On Tue, 1 Oct 2013 10:52:42 Petros wrote:
I only see one way to establish open education in a school.
You have staff that believes in values, as creativity, curiosity and privacy. Staff motivated to put some effort in it. Then you can back them by providing support.
Economical values, usability etc. shouldn't be at the heart of the discussion. They follow if the motivation is there.
The problem is that this is almost entirely lacking in the school system. If a school was to persue such goals then they would need to do it across the board, every teacher and every subject.
My daughter has Apple instead of Windows. Caged farming compared to Windows. At least you can easily transfer data from/to a Windows system. Some of the iPad apps suck soo much that I would throw them out after an hour.
I disagree, I've read some good reports of teaching being done with iPads. The ability of an iPad to store writing (EG a blogging client) and take pictures and videos is enough to add significant educational benefit if used correctly. I read about one school that had kids make videos explaining what they learned and also prepare training for younger kids and it apparently worked very well.
It also prepares the next generation to send their data feed directly to the spies. Who would save or exchange data via USB stick? Apple makes it so much easier. Just use iTunes. Or Windows Live. Or Google.. whatever the product and the cloud of the day is.
Android is much better than iOS in that regard, but I don't think that the difference is immediately relevant to a school. I think that a school which used iPads effectively could transition to Android tablets much more easily than a legacy school.
There are free alternatives but I guess there is no way to counter that. Apple is seen as cool and it fits into the image of a "modern school". Well, we are living in the age where the image of a school is more important than education itself. Because we have a school market, parents shop around. We do not have schools simply to educate kids. I had endless hours, week by week, month by month, parents talking about "the best college for my child". It simply sucks.
When has education ever been more important than school image?
But they do not stand a chance against a whole society brainwashed to believe in brands.
They do, it's just difficult. You could just as easily ask yourself what chance do you have to raise children to not be racist in a society that's as brainwashed to believe in racism as Australia. While you probably won't be as immediately successful as you wish, it is possible.
Imagine another approach: Some Linux computers for teachers at the school, and the school starts with kids building their computer from a Raspberry Pi, and then install Linux on it, learn how to understand a computer works, how to make a case etc.
The teachers in the class room can add Scratch, Audacity, GIMP etc.
Not all kids are interested in hardware work. I think that a well run school would allow some kids to learn to solder and start on computers from the engineering side. Some would start with a Raspberry Pi or some other embedded device, and some would just start with a PC and an install CD. You can be quite good at driving a car without knowing a lot about how it works. When the IT industry is as mature as the car industry you'll be able to say the same about using computers. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/