Blogging NECC2007: Open Source Software for K-12

Submitted by khansen on Mon, 06/25/2007 - 03:31.

Full Title

Open SOurce SOftware for K-12

Presenter

Steve Hargadon - http://www.k12opensource.com

Description

Steve talked about FLOSS. (F)ree, (L)ibre, (O)pen, (S)ource, (S)oftware and explained the basics of how it came about.

What I liked

I really appreciated his emphasis of No Excuses, meaning that with Open Source options there should be no excuse for not having enough computers in the schools. These options are things like OpenOffice, ThinClient Computer Labs, and Linux OS.

Richard Stallman's Four Freedoms 0. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose. 1. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. 2. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor. 3. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

There is a myth that Open Source Software has little support. This is, indeed, a myth because open source support is available in the form of forums, chatrooms, newsgroups, google. I really think Open Source is a solution for schools with limited resources. I suppose the huge wall against that is persuading administrators.

Several examples were given of schools or districts that save many thousands of dollars merely by replacing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice. I think this could be a real selling point. Administrative types pay attention to dollar signs.

I agree with the idea of putting software in students' hands that they can access and use at home without spending a great amount of money. I personally saw this in my classrooms where I used Blender to teach 3D animation. The students were able to experiment at home and learn much more than I could ever have expected them to if they could only use the software in the lab at school.