8/9/2019 Open Source Schools Provocation Paper (March 2010)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/open-source-schools-provocation-paper-march-2010 1/2

Open Source Schools  How to move forward with Open Source:

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teacher’s perspectiveDoug Belshaw

The Problem(s)

Open Source Software is not used extensively in most schools in the UK. Where it is used itis mostly used because it is free (as in beer), solving a particular need.

In addition, teachers are exceptionally time-poor (especially those who hold whole-school

responsibilities) and are bombarded with information and offers from companies wantingto gain a slice of a guaranteed market.

Examples from the field

1. A teacher, frustrated with Internet Explorer, looks for an

alternative. She comes across   Mozilla Firefox , installs it and ishappy. The add-ons/extensions are an added bonus and the teacher

makes her colleagues aware of it.

Later, the teacher (as well as her new converts) attempts to accessthe school’s Management Information System (MIS) through Firefox, but can’t.Upon approaching an ICT technician she is informed that the MIS ‘only works withInternet Explorer.’

 After some searching online she finds that Firefox can be configured to work withthe MIS. She provides this evidence to the network manager’s team but is rebuffedas ‘Firefox cannot be locked down in the same way as Internet Explorer’.

2. A learning support assistant, looking for ways to assistant in the

Modern Foreign Languages department, is recommended Audacity by a friend. He downloads the software and uses it torecord some students he has taken out to work with in a smallgroup.

Taking the laptop with the recording home, he attempts to exportthe students’ work as an MP3 file, but becomes stuck. Looking online he comesacross a guide that talks about .dll files and configuration. Confused by the jargon

and frustrated that it doesn’t ‘just work’ he either gives up or borrows a friend’sMacbook to use GarageBand .

8/9/2019 Open Source Schools Provocation Paper (March 2010)

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3. An assistant headteacher, swamped by email, finds that a colleague

uses Mozilla Thunderbird to deal with multiple email accounts.Having installed the software and configured it to download email,he sets to work.

 When the time comes to send his first email, a reply to the headteacher,he composes it and goes to press send. An error message pops up:

  Unable to locate GnuPG executable in the PATH. Make sure you have set the GnuPG executable path correctly in theOpenPGP Preferences.

 Failed to initialize Enigmail.

Usually a fairly technically competent user of technology, he attempts to rectify thisin the preferences section. But to no avail. Turning to an online forum - he would be

too proud to approach the colleague who initially recommended the software - theassistant headteacher finds a plethora of people who have had the same problem.

Unfortunately, the websites that come up in a quick web search are forums whereresponses are less than helpful and/or assume such levels of geekiness that theassistant headteacher cuts his losses and tries Microsoft Outlook. When he cannotconfigure this either he blames the network manager.

Conclusion

 What are the three biggest barriers to mass Open Source Software in schools? From theabove examples they would seem to be:

★ Awareness - what’s the difference between ‘free to use’ and ‘free to change’?

★ Jargon - what does ‘GNU’ mean? why are so many projects confusingly orrecursively titled?

★ Geekiness - where are all the ‘normal’ people using this stuff?

Recommendations

✓ Campaigns focusing on single issues - perhaps those taken from Miles Berry’s2009 BETT presentation (i.e. the concept of ‘free as in beer’?)

✓ Step-by-step guides explaining the jargon involved in Open Source Software (OSS)projects. Encouragement given to OSS developors to stop using jargon withouthaving explained it first.

✓ “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC”-style adverts (or similar) to show how ‘normal’ everyday people use OSS and are aware of why they do so.