In any case, as you say, students are far more adaptable than staff (generally of course).
In support of staff (experiences relate to NSW Dept Ed);
1) staff are now required to do more administrative work, hence less time and energy to try out something.
2) whomever is the teacher supporting the computers in the school doesn't get paid for it and rarely gets release time to deal with them.
3) It is ALL (compulsory MS tax out of their school budget) or MAC's.
4) The MS Tax is charged on EVERY computer in the school, hence there is no money saving incentive to replace MS with FOSS/Linux.
5) Decisions are made by shiny arse public servants, not teachers at the coal face.
6) There is a minor industry in people who make some money selling software to "teachers" and this is written on MS junk and they "fud up" at the slightest breeze
7) The company holding the support contract is not FOSS supportive.
As my wife was a teacher in the NSW Dept of Ed, I've looked at helping introduce FOSS into schools a number of times. Each time I have decided that I have far better things to do.
As far as educational software goes, it really is mickey mouse. None of it does exactly what is (currently) seen as "educationally best", but it helps relieve teachers stress {:-). If you want to write classroom software, you really need someone who can tell you exactly what they need. Be prepared for a number of rewrites.
And as far as I am aware, the greatest use of computers in the primary classrooms is for "publishing", i.e. word processing and phamplets.
Someone who wants to dabble in this area with FOSS might consider making a Live CD, especialy for simulations, demos, etc.
speaking of certificates and going back to something that was floated, but died before.....
If you want to offer "certificates", consider setting up a Registered Training Organisation. Then you can offer Cert I, Cert II, etc course, but you do need Cert IV qualified trainers.
--
Terry Collins {:-)}}} email: terryc at woa.com.au www: http://www.woa.com.au
Wombat Outdoor Adventures <Bicycles, Computers, GIS, Printing, Publishing>
"People without trees are like fish without clean water" -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
