Hellom This is forwarded on from the LUGMasters list. Do we have any list members in North Wales?
Thanks ~sm > > > > > > Hello, > > > > I'm a member of the North Wales LUG with an appeal to users right > > across the > > UK. > > > > Here in Wales the Assembly Government (WAG) is setting up a schools > > ICT > > Strategy group to produce a draft consultation paper. OSS is part of > > the > > remit, and as a result of some lobbying I've been invited to meet > > one of the > > group. Hopefully once I've got that far I can get to meet the rest. > > > > The meeting is not for about 3 weeks, but I don't want to go off > > half-cocked > > so I'm doing some research and collecting opinions. > > > > My starting point was to suggest that WAG (Specifically Jane > > Davidson's > > Education Department) look at the example of Extremadura in Spain > > and consider > > using/developing a distro for Wales. I got a bland civil service > > 'thank you > > for your suggestion' letter back. So I pursued it and was told there > > would > > be 'consultation'. > > > > I pointed out that 'consultation' usually means civil servants and > > ministers > > chatting amongst themselves, and that during many years as a teacher > > I've > > been told that as a result of consultation we've decided this, that > > or the > > other (or frequently this this year, that next year and the other > > after the > > next re-shuffle) but I've never met a teacher who was actually > > consulted. > > Result, they are calling my bluff and consulting me. > > > > I still think Extremadura is a good example, after all it's a > > semi-autonmous > > region with it's own language. It's bigger than Wales but has a > > similar size > > population. It's largely rural mountainous and wet. It exports food > > and > > water to the rest of Spain. It's IT industry was small and backward, > > but is > > gaining ground. WIth free software for the entire population IT > > usage is > > creeping up, benefitting employment and keeping rural areas in touch > > with the > > 21st century. > > > > OSS aside, there are other problems in schools IT. I spent eight > > years doing > > tech support for TechSoft. They supply CAD/CAM software for schools > > and > > colleges right across the UK. There are a handful of schools with > > excellent > > equipment and more importantly well trained staff, but most are > > frankly poor. > > My recent experience at schools around here shows them to be pretty > > average. > > > > Fundamental problem I see is that the kids (and staff) have a > > superficial > > understanding of MS Office, Paint and IE6. They grab a picture and > > some words > > off the web, paste them into Word and think they've done IT. Few > > understand > > anything about image resolution and just shrug when the image comes > > out with > > 2mm square pixels. No-one edits the words or uses what they've found > > to > > illustrate their own thoughts on the matter. No-one attributes > > anything. > > > > At an actual IT level, it's even worse. The syllabusses avoid > > mention of a > > particular OS or specific software, but in practice almost every > > school > > teaches basic Windows. WIndows is THE OS, Word is THE word > > processor, Access > > is THE database etc etc. To make life simple for the admins (who are > > usually > > over worked teachers with little IT training) the system is locked > > down > > tight, consequently the kids can't even see things like Control > > Panel, they > > certainly aren't going to learn about hardware, drivers, > > installing/removing > > software. Even screen res is usually set to the lowest common > > denominator > > 800x600 because it 'confuses the desktop' if the same user logs on > > to > > different size screens. Why not allow user access to 'Configure the > > Desktop'? - Too tricky. > > > > Please email suggestions, examples, links, published research etc. > > > > If we can make progress in Wales, maybe we'll let the rest of you > > join in > > later! > > > > BTW, for more info about me, see my website, url below. > > > > -- > > Regards > > Phil Thane > > > > Bryn Villa > > Penycoed Road (off Brook St) > > Llangollen > > LL20 8LR > > > > 01978 861677 > > 07971 987623 > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > www.brynvilla.llangollen.co.uk > > > > > > _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk
