for private schools, managing donors, 
tuition etc is a logistical challenge
* * Content Management System - Joomla, Plone etc - show how schools can 
have a great, up-to-date website with minimal web building skills
* * Possibly OpenLDAP for managing authentication in large schools 
(possibly too narrowly technical)

* Benefits/Risks of Open Source
* Successfully migrating to Open Source
* How to get Support
* * Books, websites, resources for _non-tech_ users

How to get Educators and Administrators to attend:
* Position the presentations as ways to get great software into 
curriculum. I don't think putting the emphasis on free, freedom, or it 
isn't Microsoft/Apple will be a strong pull.

* Focus on how this is a great continuing-development opportunity for 
teachers/administrators. Schools actively look for ways to offer 
development to their staff. This is usually focused on things that get 
continuing ed credit, as these help credentialed teachers maintain their 
credentials, but the lack of college credit may not be a deal killer.

* Offer practical labs. Logistically, this would be challenging, but if 
the conference rooms are big enough, we should be able to use LTSP 
setups that will provide a great environment for working with Open 
Office, Blogging, etc. It might be possible to get HP (who has a big 
K-12 sell) and/or Dell, IMB etc to provide some equipment. Maybe 
Linspire, Novell or RedHat would be willing to chip in. They don't need 
to provide much. For instance, HP could provide thin clients and LCDs, 
with Linspire providing giveaway software. Failing that, we might be 
able to get used equipment resellers (who often market to schools) to 
loan us equipment. Old laptops can make decent thin clients, or can run 
Knoppix, livekiosk etc. If you look at Educational Computer shows like 
CUE (www.cue.org) the hands-on sessions for editing photos, web pages, 
blogging, podcasting etc are always packed.

* Provide practical "take-aways". Giving out an Open CD or a Ubuntu disk 
is nice, but if a short document with some tips on getting started and 
using the software in the classroom could be passed out as well, I think 
that would be a lot better. Maybe something like "10 Great Creative 
Writing projects with Blogs" or "Key features for creating research 
papers with Open Office Writer" or "Demonstrating Geometry fundamentals 
with GeoGebra".

* Get speakers who are educators and have success stories to tell. A bio 
that states an experienced teacher is using Linux | Moodle | GIMP etc is 
a much stronger draw than just talking about how great the software is 
and what _might_ be done with it. There are some great success stories, 
here are few I've heard of:
- Riverdale High School in Oregon (http://k12ltsp.org/rhs_casestudy.html)
- Indiana Schools: 
http://www.doe.state.in.us/INaccess/pdf/inACCESS_readiness-assessment.pdf
- Vassalboro Community School in Maine 
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT8952848817.html