James wrote: > > Would seem to me that the solutions are. > > 1. Make your voice heard. As a parent your resposibility is your childs > education, not the school. The school could be the vehicle you chose to > fill your responsiblity but it's not the states duty. Join the PTA, go to > school board meetings. Make your voice heard. > > 2. Volunteer to arrange volunteers to teach computers, maintain computers > etc. Quite often the person teaching computers isn't a trained instructor > in computer science but rather someone who was judged to be the most > knowledgeable (IE they know how to set up a table in powerpoint) and with > the lightest schedule. The code is open source, why not make the > education open source as well. > > 3. Don't attack windows, attack the quality of education. This is an > issue every parent will understand. Talk about the difference between > understanding how a computer works vs. being a low wage data entry clerk. > (a bit harsh but it will make people listen.) > > 4. Don't come across as a Linux bigot. Instead come across as a parent > who cares about the quality and kind of education that ALL the children in > the school recieve. > > 5. Understand that a budget is a two edged sword, cutting your spending > is as deadly as over spending. (you'll get less next year either way) > also note that often the budget isn't labeled "to buy computer software" > it's labeled "to buy 17 copies of Windows XP, 17 copies of Office XP etc. > You need to attack the school board on this one. Be careful, these are > often people who are filled with self importance that exceeds even the > presidents worth. > > 6. Visit the RedHat White paper section, grab the data on Total Cost of > Ownership and write a white paper outlining the cost efficiency (not > necessarily savings) of using Open Source applications, and how even > though they aren't Windows they still enable a child to move throughout > the world of computers easily and intuitivly. Then present it at a PTA > meeting AND a school board meetin. Remembering that being an elected > official isn't about being good it's about looking good, and if not doing > what you suggest makes them look bad...... they will follow your lead. > > 7. Be prepared with hard numbers and demo's of educational Linux software > in hand. (bring in that notebook) Real killer here is if you do a > powerpoint style slide show on Linux. The oooohs and ahhhs will blow you > away. > > 8. Remember your fighting FUD not fact. The only way you can do that is > ..... > > "You know I heard the same thing, but when I did some research into this I > found out that ....blah blah blah. Oh and here is where you can check it > out for yourself. > > James
Hello James, Very well said, and I for one agree with you 101%. I would just like to add that the parent can also seek some help from the local LUG. I am sure that the LUG would be only to happy to oblige. This is exactly what is happening over here in Goa. Around 126 schools in what is one of the smallest states in India will now have Linux computers setup for them. This is no small task, but we are confident that we can live up to it. Volunteers from the LUG would also be looking after maintenance and any other help that the schools require. So please do talk it out with you local LUG, decide on what exactly you'll plan to use, keep it simple say kde + koffice, or windowmaker + openoffice for slightly older hardware should do the trick. Also involve the teachers in the LUG meetings, sort out any reservations they may have about linux. Getting to learn (and i'm still learnin) linux is one of the best things that could ever happen to me. It would be really nice if other people esp kids get to have the same amount of fun. And no they don't need to be IT professionals when they grow up, just comfortable and productive with one of the best OS the world has to offer is reward enough. my own 2 paise worth anyway, Thank You, Regards, mario
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