Many elementary schools today are very dependent on software built for Windows / Mac OS. Packages like Accelerated Reader (a quizzing program with tests on every book imaginable), JumpStart edutainment software, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, WinSchool / MacSchool administration software, and a slew of other titles don't run well, if at all, under Linux.
I would love to move our school to Linux on desktops, but I cannot afford the loss of some very valuable software titles, nor the cost of training teachers on a new platform.
Until Linux gets a good, free windows emulator (i.e. when WINE meets its promise), or until these titles can be ported or replicated for Linux, there are too many sacrifices required for some schools to move to Linux. For schools that do not have any software yet, Linux may be a good choice, but for others the tradeoffs just do not seem to be worth it... yet.
As a teacher who uses Linux, and has begun teaching it in high-school, I wonder if it isn't possible for some of similar talent to get together and actually create such a work. If the open source community can code great software by working together, then maybe those of use who do not love coding so much can better contribute by using the talents we have. In the case of any others who teach or do training, perhaps we can best contribute by making good educational material, using Rute or other LDP docs as the base, and developing the exercises and assessments to go along with it. If there is anyone else out there willing to work with this, I would love to be involved in such a worthy project. After all, if we are going to teach computers in school, shouldn't we be training kids on good software? And, teachers being the busy people they are, having the materials already prepared would be a big boost in getting others to teach and use Linux.
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Many elementary schools today are very dependent on software built for Windows / Mac OS. Packages like Accelerated Reader (a quizzing program with tests on every book imaginable), JumpStart edutainment software, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, WinSchool / MacSchool administration software, and a slew of other titles don't run well, if at all, under Linux.
... yet.
I would love to move our school to Linux on desktops, but I cannot afford the loss of some very valuable software titles, nor the cost of training teachers on a new platform.
Until Linux gets a good, free windows emulator (i.e. when WINE meets its promise), or until these titles can be ported or replicated for Linux, there are too many sacrifices required for some schools to move to Linux. For schools that do not have any software yet, Linux may be a good choice, but for others the tradeoffs just do not seem to be worth it
Is there anyone we can sue for stuffing our street-side mailboxes with junk mail? After all, we do have to pay to have the trash taken away.
As a teacher who uses Linux, and has begun teaching it in high-school, I wonder if it isn't possible for some of similar talent to get together and actually create such a work. If the open source community can code great software by working together, then maybe those of use who do not love coding so much can better contribute by using the talents we have. In the case of any others who teach or do training, perhaps we can best contribute by making good educational material, using Rute or other LDP docs as the base, and developing the exercises and assessments to go along with it. If there is anyone else out there willing to work with this, I would love to be involved in such a worthy project. After all, if we are going to teach computers in school, shouldn't we be training kids on good software? And, teachers being the busy people they are, having the materials already prepared would be a big boost in getting others to teach and use Linux.