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On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:35:48 +0000 Paul Sutton wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > tom wrote: > > My girls primary school (150 headcount) appears to be going to pay > > Â25000 for BB over the next couple of years!! > > I haven't approached the head for exact figures but this sounds > > horrendous. > > Any comments - I've obviously done the really expletive on pretty > > comprehensively myself. > > Tom te tom te tom > > > > > I guess schools are paying for a one size fits all solution, many > schools can't afford a tech, and a lot of issues arise when equipment > fails, lessons can get really messed up i guess if your lesson plan is > set around an interactive white board and laptop, either fail and you > are stuck. Which is a bit scary, really. The number of places I've seen where the "Interactive Whiteboard" (IW) is the be-all and end-all is astonishing - the the point where there has been a lack of 'normal' whiteboard. What should happen if the IW breaks? Where's the merit in not being able to continue with your teaching in the event of a tech-failure? > It's one less thing to worry about, RM. BT, Microsoft are all well > known to schools, so they just go with that is known. Which is why > as a lug we can do as much as we can to promote alternatives, but we > need to promote the whole package perhaps, give people links to the > companies and case studies that have made OSS solutions work in > schools. if there is an issue, phone up tech support and get help > fixing it. or they send someone out. This is, unfortunately, where the big problem is. It's not as if the software is non-existent, it is merely that there aren't enough people using it internally to know how to support others, and there aren't enough people who can externally support them. Maybe we could, in the future, put together an education-specific 1/2 day session tailored to schools... maybe 1 for primary and another 1/2 day session (maybe same day, maybe another day) for secondary. > I think the only way you are going to get change is to take a huge > salary cut and become a Teaching Assistant or similar, or perhaps a > school tech, go in and see what its like day to day, then try and make > changes once you are inside. > > Or perhaps become a school governor or something That last one is my longer-term intention at the new primary my little'un is now going to. Grant. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html