March 2007 — News/In Brief
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CoSN Study Opens Doors to Open Technologies
A new report shows educators how open source programs can be rolled out successfully—and affordably.
WELL EQUIPPED: Open source is
putting 1-to-1 computing within reach.
A STUDY INTENDED to help educators assess and implement open technologies is available now from the Consortium for School Networking as part of CoSN’s ongoing K-12 Open Technologies Initiative. The study covers Indiana’s ACCESS (Affordable Classroom Computers for Every Secondary Student) program, focusing on the state’s Linux Desktop initiative, which placed 22,000 Linux workstations in language arts classrooms.
By considering the five case studies in the report, schools that once determined they did not have the resources to implement a 1-to-1 initiative may well discover the goal is not out of reach if they too use open source operating systems and applications. For example, Indiana’s first pilot program equipped three high school classrooms with 30 computers each. The state purchased $199 desktops and $99 monitors from a discount chain and loaded the machines with free software—a suite of open source applications.
The CoSN study also provides details about meeting challenges such as securing districtwide buy-in for open source, and providing adequate training on new systems. In one case, exploring the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s use of ACCESS funds to equip nine language arts classrooms with open source technology, MCCSC’s information services director, Karen Portle, reports on ways she found to resolve a student logon glitch, make tech support economical by automating annual maintenance, and assess the costs of licensed software versus the total cost of ownership of open source.
Preceding the Indiana implementation study in a series of reports is a document examining the adoption of enterprise Linux in the Saugus Union School District in California. (The district was chosen as a 2006 innovator in the December issue of T.H.E. Journal.) “In both cases, schools had to carefully research their transition to open technologies, test applications, and then communicate with the end users,” a spokesperson at CoSN says. “The administrators in charge of these initiatives say the open source systems have proven to be reliable, robust, and cost-effective.” The results speak for themselves: Saugus has saved $54,000 a year by escaping recurring costs for its former operating system, and between $50 and $200 per desktop for software.
“These studies provide step-by-step information about how to use open technologies in support of educational goals,” says Michael Jay, co-director of the CoSN initiative. “As education leaders plan for technology-rich learning environments, it is vital that they think through the role open technologies play in achieving goals related to both education and the business of educating.”
1105 ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHTS FETC CHILLY AIR AND RAIN didn’t dampen spirits at the Florida Educational Technology Corporation’s (FETC) annual conference, held in Orlando January 24-26. The mood was electric among the thousands of attendees— teachers, principals, district administrators, curriculum designers, media specialists, and technology directors.
Main attractions at the show included keynote addresses by Bill Nye, “the Science Guy,” and Joe Caruso, author of The Power of Losing Control—not to mention more than 200 concurrent learning sessions and 250,000 square feet of the latest ed tech products lining the exhibit hall. Sponsors included The Princeton Review, Riverdeep, and Pearson Education.
FETC, which held its first show in 1981, aims to help educators learn about emerging technologies and how to integrate them across curricula.
At this year’s event, 1105 Media, parent company of T.H.E. Journal, announced its acquisition of FETC. Mike Eason, FETC’s executive director, says, “The acquisition of FETC by 1105 presents a terrific opportunity for us to grow the event and serve even more administrators and educators who seek to transform education through technology.”
Larry Nanns, president of the FETC board of directors, adds, “The corporate depth and experience of 1105 will enhance an already successful conference.”
