[ubuntu-uk] Is the demise of Becta an opportunity for FOSS?

[Mark Brocklehurst]

On 24/05/10 23:24, Chris Rowson wrote:
>
>     Hi all,
>
>     Just a thought I wanted to put to the list. Considering today's
>     news [1]
>     and in particular the demise of Becta, the government's technology
>     agency for schools, is there an opportunity for FOSS to replace
>     some or
>     all of what Becta used to provide? 
>
>
> I think that the software used in schools will be driven by the 
> support staff delivering IT solutions. Most schools don't have their 
> own IT folk but buy them in from the local authority and/or the 
> private sector. I'd have thought that getting OSS in schools kinda 
> depends on getting it into the organisations who provide IT to schools 
> first...
>
> Chris

Hi,

I know I've not contributed to the list before, but I thought say a 
little something about this as I work as an IT Technician at a sixth 
form college.  Not quite the same as a school, but would still look to 
someone like Becta for guidance at least.
I have to admit to not knowing a lot of detail about certain things, 
however:

Yes, a lot of schools use SIMS, but there are alternatives that do the 
same thing with varying success rates, and yes I believe they are 
expensive - my college are on at least their fourth alternative since 
leaving SIMS behind many years ago.  Who's to say an Open Source 
alternative can't be created?

The same goes for Interactive Whiteboards - I've not tried plugging one 
into my Linux box, but from a programmer's perspective, it's another 
peripheral with either serial or USB connectivity, the only problem 
really is the time it might take to write such software.

As far as most software is concerned, the majority we use is 
proprietary, usually MS or Adobe.  I believe this is mostly due to staff 
being afraid to try something new - the students do use alternatives 
like OpenOffice at home.
There are a few teachers happy to use Open Source, but to try and 
persuade the entire college to do the same would prove difficult.  Also, 
at college level I'm not sure what the situation might be with 
"computerised" exams where an examination board provides files to be 
used during the exam - from experience most such files are MS 
orientated, (eg. MS Databases).
Having said that, with budgets being cut recently it may be give more 
weight to the Open Source alternative.

I do agree that the support staff delivering IT solutions are the ones 
who drive a lot of what's used, but I think they should also listen to 
the requirements of the teachers themselves.  Maybe teachers themselves 
should also be made more aware of the possibilities of Open Source.

Mark.

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