ICT Creationism

[Dos_Box]

Thanks to Mike Simons at Computerworld UK for this link:

 

 

 

Linux fights Creationism in UK schools

 

September 03, 2008

Open source OS on a memory stick can change the world

 

Posted by: John Spencer

 

It hurts to say this, but in the early 2000s you knew where you were when it came to school PCs. We all used Windows 2000 Pro.

 

It worked OK and countless children and their teachers based their understanding of ICT on it. It was also at this time that Exam boards and accredited agencies created numerous schemes of work and certificates to prove how ICT as taught in schools was in tune with the real world.

 

Schools like their computers to be predictable. Many teachers, administrators and students who obtained their ICT 'competence' certificates between 2001 and 2006 felt secure in their 'learn-once, use-forever' skills acquired on what appeared to be a 'final' version of the PC.

 

Sysadmins for their part loved Win 2000 and proudly bearing their MSCE certs were slowly rolling out the XP upgrade (after all XP is not too different to Win 2000).

 

But in 2007 XP was ruthlessly deprecated by Bill and Steve in favour of Windows Vista. Or so it seemed.

 

The trouble was no one in charge of schools actually wanted Vista or could use it on their hardware. At much the same time super cheap Linux sub-notebooks aimed squarely at the education sector exploded onto the scene. These devices are already springing up in the very middle of the mainstream and can be found not only in PC World but also at Toys 'R Us. You can even get one from Tesco's through their link with RM plc!..........

 

Click here to continue reading the full article

[Ric_]

An interesting article... cheers to IDG for that!

 

As the author mentions, it does raise the concern that 'our' children will end up being left behind the times when it comes to ICT... falling into the trap of making these little compartmentalised networks comprising aging technologies that the teachers know how to use.

 

Something that the author doesn't mention is the effect that stifling innovation has on the students - who wants to use a computer that is ancient compared to what they might have at home?

 

Anyway... further discussion is welcome

[MkII]

Teachers and regulators certainly drag their feet, and hold back innovation and adoption. As techs I think we all constantly strive to move with the innovation, it's in our blood.

[dhicks]

There will also, I predict, be a race to create this putative product.

 

There doesn't seem have been so far. I think it would make for a reasonable business plan to run a small company producing a basic Linux distribution and offering customised versions with drivers for your specific hardware and given applications ready-installed. As I've commented before, I'd go for an OS that was entirely web-browser based, with all the server-based applications being either available on the Internet, the school's local network, or locally on the machine. I thought the approach that Slax used was very good - an OS split in to components that could be slotted together to make the OS you wanted.

 

--

David Hicks

[KarlGoddard]

Teachers and regulators certainly drag their feet, and hold back innovation and adoption. As techs I think we all constantly strive to move with the innovation, it's in our blood.

 

this comment is so true.

 

Techs are paid (in part) to be creative in their search for solutions to day to day problems. Innovation, or more correctly, the desire to innovate, is in the personal make up of all good techs.

 

Teachers are paid to get kids through exams. Most won't take 'risks'