On Sat, 2006-07-29 at 12:01 +0200, Finn Gruwier Larsen wrote: > Ian Lynch skrev: > > Just to let you know that we are installing OOo on around 1500 machines > > in a school in the UK. Its especially pleasing because this school does > > not pay anything for its MS licenses under a sponsorship deal so it is > > choosing to try out OOo despite not having to pay for MSO. Proves that > > even if they give their software away, we can compete with them ;-) > > Can we make a "success story" out of this?
Probably. The school is on vacation so I will need to wait until they come back to get agreement from the head. We are helping them with a major server upgrade including a Linux thin client trial and we have links to local government with interest in getting thin client access to all the homes in the town but that project is only at an embryonic stage at the moment. The school's long term view is to migrate as far as possible to open systems but we are doing it in a planned and measured way rather than a "Big bang" method and its linked to the schools innovative approaches to learning through community participation and an embryonic project with the local town council. All a bit complicated ;-) > I'd love more Danish schools to use OOo, but we're fighting against > ignorance. Most Danish school teachers have almost no IT knowledge, and > the small knowledge they have is concentrated around Word, Excel and > Powerpoint, so "selling" OOo in this environment is really an uphill battle. Its no different here. That is why I devised the INGOT strategy. We have to educate people first and take them from where they are to where we want them to be. Just dumping OOo on the doorstep is not going to guarantee take up. This school will use OOo as part of its community learning strategy with older students supporting disadvantaged people in the community with open source applications as part of their community service curriculum with government recognised certification as the reward. Since the school is also a leader in some national technology initiatives and the Head is very well-known as a successful innovator we get much more than just some additional users. It takes a lot longer and is much more involved to do this but if we are to get past "preaching to the converted" into mainstream education its necessary to be patient and go for education as the sales proposition for educators, not technology. > > UK is not far form Denmark, so a good success story about OOo in British > schools might be something that could serve as inspiration for Danish > schools. In fact this school is not far from Gatwick Airport or Dover so travel to make a visit would not be that difficult. There is at least one other I know about even further down the road in the same vicinity. Once things settle down in September, we can look at maybe making a case study. My main problem is time which is why I have been quieter of late - but that just means the business planning is working :-) Ian -- www.theINGOTS.org www.schoolforge.org.uk www.opendocumentfellowship.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
