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Has Free Software Saved Any Schools?

Posted by Cliff on from the putting-the-non-educational-software-myth-to-bed dept.

morcego asks: "I think everyone remembers the case of PCs for Kids, the Australian group that donates computers for the poor children, when Microsoft asked them lots of money for the software on the computers they donated. I am trying to convince schools to start using free software, and I have heard arguments like 'all free software initiatives in public schools around the world have failed.' I know this is not true, but I need cases to show them. So, do you know of any school (public or not), or other educational institution that has been saved from paying large amounts of money (and closing its doors) by free software?" For those interested in this topic, you'll probably want to read up on the latest salvo in the Microsoft private antitrust settlement. It sounds like education, and Open Source, may now have an official relationship, and things are now getting kicked into high gear. While it's good to hear about the "SchoolForge" coalition (no relation to SourceForge or NewsForge), what educational resources are currently available to schools from the Open Source arena?

27 of 462 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmmm by seanmeister · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "what educational resources are currently available to schools from the Open Source arena?"

    How about "source code"?

    1. Re:Hmmmm by gorillasoft · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Often, schools do not have their own sysadmin at every single campus. They sometimes have ONE sysadmin that has to cover all of the campuses in the district. This means they will not have time for every little thing.

      Also, if you have seen what they pay sysadmins in many districts, you will know that it could be quite difficult to hire a good admin that knows Linux as well as MS or whatever.

      I'm not saying to give up hope; I'm just putting more light on the situation.

    2. Re:Hmmmm by SoftwareJanitor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If there is a shortage of sysadmin resources then Linux is probably an even better answer compared to Microsoft. One central sysadmin can usually maintain a lot more Linux boxes remotely than Windows boxes, at least that has been my experience where I've worked. The only problem I can see is that schools are not as networked as they should be, which means that sysadmins may have to make more personal appearances than is typically necessary in a business environment. But the fact that Linux is generally more secure(able) than Windows or Macs (Macs are fairly network secure because they provide almost no inbound services - but as a broad generality they aren't as secure from the console as Linux is because they aren't designed for multiple users), and more reliable should also make it a win in reduction of need for sysadmin resources as a whole.

      As for it supposedly being more difficult to hire a good admin that knows Linux, it just doesn't seem to hold true. There are just as many good admins out there who know Linux as there are that know MS. Chances are it will be difficult to hire a good admin for what school districts pay, but it shouldn't be any more difficult for Linux than for MS. Look around at salary surveys -- experienced admins don't get paid that much differently based on platform.

      I think you need to examine your light again because you are buying into too many of the MS marketing promises that don't hold up. They want you to believe that any idiot who buys a bunch of "Exam Cram" books and gets a little certificate (after paying them a nice chunk of change) is qualified to administer your network. But it is a false economy to hire an idiot to administer your network because -- you then have an idiot administering your network.

  2. ahh, open source by vorovsky · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I work as a pc/network technician in a school district with about 3000 students in Texas. Basically all of our pc's run the standard with 98/office 2000. I have however convinced my boss to let me put up a slackware server that we use for hosting a few of our web pages and may start doing some routing for our district. Anyway, I have wanted to try to get something like this going on here, but everyone is so stuck to using -only- office 2k that they would refuse to switch to an open source alternative. If anyone has any suggestions on what I could do to maybe get things going here, please let me know. I would love to get away from paying outrageous win/office license fees.

  3. Free software + education == BAD IDEA! by SumDeusExMachina · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I think I could speak for many people when I say that using Linux along with other free tools like gcc is one of the best things that a developer can do. I personally use RedHat at my job as a developer, along with the whole development team, while most of the rest of the company uses Windows. You just get more done in Linux if you're programming.

    However, I think it would be wrong to try to foist Free Software upon unwitting schools before they knew what they were getting into. There is a very important reason that Linux has stayed at about .25% of desktop market share: it makes a crappy end-user desktop. Sure, you can use it on your network servers for Samba and mail and the like, but I would hesitate to train children on a system that will be ultimately useless to them when they get out into a world dominated by Microsoft software. Because, like it or not, high school is, for most, valuable job training before they leave high school and enter the work force, be that as secretaries using MS Office or accountants using Excel, etc. When you teach them to use software that is completely irrelevant outside of school, you are crippling them for life as they have to retrain themselves on all the applications that school had taught them in order to use something as commonplace as Office.

    Not to mention the numerous administration headaches that would result from your everyday highschool computer teacher trying to figure out Linux, let alone teach it. I personally could not imagine my glorified typing teacher in high school comprehending file permissions, much less understanding something as arcane as TeX or vi.

    All in all, its probably a better idea to stick with something like Macs which have a proven track record in education as well as most of the common office applications that can be found on Windows computers as well. Free Software has its place, but it certainly isn't on the desktop.

    --

    Is your company running tools written by ma
    1. Re:Free software + education == BAD IDEA! by Chuck+Messenger · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When you teach them to use software that is completely irrelevant outside of school, you are crippling them for life as they have to retrain themselves on all the applications that school had taught them in order to use something as commonplace as Office.

      Crippling them for life? By teaching them something? Kids are smarter than you give them credit for. So are adults.

      What kids need to learn about computers is not what keystroke combination does what in Application X. Teach them the principles of computer operation.

      Open source, in my opinion, is of immense use in education, precisely because it is open. Students can not only learn to use apps, but can delve as far into the system as their curiosity takes them.

      Schools should not be vocational training centers (for the most part). I mean, sure, there could be a Microsoft Office class, to learn how to use that software suite. That would be a vocational class, and it could have its place. But it shouldn't be the focus. Schools should not be fundamentally vocational.
    2. Re:Free software + education == BAD IDEA! by RedRun · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Because, like it or not, high school is, for most, valuable job training before they leave high school and enter the work force, be that as secretaries using MS Office or accountants using Excel, etc.

      How horribly untrue. For many, if not most, high school is a path to college. We shouldn't be teaching kids the ins and outs of whatever is the hot topic of today, because that can change quickly. When I started high school (1992), we were still using DOS. Not terribly valuable today. We should be teaching them how to learn. This would involve exposing them to as many computer interfaces as possible (Win, Mac, Linux), so that they learn the basin functionality of an interface and can learn a new interface relatively quickly. By limiting them to one single interface style, they have trouble understanding the difference between the operating system, the interface to that system, and the software that runs on it. Not to mention the numerous administration headaches that would result from your everyday highschool computer teacher trying to figure out Linux, let alone teach it. I personally could not imagine my glorified typing teacher in high school comprehending file permissions, much less understanding something as arcane as TeX or vi.

      There's no reason a teacher would have to use TeX or vi. StarOffice would do quite nicely as a word processor/spreadsheet combo. It has all the functionality a school could want. All in all, its probably a better idea to stick with something like Macs which have a proven track record in education as well as most of the common office applications that can be found on Windows computers as well.

      It's that kind of attitude that keeps our schools impoverished and our kids learning-impaired. If we showed them three different word processors, they would realize that they all do pretty much the same thing. Suddenly, they learn that change isn't scary. They learn how to adapt, and become more dynamic students. They learn that computers are just machines that follow instructions, and can be changed to suite the user's need. Those skills are way more important than knowing how to set a page break in Word XP.

  4. Free? by TeleoMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It took me a while to figure out what this article is talking about. When the author says "free software" what he means is _not_ the same free as the FSF. He actually means "getting commercial software for free" and not "free software like Linux." The problem with this whole thesis is that I just can't imagine that it's particularly true of Linux writers, because the amount of money you save by getting a free copy of RedHat or Mandrake is pretty trivial, since you can just download them for free off the net.

    However, in the world of non-free software, where "review copies" of software can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, it gets a lot more tricky. I have had plenty of personal experience with people (myself included!) who want to write reviews of product X in order to get a free copy. And that can definitely influence what you write...



    "I'm not joking. I'm really running for President." - Pat Robertson

    --
    $6.21 is the number of the beast before sales tax. Meh.
  5. Re:It isn't just free software by sirket · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A good computer system does not need a lot of maintenance. Besides which, in any school you can find technologically savvy kids. Make them a part of the computer team that maintains the network. Many a school is run in this way.

    Besides which, it sounds as if you are saying that a Windows alternative would require _less_ maintenance than a Unix solution. If a teacher has the skills to handle a Unix system, then that configuration will require a lot less time than the eqwuivalent Microsoft solution.

    -sirket

  6. Keep dreaming. by mister_sparkle · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The sad fact is that there are _no_ open source alternatives that provide the wealth of features that Microsoft Office does. I have been using office XP, and you have to admit that it is pretty nice. Open source alternatives are so far behind that I really don't see them catching up. Besides, the rest of the business world has standardized upon MS Office. That is the de facto file format, and I don't see it changing anytime soon. Office XP on Win2000 is stable and packed with features. I think people just need to accept that software costs money, instead of looking for a free lunch.

    You wouldn't expect your teachers to work for free, but you expect highly skilled software developers to give their work away. Think again, my friend.

    1. Re:Keep dreaming. by mister_sparkle · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Gee, you're right, high school kids sure don't need to learn to use office productivity suites! I mean, it's not like they will ever be expected to, say, type up a document, or come up with a spreadsheet. And do you think the office they work in is going to have Gnumeric/Evolution, or Outlook/Excel? Hmm, I wonder.

      Take a hint from Ximian's frontman, Miguel. He's not a glaringly anti-Microsoft person. At least he's honest enough to admit that they've done some things right. I mean, Evolution is a blatant Outlook clone, people. Sheesh.

    2. Re:Keep dreaming. by mister_sparkle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, and the money sure is rolling in for Ximian, isn't it! The whole "selling services and giving away software" thing has worked so well for people like SuSE (layoffs), Caldera, Ximian, LinuxCare (dead), Easel (dead), etc. It's a stellar business model! And free software that provides services is always undermined by some free software project that offers the same services for free. Why pay for Ximian Update when apt-get does the same thing for free? And don't tell me that "newbie users" would pay for it, because they aren't exactly running like mad to dump Windows for Linux. And for that matter, Windows provides updates for free. I still fail to see the difference between selling software and selling services. Selling software makes Microsoft evil, but selling services is OK. Of course, these are the same people who scream bloody murder when they hear about .NET and the idea of Microsoft selling services. Sigh.

  7. h3llz y3ah! phr33 s0ftwar3 sav3d my sk00l! by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We were gonna have to shell out MAD DOLLARS ($$$) for windows XP until me and my friends found a L33T 0-DAY KRAK for it on IRC!!!

    Now the entire library network is running XP Server!!!

    Free software r0x0rs!!!

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  8. Re:Schools should switch to Linux, NOT BSD. by tshoppa · · Score: 2, Insightful
    While *BSD may be appropriate for weekend hackers and tinkerers, it is entirely inappropriate for any school computing solutions...

    Dude, you *do* know that the "B" in "BSD" is a rather famous public school?

  9. Have Any Schools Been Ruined by Free Software? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's a legitimate question to ask it any schools have been closed by Free Software also.

    Has the increased cost of using unsupported or difficult to maintain free software forced any schools to find it impossible or difficult to keep their systems running?

  10. My story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was involved in a project to donate computers to a middile school in the mountains.

    We had computers donated from Goodwill and managed to get our university microsoft rep to donate Windows.

    Or first thought was to use Linux, but the schools ruled it out since none of the teachers
    would have been able to use it.

    We did manage to get them Office 2000, though, and
    I thank the people at Microsoft that helped us with that.

    Moral of the story though -- many schools are too afraid to learn new things, and that prevents free (and often better) software from taking hold.

    Linux developers do need to develop a more integrated desktop. Should there be a "X-with-training-wheels" we'd see a lot more Linux users!

  11. This won't sit well with the Open Sourcers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    but, why put it in schools.

    The Pros:
    1. Expense is cut drastically
    2. Open source benefits some with early exposure to alternate OSs and software to potential future code writters and sales people

    The Cons:
    1. MS is the mainstream... if you teach a child a radically different system than from what they will face a few years down the road, either in terms of software or the core OS, they are unprepared for college and/or the working world they are supposed to enter into. Seriously, how much of the world is open source in business? Not nearly as much as MS or even Mac (or both), not even close. These kids need realistic education.

    2. Support. How many open source gurus are going to work in education for the low pay offered. How many current education IT employees and teachers actually know open source software and OSs. Not nearly enough.

    3. Variance from what is at home. There are compatibility issues with files, and an overall difference (as stated above) between the mainstream and the niche in use, and most home users are NOT open source (and won't be for quite a while if ever given the fratricidal nature of the open source "movement")

    Sure, the savings could translate into more money for teachers, but do you honestly think that is how it would work. Politics will ensure that the money saved is either spent on salaries for administration or cut from the budget since it no longer is needed. Teachers wouldn't see a dime.

  12. Depends on the level of the student by Mr.+Fred+Smoothie · · Score: 3, Insightful
    They teach auto shop in high school. Of course, fixing cars is not as "essential" as reading, writing and math, either. However, not *all* students will go on to college. Most will probably own a car at some point. For some, getting a job fixing cars out of high school may be an attractive option. So knowing how to do simple repairs on a car is a very *practical* thing for *many* high school students to learn, and I think that a lot of people would argue that therefore it's a valuable addition to the curriculum.

    Many kids will either own computers or work with them daily after high school. Some may want to go on to work in an explicitly computer-oriented career, which however doesn't require much specific post-secondary education (hardware repair in a small shop, for instance). To the same degree as auto-mechanics (and probably far more than say, wood shop), computer education in secondary schools is a valuable addition to the curriculum.

    For primary education, heavily computer-centric instruction may be overkill. But at the high school level good arguments can be made for it.

    Of course, it won't be too useful to students who just want their school to subsidize their bong-building activities, but that's what metal shop is for.

    --

  13. Making old system last longer... by sterno · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In reading some of the case studies on this, it looks like the biggest use for Linux is in two realms:

    1) Servers - file sharing, web servers, e-mail, etc
    2) Making old machines useful again

    A lot of schools have old 486's and Pentium lying around which are pretty much useless as a Windows desktop, but set these systems up as X-terminals and throw a sub $1000 server behind it, and suddenly they are rejuvenated. This also has the benefit of making the management of these systems much easier.

    I know I've seen a number of initatives where some politician gets the bright idea that the secret to making schools better is to buy a lot of hardware. This usually helps for a little while, but then in 3 or 4 years the hardware becomes nearly useless and nobody's throwing more money at it. By going with Linux, it seems like they can extend the value of that initial investment a lot further and thus save hugely in the long run.

    --
    This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
  14. **volunteer** by Erich · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I think that most of us that use linux on a regular basis know that given a good setup (reliable server with a bunch of diskless netboot clients, all running KDE or Gnome or whatever with SomethingOffice installed, and doing an autoRPM or apt-get upgrade every few days automatically, and a nice fast postscript laser printer) know that a good setup can require basically ZERO administration after setup (and not too hard to set up for someone who knows what she is doing).

    The problem is that when someone in the education system goes to CompUSA or their local Mom and Pop computer store, they don't get someone who will set them up with that sort of thing.

    So here is what you need to do: volunteer your time. Set up that computer network for your school, especially those of you with children in it.

    You can also help the school with find good deals on businesses wanting to get rid of equipment ... those old PII 233's that they don't want to use anymore can be a big tax writeoff for them, and would work fine as a diskless workstation.

    But the problem is that most school teachers don't have much of a clue in the realm of computers. They don't know how to make a dozen half-broken computers into a lab. So volunteer your time and help them get set up!

    --

    -- Erich

    Slashdot reader since 1997

  15. I don't know about save, but we use it extensively by phoenix_rizzen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Our district (K-12) uses open-source and free software fairly extensively. In the past year, we have:
    -- moved all web and e-mail servers from NT to RedHat Linux 6.2
    -- put in FreeBSD 4.x-based firewalls in all the high schools and admin buildings
    -- replaced the IBM NetVista Proxy Server software running on NT with proxy servers running RH 6.2, Squid, DansGuardian, and the like
    -- implemented a very successful pilot of the Linux Terminal Server Project thin-clients in two elementary school labs (one school only uses Windows on administration desktops)
    -- promoted StarOffice 5.2 as an alternative to MS Office, on both Windows and Linux
    -- most IT desktops run either FreeBSD, RH Linux, or both

    Currently, all servers in the district run either FreeBSD, Linux, or NetWare. There are no NT servers left in the district.

    Most computer labs run Windows 95/98, a couple 2000, and one or two are still running 3.1. Some are now running Linux, with more planned for next year.

    The goal is to have all elementary school labs running Linux, all servers to be running FreeBSD or Linux, and all high school Internet access to be policed by Unix servers.

    Working quite well for us. Saved $30,000 is licensing fees so far (that's for the IBM software), enough to hire another tech if needed. Should see greater savings as time goes on. Also were able to purchase 200+ lower-end PCs for the elem labs as opposed to just 30 high end machines -- that's close to 30 labs for the price of one -- as the elem labs will be running Unix.

    The interesting thing here is that the teachers and principals are behind this 100%, and are clamoring to get their labs set up. It's too bad there are only 5 techs for 50+ schools. :(

  16. Linux & Open Source by jcuzzola · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We have been successful in installing three Linux labs (approx 35 computers per lab) with Open Source software using the computers as thin clients (see LTSP.org). The system has been received very well by students and teachers. We were even able to give 486SXs with as little as 12Megs ram internet access - these systems are now in the classroom. We have approx. 10 schools scheduled for conversion to Linux by the end of 2002 with the goal of having all our elementary schools (60+) switched over in three. It's always an uphill battle but I feel we're fighting "the good fight". When they(Microsoft & others) tell you every open source initiative has failed tell them otherwise. I equate Microsoft with the movie "The Matrix" in which everyone goes on with their everyday lives while only a small liberated few no the truth. Our Linux Labs have worked better than anything Windows has ever given us for a cost that can't be beat.

    John Cuzzola
    jcuzzola@sd73.bc.ca
    1383-9th Avenue
    System Analyst/Programmer
    Kamloops, BC V2C 3X7
    School District #73
    Phone: (250) 374-0679

  17. Re:While free is good... by Jason+Earl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Let's take a look at this point by point.

    1. All the teachers know Windows. My bet is that even many of the computer teachers do not know Linux well enough to run it in their labs. They can't teach it if they don't know it and teacher training could be expensive and take a lot of what's probably considered unnecessary time.

    What you really mean to say is that all of the teachers know how to log on and fire up Word. Most teachers don't really know anything about Windows administration. That's why the computers in most classrooms work poorly.

    This simply means that whatever Linux front end was offered would have to be similar to Windows. It would have to be at least as similar as Windows XP is to Windows 95. For the simple things both KDE and Gnome can be set up so that the teachers wouldn't miss a beat.

    2. They would have a lot harder teaching a completely new OS AND classes on how to use the programs than to just teach the programs. You'd probably have to have a intro to Linux class before you could ever teach whichever programs you choose to use - and that's another issue in itself.

    Once again. The teachers aren't teaching the students to use the OS. Most teachers don't even know that right clicking on objects gives them a different menu. Teachers are teaching students to "click on the Word icon" and then word process. If you created icons for the StarOffice programs you would be 90% of the way there.

    3. Students probably have Windows at home. Would they have problems with converting documents between systems? Say you create your report in Word at home, could your bring it school and use it there?

    This is already a problem. Even if you have Windows. Many students who have computers don't have MS Office (it's expensive), and if they do have MS Office there is a good chance that they have an older version like Office 95 that won't open the newer formats (easily). With a switch to Linux the school could easily (and inexpensively) hand out copies of StarOffice for Windows or Linux (it's free).

    4. The local tech support and computer stores would not be able to help them if something went wrong. 99% of the techs around here don't know anything about anything other than Windows. Who would know enough about Linux to help them??

    This, in my opinion, is the one legitimate point. However, the answer to this is to not roll out Linux PCs but instead to have one Linux server and a pile of thin-clients. That way all the local tech would have to do is throw out the old thin-client and plug in the new one. My guess is that the current Windows administrator could easily learn to be a fairly competent Linux admin if they didn't have to worry about all of the failed client PCs. He/She would have a whole lot more time on their hands with only one machine to administer.

    5. The students would learn programs and OSes that would different with what they would have when they go to college, go to work, etc. Since there are very few offices and colleges using entirely Linux, they would be at a disadvantage right away.

    Anyone that can learn to use StarOffice will have no trouble using MS Office (and vice versa). These applications are nearly identical.

    Of course there are a lot of plusses too, but these negatives sprang to mind right away. Of course they are all refutable. I think that the schools would choose easy and expensive over difficult and cheap any day. If they didn't have a choice and were nearly out of money, my guess is they would let the computers sit

    And that's precisely the information that is needed to sell schools on Free Software. Demonstrate to them how much easier it would be for them to administer one Linux server and a pile of disposable ThinkNics and you can bet that they will sit up and listen. At the very least public schools should be giving StarOffice a look. It would save them a bundle in licensing, and will even run on their existing Windows systems.

  18. An open source elementry school by tyrani · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am the system administrator for a moderatly sized private elementry school. When I started, the school had very few computing resources at it's 2 campuses. After making a list of what I wanted to accompish in 2 years, I added up the costs and found that they it would be beyod my budget to buy new workstations and build a dedicated server all based on commercial software.

    Here's what I've been able to create for the school:

    1 workstation for every 4 children
    So when a class is in the library there is 1 student per computer. They all run win98.

    I am working towards 1 laptop for each teacher
    So far there is 2, they are wirelessly 802.11b connected to the network.

    A dedicated Red Hat 7.2 server
    Squid proxy, web page filtering and monitoring Squirrel Mail IMAP web based e-mail, samba, LDAP student/teacher contact and vital information, a MySQL powered bookmark database, Apache Web server, and a digital picture gallery.

    Everything on the server is open source and works flawlessly. All of this would have cost a fortune to buy and maintain on a NT server.

    I am very interested in what software other people are running if they are doing the same thing that I am. Reply to this comment or e-mail me with what you run, I'd love to share tips.

    --
    rejected (19) accepted (0)
    Is there a psychological term related to getting your stories rejected on slashdot?
  19. Linux/OSS in Schools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Free" software is in use here and there. I've not heard of any schools who were "saved" by its use, but I do know several schools who managed to save quite a chunk of money by moving some of their server functionality to Linux and FreeBSD servers.

    Coming from the perspective of someone who developers student/school management systems, there are two competing factors at work as far as getting open source solutions implemented in the schools:

    1) Microsoft's prices have risen drastically (and Oracle/Sun/IBM prices have never been particularly cheap), and this is forcing schools, districts and states to consider options that they might not otherwise consider.
    2) Perceptions prevent the adoption of open source solutions. Microsoft is trusted, no matter what their "tech" reputation may be, and support is infinitely easier to acquire. Oracle/Sun solutions are hellishly expensive, but they have a certain reputation for speed and stability. IBM solutions tend to waver between these two "poles". Facts being what they are, most of the open source/free software solutions do not have anything approaching the "trust" that schools are willing to place in these.

    I have seen some larger districts flatly refuse to accept a Linux or FreeBSD implementation of the web server (just the web server, mind you), even though this would have saved them 20-30 grand.

    Management systems being absolutely critical to the schools, they simply are not willing to take a chance that "you get what you pay for" is not always true.

    And, of course, any company developing apps for schools has to accept the fact that it is very much easier to acquire (or replace) experienced developers and administrators in the non-OSS world.

    Things change, of course.

  20. Donated computers generally don't help schools by John+Murdoch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hi!

    The scene: "Public Comment" time at a school board meeting. The previous speaker, a senior citizen, has spoken at length about the burden of school taxes on the elderly in the community. He has particularly emphasized his opposition to the blatantly gold-plated technology proposals in the school budget (including the 4--count 'em, 4! PDAs for the district IT staff). Then the school board's self-designated Taxpayer Advocate clears his throat, and says, "Y'know, I was talking to our IT director at work the other day, and we're getting rid of a bunch of computers. Some are 486s, but a lot are Pentiums--we could provide a lot of those machines to the district at little or no cost....

    ...And another dumb IT decision is in the offing. Lots of people want to donate their downstreamed equipment to the schools. Sometimes they genuinely think they're doing good: most of the time they're trying to claim a tax credit for the contribution, and will "suggest" valuations for each machine that they drop off. All too often those donations cost the district actual cash--because you have to pay a HazMat hauler to take the monitors these days.

    Linux and other free (as in beer) software may well have a place in education. There is a very powerful argument, for instance, for creating an Office-type suite with extensive classroom management tools. Given that school environments can be extraordinarily hostile (think of the kinds of behavior that occurs in a middle school classroom if the teacher steps out into the hall) there is a persuasive argument to be made for a robust platform like (ahem) FreeBSD.

    But. Please please please do not even think of saddling the poor, overworked techs at your local school district with your worn-out, leftover, good-for-nothing junk. You are doing them no favors, you are doing no good to the district, and you are probably preventing adoption of a well-thought-through technology plan by "donating" your scrap equipment.

    Computers in schools
    I'm on the Technology Committee of the Nazareth (Pa.) Area School District. We've played out that scenario at the top of this post several times. We have had several area companies offer to donate their scrap to us. We have had several board members get positively indignant that we have spurned those offers. We did spurn those offers, and if I have any say in the matter we will continue to spurn those offers--here's why.

    This is a hostile environment
    Suppose your employer decides to install a new computer system. And suppose a computer-phobic customer service rep decides that he doesn't want to use the new system. Your employer has a simple remedy: fire the CSR. Doesn't work that way in American schools: if you want the teacher to use a computer, you have to persuade her/him.

    This is a hostile environment #2
    Teachers (no surprise, right?) don't want to look stupid in front of their students. But the kids are substantially more adept with computers than the teachers--so the teachers have a built-in ambivalence (at best) about computers.

    So we have to persuade teachers to use a device that potentially can humiliate them in front of their students. How?
    From hard-won experience, the district IT staff has to offer absolutely bullet-proof reliability. They have to be able to guarantee--and deliver on that guarantee--that the computers will be there, working flawlessly, whenever the teacher wants. No reboots, no network hassles, no video driver conflicts (elementary teachers probably use more video games than CmdrTaco), no need to get an MSCE in order to teach 3rd grade. In other words, the district IT staff has to provide Service Level Agreement-style functionality.

    But...
    do you think this means that anybody is willing to pay for a district IT staff? Funny boy--the school board will fund an extra assistant to the wrestling program in a heartbeat, but they won't spend a dime for a part-time LAN geek unless you do some major politicking. So what IT staff you have (4100 students, 450 employees, 7 buildings over 80 square miles, 3.5 IT staff) have to make do with what they have.

    Which means...
    They have to standardize, standardize, standardize. Every elementary classroom has to have the same video cards; every machine has to have the same network adapter; every machine in the high school has to have the same monitor. They have to develop a formalized bug-tracking system to identify recurring problems, and they have to take a systemic view of the entire IT picture in order to maintain 100% uptime. Because if they provide less than 100% uptime the teachers will stop using the system, and the parents will start calling the school board. And so forth....

    So please...
    Don't "do the kids a favor" and ship them junk. If you want to make a meaningful donation, call the school district and ask if you can give them the money to buy another one of their reference desktops. If they're running Windows, hold your nose and buy Windows. If they're running a bunch of out-of-date kiddie games, hold your nose and buy the out-of-date kiddie games. Do not make their lives miserable by sending them leftovers, or by going out to Circuit City and buying a $399 special. (God save the IT staff from the enthusiasm of the PTA.)

    If you want to champion Open Source in the schools
    Don't go preaching Linux as religion. Get involved, go to meetings, be prepared to make a reasonable case, and be prepared to argue for a complete replacement of the entire district IT infrastructure. And be prepared for war from the elementary teachers and the PTA: elementary school software runs on Windows, period. If you want to replace it, you'd best have a bunch of kids games tested and ready to go.

    Bottom line:
    Computers are crucial to education in the 21st century. I teach in a graduate program, and I'm constantly amazed at the number of MBA students with only the faintest glimmer of understanding about computers and technology. But the route to learning about computers and technology is not with leftover junk--it is with a carefully-developed, meticulously-managed, (and yes, sometimes rigidly enforced) IT plan that promises a "100% school time up time" service level, and delivers it. If the users can trust that the computers will be there, they will learn. If they can't trust the computers, they will learn to hate them.

  21. Teachers Are Paid Too Little? by Nail · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Disclaimer: My wife is a teacher and I would benefit economically if they were paid more money.

    I find it sad that some say "teachers are paid too little" when quoted this price or that, but never seem to be able to put a dollar value on teaching labor themselves.

    It irritates me because I think if someone is going to complain about a problem, they should at least offer solution to it (even an imperfect one). If they don't, it doesn't even matter whether they fully understand the problem or not, they are simply 'stirring the pot'.

    --
    ...yellow number five, yellow number five, yellow number five...