[ale] [Fwd: [Am-info] Red Hat proposes alternative to MicrosoftSettlement]

[Geoffrey]

Full disclosure, my wife is a 3rd grade school teacher in Cobb County...

"James P. Kinney III" wrote:
> 
> A point that has not been brought up is whether the schools systems WANT
> the computers. Doing good for the kids is a great idea. I really like
> the RedHat proposal. But wait until the free stuff hits the school
> systems. It will be like the food rotting on the docks after it was sent
> to Ethiopia in the late 80's.
> 
> I have encountered this personally with the Dekalb county school system.
> I offered to provide several pc's to my daughters school which were on
> par with what they already had. I would include RedHat and install them
> and even volunteer to teach kids and teachers how to use them.
> 1.Most of the teachers didn't use the computers they already had.

True, but unfortunate.  Teachers have too much to do as it is.  They
don't get the proper training on technologies either.  My wife is seen
as the computer guru at her school, yet she has problems finding a file
when she saves it to anything other than a floppy.  She can do what she
needs to do.

> 2.Many of the teachers were afraid to use computers at all.

See response to #1

> 3.It wasn't part of the "systems plan" (?!?).

We ran into this as well.  I can't connect any computers to the school
network.  I had offered to supply a linux box in my wife's classroom
that would look just like another windows box on the network.  The
payoff was that all three of her computers in her classroom would have
access to the network.  No go.  So, she has two computers that are not
networked, therefore can't see the internet or access the printer.

> 4.No concept of "no fee for license" (who do we pay?).

Haven't run into this issue.

> 5.The worst part is the use of computers for the worst part of
> education, repetative drill. This teaches the kids that the computers
> are boring.

Depends on who's doing it.  Every year my wife has requested a grant to
do an internet based environmental research project.  It follows a group
of scientists through various parts of the world while they study
various enviromental issues.  The 'quests' they've done thus far include
Mayaquest (twice), Galapagosquest, Americaquest, Africaquest.  The kids
get to vote on various issues including where the trip goes next and
real brain thinking issues.  The kids look forward to it.  She's waiting
for the approval of her grant for this year as we speak.

> 
> They have a pile of edu-games (Broderbund, etc) that the kids are
> allowed to play with, time permitting. The school system is so
> micro-managed that the lesson plans must include how many minutes per
> week is spent on each subject. This leaves no time for exploration of
> new technology as part of a class.

Actually, this is stipulated by the state.  Something called QCCs. 
Anyway, teachers have the latitude to inject technology as they see
fit.  My wife's three computers stay on all day and there's almost
always someone at all of them.  Then again, she's not your traditional
teacher.

All I can say is you've got to get involved.  My daughters target class
is starting a session on computers.  I've agreed to come and do a
presentation.  What I will do is show them OS/2 and Linux running on
laptop computers.  Show them that alternatives exist, and try and make
them understand that computers and Windows are two separate things. 
Sure, it probably won't go far, but who knows.  I'll make the effort
just the same.

> 
> --
> James P. Kinney III   \Changing the mobile computing world/
> President and COO      \          one Linux user         /
> Local Net Solutions,LLC \           at a time.          /
> 770-493-8244             \.___________________________./
> 
> GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
> <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
> Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
> 
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>    Part 1.2Type: application/pgp-signature

--
Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at denali.atlnet.com

"...the system (Microsoft passport) carries significant risks to users
that
are not made adequately clear in the technical documentation available."
- David P. Kormann and Aviel D. Rubin, AT&T Labs - Research
- http://www.avirubin.com/passport.html

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