ANNOUNCEMENT: "Free & Open Source Software in K-12 Education" at 4 p.m. on April 29th in Watertown, MA

[Michael Selva]

*** PLEASE POST at local K-12 schools and forward to others via email  
***

On April 29th, 2008, Saint Stephen's Armenian Elementary School is  
opening its doors to the community for a special event focusing on  
"Free & Open Source Software in K-12  Education."  We are inviting  
teachers, IT personnel, and school administrators from Boston and  
nearby suburbs to come and see for  themselves how FOSS can help them  
to meet all of their educational  computing needs.  They will be able  
to "test drive" Open Office.org and  other apps in our 100% Linux  
computer lab, and to learn from local experts how to introduce  FOSS  
in their own schools.

Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) is a unique approach to software  
development.  A typical FOSS project is a shared enterprise involving  
unpaid volunteers as well as employees of IBM, Sun, Novell, and other  
significant players in the commercial sector.   FOSS applications are  
not locked up as trade secrets, jealously guarded by their  
inventors.  Instead, the human-readable "source code" is out in the  
open where it can be examined and improved upon by other programmers  
anywhere in the world.  This has resulted in frequent releases,  
improved response to the needs of users, and the development of  
specific solutions to problems that have not yet caught the attention  
of the commercial software sector.

The philosophy behind FOSS is one of openness and collaboration.  It  
encourages users to (1) ask lots of questions, (2) to find their own  
answers to these questions, and (3) to collaborate with others to  
find new solutions to old problems.  FOSS is therefore an excellent  
match for the kind of learning environment that many of us would like  
to see in our schools--one that encourages and rewards open inquiry  
and collaboration.

The agenda for the April 29th event will be as follows:

	4:00	Doors open
		Guests invited to "test drive" Ubuntu, Open Office,
		Tux Paint, Tux Typing, Stellarium, etc.
		Local Open Source experts & educators
		available for informal discussion

	4:30	Introduction - Michael Selva (St Stephen's)
		I will introduce our invited guests & local experts,
		and review our own experiences in
		moving from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux,
		OpenOffice.org, and other FOSS applications

	4:45  - Keynote address - Warren Luebkeman (RESARA)

	5:15  - Question & Answer

	5:30  - Guests continue to test drive, speak 1:1 with our keynote
		speaker & other experts, and browse the literature table

	6:00  - Concluding remarks by M Selva

Our Keynote  presenter is  Warren Luebkeman of RESARA, an open-source  
solution  provider from Keene, NH.  He will be describing his  
company's experience with implementing FOSS solutions in schools.

St. Stephen's is located in Watertown, 2 blocks from Mount Auburn  
Street & close to the Cambridge/Watertown line.  It is accessible by  
public transit using #71 MBTA bus running between Harvard Square and  
Watertown Center.   Ample parking is available on the street and in a  
private parking lot on Nichols Avenue.   For a detailed map, please  
visit http://tinyurl.com/278q42

If you plan to attend, please RSVP via email to ms at ssaes.org, or by  
telephone at 617-605-7429.

****************************

Note:  We held a similar event last October which featured Mark  
Shuttleworth, the South African space traveller and the founder of  
the Ubuntu Linux distribution.  You can read all about it at

	http://baronselva.edublogs.org/2007/10/31/technology-open-house/


=================================================
   MICHAEL SELVA
   Technology Specialist
   Saint Stephen's Armenian Elementary School
   47 Nichols Avenue, Watertown, MA
   phone:  617-605-7429
   email:  ms at ssaes.org
   blog:   http://baronselva.edublogs.org/
   map:    http://tinyurl.com/278q42
=================================================