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Open Source In Public K-12 Schools?

Posted by kdawson on from the starting-'em-early dept.

MissMachine writes "I'm a computer science major who has been recently getting involved in local grassroots politics in my county and state. I've been discussing the idea with some of my state legislatures of submitting a couple of resolutions, opening up to the idea of switching to open source software in our state's K-12 schools. I'm looking for more information/literature about this topic, open source solutions in public K-12 education, pros and cons, studies that prove or disprove many of the assumptions of open source and linux in public schools. Any help in this field?"

3 of 323 comments (clear)

  1. Helpful Link by A.+B3ttik · · Score: 5, Informative

    This looks helpful...

  2. reasons to switch by viralMeme · · Score: 4, Informative

    "You don't state a reason why you think it is a good idea to switch"

    'View a cost comparison chart (pdf) that shows how open source solutions can leverage your costs'

    'The use of open technologies in education is now commonplace throughout the world with one notable exception, the United States. School and district technology leaders need to become aware of how these other educational systems are leveraging the use of open technologies to improve student learning, engage parent and community interest in education, provide home access to technologies used in school and use their financial resources in the most effective way possible. Consider these possible benefits ..'

    * Cost: License Fees and TCO -
    * Data integrity/interoperability -
    * Independence and Flexibility -
    * Stability and Reliability -
    * Broader Access to Information -
    * Community Support -
    * Engage Students in Collaboration -

  3. Re:Forget it by GrigorPDX · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is key. There's more to FOSS than Linux. Tools like OpenOffice, GIMP, Inkscape, Moodle, and Drupal can offer huge savings to schools without forcing users onto a whole new desktop environment.

    Oregon is doing quite a bit with open source solutions for K-12. The Oregon Virtual School District - http://orvsd.org/ - serves more than 200 public schools around the state. It's primarily Drupal and Moodle on servers funded by the state Dept. of Education.