NECC 2007- Top Ten Must-Dos to Make Open Source Work

June 26, 2007
11:00 Session- Top Ten Must-Dos to Make Open Source Work

The State of Indiana has adopted Linux and Open Source tools to increase student access to technology.

Initial studies showed that students spend an average of about 35 minutes per week accessing instructional technologies. Indiana was spending HUGE sums of money on computer hardware and software. The refresh cycle was about every 4 years.

Change is Great! You go first.

Students were presented with a Linux desktop running Open Office.
After an exit survey 70% of students reported that they were using Windows and Word when in fact they were using Fedora and OO2. Many users don't notice significant differences. Their focus isn't on the tool, it's on the task.

Honesty and Integrity- Let people know that this will not be a complete walk in the park. Set realistic expectations. Allow teachers to learn and grow.
Without curriculum and curriculum leadership, none of this works.

In year two the schools rolled out Moodle. It has made a huge difference in allowing students to re-access instructional materials

Reason 7- Sustainable Plan - Must include financially sustainable hardware, software, and TIME.

Reason 6- Transformational Teacher Applications

• Moodle
• Online Writing Software
• Simulations- examples Celestia, Stellarium, Graphing simulations
  

Using technology tools some students no longer see homework as drudgery. One student was asked if he has more homework due to the technology. He responded that he used his computer to access Moodle more but didn't have more homework. He saw Moodle as a method to lighten his load and not increase.

Reason 5- Highlight local Heros
Reason 4- Community- Build it, Nourish it, Sustain it
Reason 3- Focus
Started with the English classroom. Why? "Low hanging fruit." English teachers and students use Word processing and NOT complex probes and peripherals.

Reason 2- Drive the Car - You learn to drive the car by getting behind the wheel. You didn't read a manual. The consequences of mistakes when learning to drive a car is FAR greater than mistakes when learning to use a computer.

Reason 1- Open minds- Look for people with open minds. Help them to open their minds.
Help people to understand that the focus should be on students and not technology.

K-12 Open Minds conference
Open Source, Open Systems, Open Minds

Thinking OPEN in K-12
October 9-11, 2007
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.openmindsconference.org
Registration opens July 16, 2007

The presenter suggests that purchasing extended warranties is absurd. The failure rate on desktops is about 7%. The cost of extended warranty is far greater than that.

A technician from one Indiana school suggests that the Linux computers require far less support than the previous systems.

Indiana has settled on using Star Office because it has more templates. Free for educators.
Lots more fonts and lots of clip art.

Start small. Three schools the first year. What if we started with the MS?

ITALC- Intelligent Teaching and Learning - Like SchoolVue or NetOP- http://italc.sourceforge.net

EXCELLENT session. I STILL believe in my heart of hearts that open source is going to play a role in a device that will transform teaching and learning.
I beleive that Indiana is doing the right thing. I will begin to follow even more closely.

KP

Tags: n07s770, NECC, NECC07, NECC2007