On 4/12/06, Steve Hargadon <steve(a)hargadon.com> wrote:
On 4/11/06, Tom Hoffman <tom.hoffman(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Unfortunately, we have no education specific books to sell (am I
> forgetting something?)
ISTE.org, the organization behind NECC, has asked me to put together a
book on Open Source in Education, for which I've been soliciting help
from the lists over the last few weeks. I think it's a unique
opportunity to determine what we want to say, and what people want to
hear.
Oh yeah! Steve is clearly the furthest along in building his
barnstorming evangelist resume ;-)
> Perhaps a more plausible plan is wooing some of the people who
already
> have the keynote/pundit gigs locked in. David Thornburg is actually
> doing pretty much straight-up Linux advocacy in his talks now. Does
> anyone know him personally?
I've been corresponding with him, and he has submitted a presentation
for our Open Source lab at NECC which I think we'll likely accept.
Ah, you are on the ball, Steve. This is a big deal imho, it will the
free software center a big boost in legitimacy, at least in some
people's eyes. Thornburg has been around forever.
Some additional thoughts:
1. Mark Shuttleworth's sponsorship of labs in South Africa, I think,
has made a huge difference for interest in and acceptance of Open
Source in schools there. That would sure help here, and there is
plenty of need (think Gulf Coast).
Foundation support is key. We're getting closer, consciousness is a
lot higher now. One problem is that Foundation people and Corporate
people will, by default, talk to each other (Mark Shuttleworth is a
big exception here, too). We need to figure out how to get the
Foundation people talking to the grassroots (one reason for a summit).
I think they'll be amenable to it, but they don't know how to start
the conversation.
2. At the Ed Tech shows that I've coordinated Open Source labs
for
(NECC and CUE), the huge draws have been Moodle, blogging, and
podcasting. That seems to be the door that is open right now.
3. Just replacing proprietary software solutions is a limited vision
that is unexciting to most educators. Collaborative learning and -- I
think -- students participating in Open Source projects will likely be
the key to broader interest. If we are just replacing what works,
even if we are saving money, that's not a message that gets a lot of
attention. But when Open Source does something that can't be done
otherwise, then you'll see some excitement.
In the long run, I think the big paradigm shift will be triggered by
the need for low-cost 1-to-1 initiatives. That's 3 to 5 years out
though, and there isn't much to be done by us in the meantime to speed
that particular process except cheer on OLPC.
--Tom