education October 2006

education@lists.fedoraproject.org

2 participants
6 discussions

Open Source and Education Conference - Sydney Australia Jan07
by Bryant Patten 26 Oct '06

26 Oct '06

Hello I am organizing this year's Open Source and Education mini-conference at the Australian National Linux conference (linux.conf.au 2007) in Sydney NSW Australia. I wanted to extend an invitation to everyone on this mailing list to speak at this FOSS and Education gathering. Last year, we had an incredible group of speakers from all over the world and I am hoping we can do even better this year. If you have ever wanted to travel to Sydney, this could be your chance! The details and call for presentations at the mini-conference can be viewed at: http://www.fossed.org/lca07/index.html The general conference website is: http://lca2007.linux.org.au/ Unfortunately, there is still no money available to assist with travel but the good news is that speakers no longer need register for the main conference - though you are encouraged to do so! If you have recommendations for other people that I should invite, please let me know. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Bryant Patten White Nitro, LLC ______________ About linux.conf.au 2007 linux.conf.au is Australia's annual technical conference for the Open Source and Free Software developer community. Now in its eighth year, linux.conf.au is regarded as one of the premier global FLOSS technical events and attracts many international open source software developers and users. Returning to Sydney from the 15th to 20th of January, linux.conf.au 2007 is supported by our Emperor sponsors, HP and IBM, and hosted at the University of New South Wales. For more information about linux.conf.au 2007 visit our website at: http://lca2007.linux.org.au/ About Linux Australia Linux Australia exists to serve and promote the Australian Linux and Open Source community. The organisation aims to do this best by taking enthusiasms within the community, such as FOSS issues, projects, education, advocacy just to name a few, and help them flourish, to succeed. The lifeblood of this organisation is the people in the community, and Linux Australia strives to be both relevant and useful to the community. For more details about Linux Australia visit: http://www.linux.org.au/

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Publicity for Recorded Interviews on Free and Open Source Software
by Steve Hargadon 23 Oct '06

23 Oct '06

I'm hoping to find ways to create broader awareness of the interviews that I have been doing on educational technology, and specifically on Free and Open Source Software in K-12 schools. I've posted a story to www.digg.com, a popular news website that where stories are ranked by user interest. Users click on a story's "digg it" button to indicate their approval or interest in the story, and the higher the number of "diggs," the more likely a story will be read by other users. Might I encourage you, if you have been following my interviews, to "digg" the story I have posted on the series? Here is the link to start: http://digg.com/linux_unix/Stallman_Raymond_Others_on_Free_Open_Source_Soft… The story itself links to http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com/Recordings+List and reads: ---- Stallman, Raymond, & Others on Free/Open Source Software in K-12 Schools Over the last couple of months I have recorded audio interviews on the use of Free and Open Source Software in K-12 schools with Jim McQuillan (LTSP), Mike Huffman (Indiana's Linux Implementation), Eric Raymond (ESR), John "maddog" Hall, Doc Searls, Richard Stallman (RMS), and Martin Dougiamas (Moodle). All available for download in .mp3 or .ogg. ---- If you are not registered with www.digg.com, you will have to do so in order to click the "digg it" button by the story. Thanks for that in advance. If you have any other ideas for publicity, or if you want to suggest individuals for me to interview, please let me know. -- Steve Hargadon steve(a)hargadon.com 916-899-1400 direct www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology) www.K12Computers.com - (Refurbished Dell Optiplexes for Schools) www.EdTechLive.com (Podcasts, Workshops, & Conferences) www.TechnologyRescue.com - (Linux Thin Client Solutions) www.LiveKiosk.com - (Web Access and Content Delivery Solutions) www.PublicWebStations.com - (Disaster & Shelter WebStation Software) www.K12OpenSource.com (Public Wiki) www.SupportBlogging.com (Public Wiki)

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Interview with Martin Dougiamas, Creator of Moodle
by Steve Hargadon 23 Oct '06

23 Oct '06

http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/moodlemd.mp3 http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/moodlemd.ogg If you look at the "stats" page for the Open Source program Moodle, you will see the incredible growth taking place in the use of this e-learning program. Martin Dougiamas, the creator of Moodle, spent an hour with me talking about Moodle, what is is, where it is being used, and how a large Open Source program like Moodle is sustained. Martin is thoroughly engaging, and the interview goes by much too fast. Some notes: * Martin grew up in the desert of Australia, and his own schooling as a youth was from "The School of the Air." Through CB (Ham?) Radio, he and four or five other youth talked with a teacher who was 600 miles away, and every other week an airplane would stop by with school materials. Seems quite appropriate that someone with that background would 1) of necessity become a self-learner (again, reference the Doc Searl's interview and the "self-learner" aspect of the Open Source world), 2) understand the value of e-learning, 2) understand the nature of distance learning, and 3) see the value in learner-participation that lies at the philosophical heart of Moodle. * It was a test of Martin's patience for me to ask him to explain Moodle as though he were talking to a teacher who knew nothing about it, but he did a very good job, and I hope it makes the interview a better resource to the teacher community. There is a skill involved in not only managing a project as complex as Moodle, but also being willing and able to communicate its value in basic terms to new users. This impresses me about Martin. * Moodle isn't just for distance-learning situations. It is also built for and used in "face-to-face" learning or "blended" learning environments, and he mentioned its value in homeschooling. * The Moodle community that works on the actual software project is a model of the "community of practice" or "collaboration" that Moodle strives to help create for learning environments. They are their own best "customers" of the project, as they work to extend this core value of participation. For several months I have been wrestling with the two values of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to schools. The first is "FOSS in Education," which is essentially the use of FOSS programs that, for the most part, are just replacing proprietary programs which were already in use or which weren't in use because of their financial cost. The second is "FOSS as Education," where the use of FOSS programs introduces the student to the Free and Open Source world, and allows them to participate in collaborative programming. Jeff Elkner's work teaching FOSS programs like Python to students at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, is an example of this. What makes FOSS more than just a "cheaper" replacement of proprietary programs is this second opportunity--to engage students in very real-life aspects of a world that is becoming more and more based on collaborative work. The fascinating value that Moodle seems to bring to this picture is the ability that Moodle has to bring these collaborative opportunities into the regular classroom, bridging the gap between the worlds of regular computer use and Jeff Elkner's computer lab--because if "FOSS as Education" were only to take place in the computer lab classes, it's impact would be limited only to those technically-minded students. (Coming up for air now...) * Moodle is most definitely having a unique impact on the awareness and understanding of Open Sources software in schools. This is largely, I think, because it is viewed as "free" (as in cost) competitor to very expensive proprietary programs. Our Moodle demonstrations at the NECC and CUE shows have literally been standing-room only. But Martin is quick to point out (as was also clear about OpenOffice in my recent interview) that it is the combination of features and the benefits of the Open Source community that are driving the adoption of Moodle, and not the low cost. * The Moodle.org project is financially self-sustaining because of the commercial partnerships that Moodle has under the Moodle.com website. There are 40 Moodle partners who provide hosting, support, consulting, training, and certification (and some 200 additional applicants) who pay royalties into a Moodle trust. Funds from that trust go to pay developers to work on Moodle. * There are some very large deployments of Moodle, including the upcoming use of Moodle by the Open University of the UK, where they anticipate it being used by 200,000 students. Large organizations that use Moodle also help the project by devoting staff to maintain or improve Moodle, and Martin said that the Open University will be working on helping to maintain the "quiz" module, as well as funding directly some upcoming developments. * Martin wasn't sure he wanted to get into the fray over "Free Software" and "Open Source Software," but he admitted he uses the phrase "Open Source" himself. * Maintaining a project with some 20,000 scripts is a big job, but Martin still finds time each week to do some actual coding himself. He loves his job, and wishes that everyone would have something exciting to work on so that they want to jump out of bed each morning, like he does. -- Steve Hargadon steve(a)hargadon.com 916-899-1400 direct www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology) www.K12Computers.com - (Refurbished Dell Optiplexes for Schools) www.EdTechLive.com (Podcasts, Workshops, & Conferences) www.TechnologyRescue.com - (Linux Thin Client Solutions) www.LiveKiosk.com - (Web Access and Content Delivery Solutions) www.PublicWebStations.com - (Disaster & Shelter WebStation Software) www.K12OpenSource.com (Public Wiki) www.SupportBlogging.com (Public Wiki)

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Interview with Moodle Creator Martin Dougiamas Thursday, Oct. 19
by Steve Hargadon 16 Oct '06

16 Oct '06

Interview with Martin Dougiamas and Two-day Moodle Workshop This Thursday, October 19th, I'll be interviewing Moodle (www.moodle.org) creator Martin Dougiamas at 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time (the show is early to accommodate the time difference between here and Australia). The interview will be broadcast live as a "Skypecast," and details will be posted 30 minutes prior to the interview at http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com/Upcoming+Interviews. The recorded show will later be posted at EdTechLive.com. Also, don't miss my recent interviews with Doc Searls, Ragavan Srinivasan, and Richard Stallman--all available for download or to listen from your web browser at http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com/Recordings+List. Cheers, Steve Hargadon -- Steve Hargadon steve(a)hargadon.com 916-899-1400 direct www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology) www.K12Computers.com - (Refurbished Dell Optiplexes for Schools) www.EdTechLive.com (Podcasts, Workshops, & Conferences) www.TechnologyRescue.com - (Linux Thin Client Solutions) www.LiveKiosk.com - (Web Access and Content Delivery Solutions) www.PublicWebStations.com - (Disaster & Shelter WebStation Software) www.K12OpenSource.com (Public Wiki) www.SupportBlogging.com (Public Wiki)

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Two Interviews on Free and Open Source Software in Education
by Steve Hargadon 11 Oct '06

11 Oct '06

Below are the links and notes on two interviews I did last week--the first one with Ragavan Srinivasan from HP, and the second with Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Movement. ----- http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/RagavanHP.mp3 http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/RagavanHP.ogg "Ragavan Srinivasan from HP Gives a Primer on Open Source Licenses" An extremely well-prepared Ragavan Srinivasan of HP gives an overview of Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and the Free and Open Source Licenses. He provided a PowerPoint presentation to go along with the interview, which I have converted both to flash and Open Documents formats. Click on those links and you can follow along with him. Some other links from the interview are here. For me, one of the real high points of the discussion was his description of the two different ways in which FLOSS is used in schools: "FLOSS in Education," and "FLOSS as Education." "FLOSS in Education" is the use of FLOSS for regular computing tasks, whereas "FLOSS as Education" is the teaching of programming--and collaborative programming--by using FLOSS. Thank you, Ragavan, for giving me a better vocabulary for something I end up talking about a lot.. Another sigificant aspect of the interview was Ragavan's descriptions of where HP as a company has seen significant value in the use of FLOSS internally. HP and IBM are both visibly posturing to show the world their support for Linux and FLOSS, but to hear how HP is actually benefiting from FLOSS itself is pretty compelling evidence of the real-world impact of FLOSS. ----- http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/rms.mp3 http://educationbridges.net/k12opensource/wp-content/uploads/rms.ogg "Richard Stallman on Free Software in Education" Richard Stallman and I emailed back and forth several times before he agree to an interview with me on Free Software in Education. Not that Richard is not passionate about Free Software in Education, but he has some strict requirements about the presentation of his material. As the founder of the Free Software Movement, he is both passionate and principled, and doesn't want to dilute his message. When I called him last Saturday to start the interview (and yes, the date I give in the recording is wrong...), he asked if I remembered his two conditions for the interview. I said that I did, but he repeated them for me: to avoid common errors, I needed first to use the term "Free Software" only and not "Open Source," so as not to associate his work with that label; and second, to not confuse GNU and Linux. As you will hear in the interview, Richard cares very much about being exact with language. And, I think, for good reason. In the interview, Richard defines the use of the word "free" in the context of software. He also defines the four essential freedoms that are behind the Free Software Movement, and the four reasons that he believes that schools should use exclusively Free Software (see also his essay on this topic). And lots more--including the fact that he likes Wikipedia, which makes A TON OF SENSE since all text at Wikipedia is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License--which Richard wrote! That might help to explain why Eric Raymond was so vocal about not liking it in his interview with me... I think you will find this interview interesting listening. -- Steve Hargadon steve(a)hargadon.com 916-899-1400 direct www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology) www.K12Computers.com - (Refurbished Dell Optiplexes for Schools) www.EdTechLive.com (Podcasts, Workshops, & Conferences) www.TechnologyRescue.com - (Linux Thin Client Solutions) www.LiveKiosk.com - (Web Access and Content Delivery Solutions) www.PublicWebStations.com - (Disaster & Shelter WebStation Software) www.K12OpenSource.com (Public Wiki) www.SupportBlogging.com (Public Wiki)

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Free Seminar on Open Source Software in K-12 Schools - Looking for Venues
by Steve Hargadon 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

On November 7th, from 7:00 - 8:30 pm, at the Plano ISD Sockwell Center (just outside of Dallas), I'll be speaking on the use of Free and Open Source Software in K-12 schools. This is free and open to the public. Details are available at http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com/Workshops. I will cover the use of Linux, Open Office, and many other programs that can be used by K-12 schools to decrease their software licensing costs, provide stable computing solutions, and introduce students to collaborative programming. I run the Open Source labs for the CUE.org and NECC ed tech shows, am currently working on a book for ISTE on this topic, and have a weekly web radio show on educational technology at EdTechLive.com. I'm looking for other school or district venues where you think this topic would be well-received, and to see if I might be able to demonstrate enough interest to find a sponsor for a more national tour. Please let me know if you feel your local school community might be interested in this type of a presentation. Thank you. -- Steve Hargadon steve(a)hargadon.com 916-899-1400 direct www.SteveHargadon.com - (Blog on Educational Technology) www.K12OpenSource.com (Public Wiki) November 6 & 7, Plano, TX: Two-day intensive Moodle Training with Michelle Moore November 6 & 7, Plano, TX: Two one-day workshops on the use of blogs, wikis, and podcasting in the classroom with Andrew Pass

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education October 2006