Toby Smithe wrote:
Hi Phil,
I am all too keen to work with Becta. However, I feel that they should
at least allow me the simple courtesy of a hard-earned reply.
Guys there is already channel set up with Becta. Ian Lynch from
SchoolForge UK meets with them on a regular basis.
Becta asked for a single point of contact to the OSS community to come
from OSC or Schoolforge UK. Ian was chosen due to his depth of
knowledge in this area.
Co ordinating efforts through the Schoolforge mailing list may be the
best option.
On Fri, 2007-01-12 at 21:44 +0000, Phil Bull wrote:
Hi Toby,
On Fri, 2007-01-12 at 20:16 +0000, Toby Smithe wrote:
[...]
I have been quite busy on the fight for free software for schools, and
am publishing any developments on that front at
http://tibsplace.co.uk/blog/index.php/category/free-software
I don't really trust BECTA. They didn't reply to my completely serious
e-mail, so I just assume they are been pressurised into preferring
proprietary software. They could just have issued this statement to make
us content. I will again write to them, but until I receive a reply, I
have no idea why I should think they are trustworthy.
I've been following some of your efforts, and it does seem as though
you've just been sent stock responses by their PR department. This is
unfortunate considering the effort you've obviously put into this, but
it's something we need to confront.
I think entering into a dialogue with BECTA will be necessary as a
gateway to the LEAs (Local Education Authorities). A great deal of IT
policy-making in schools rests with the LEAs, I believe, even if some
schools choose not to follow their recommendations. FOSS-sympathetic
LEAs would be able to provide resources and support on a level which
could make the adoption of FOSS seem much more practical for a great
deal of schools.
Please take a look at this Becta press release [1], especially the three
reports in the 'Notes to Editors' section. I found them very
enlightening; the biggest problem the schools studied seemed to come up
against was a lack of support from the LEA. Some LEAs even seemed to
actively discourage open-source adoption:
"The LEA provides no ICT support to the school, and some animosity has
grown over the issue of the school using OSS." [2]
By working with Becta, we could hopefully open a useful communication
channel with the LEAs.
Thanks,
Phil
[1] - http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/press_out.cfm?id=4681
[2] - Open Source Software in Schools: A case study report [1] (Page 6,
Case Study 3, 'ICT in the school')
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