On 06/01/11 20:40, Adam Schwartz wrote:
> howdy ubunteurs
>
> I'm an educator (hope I got the right list!)
> I'm a teacher in the NYC dept of education, where I have ended up as
> the go to tech guy as well.

That is a very normal pattern. I am in a larger school district and am a
dedicated system administrator that manages all of the servers, Active
Directory, etc. When I first started working in the district 12 years
ago there were teacher-technicians in every building.

> I use ubuntu 10.4 at home on a dell desktop, and just got a 10.4 acer
> aspire one netbook--just installed edubuntu suite on that. anyway, I
> am writing because., I want to start using it at school.

I have some suggestions:

* What programs is the school currently using that depend on
Windows? (Microsoft Office, etc)
* How does your school currently authenticate students? Are they
using a directory service (NDS, AD, OD, etc)
* How do you currently manage labs?

Depending on the answers you give to these questions you will have a
better idea of how to approach the idea of using Ubuntu/Edubuntu. I
would also be willing to work through these and other questions with
you.

> My school is lucky enough to have been chosen at an IZONE
> <http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/izone/default.htm> school
> for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!

Can you have any input to the hiring of the tech guy? If possible try to
make sure that you are not hiring a 'fanboy' of a particular solution
(even a Linux fanboy). Also, try to include experience with
Ubuntu/Edubuntu as one of the desired skills.

> but I hate the idea of having 100's of WinX or even Macs running in
> our classrooms--just more targets for malware and game software.
> that's why I want to go for edubuntu

The problems with malware and games can be virtually eliminated on both
OSes, but the freedom of Open Source which provides a depth of choice
can not.

> Any NYCDOE teachers out there? anyone have any advice for adopting
> edubuntu for a serverless school environment--(using google docs and
> online storage systems)

Let me know how else I can help.

Charles Profitt

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I agree with Charles, A well rounded tech that can objectively look at the pros and cons of all software is a major plus.** the biggest issue we have encountered with opensource and Ubuntu is teacher buy-in.* They are comforitable with Microsoft products and that has been the single road block to my tech plan.* Our english department went crazy when we didn't puchase MS Office!* I even created tutorials on how to open/save OpenOffice/LibreOffice in MS Word and a teacher inservice on OpenSource software
*our high school is on a college campus, and we are not allowed to have a server.* Our SIS uses a LMS (similar to moodle) through Pearson.* It handles a good chunk of the homework submission and exams.* We send out a flyer home with our students with direction on how to create a Gmail Account or a Hotmail account and the importance of backing up their documents.*
*We also use windows embeddid for print stations.* It allows the students to load a thumbdrive and print any doccument without the worry about them toying around with the OS.* *each student has been issued a laptop with DeepFreeze from Feronics.* Its.... ok.* Nothing is ever 100% effective and some of my students are expert hackers.* I end up recloneing their drives after each semester *
*I am expereminting with Netbook version of Ubunto on our netbooks to replace the Win7 Starter.* Hopefully our english department will begin to see that there are friendlier alternatives available.
*If you need more info, im here to help anyone on the list Don E. DavieUniversity Preparatory High School915 S Mooney BlvdVisalia, CA 93277559-737-5455
*

*On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 5:40 PM, Adam Schwartz <aschwartz@aupnyc.org> wrote:

howdy ubunteurs

I'm an educator (hope I got the right list!)
I'm a teacher in the NYC dept of education, where I have ended up as the go to tech guy as well.

I use ubuntu 10.4 at home on a dell desktop, and just got a 10.4 acer aspire one netbook--just installed edubuntu suite on that. anyway, I am writing because., I want to start using it at s



My school is lucky enought to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!
*


My school is lucky enough to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!

*

chool.

My school is lucky enought to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!

but I hate the idea of having 100's of WinX or even Macs running in our classrooms--just more targets for malware and game software. that's why I want to go for edubuntu


*
Any NYCDOE teachers out there? anyone have any advice for adopting edubuntu for a serverless school environment--(using google docs and online storage systems)

thanks!

--
Adam J Schwartz

The Academy of Urban Planning


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ubuntu-education@lists.ubuntu.com

Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-education




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On Thu, 2011-06-02 at 10:01 -0700, Don Davie wrote:
> I agree with Charles, A well rounded tech that can objectively look at the
> pros and cons of all software is a major plus. the biggest issue we have
> encountered with opensource and Ubuntu is teacher buy-in. They are
> comforitable with Microsoft products and that has been the single road block
> to my tech plan. Our english department went crazy when we didn't puchase
> MS Office! I even created tutorials on how to open/save
> OpenOffice/LibreOffice in MS Word and a teacher inservice on OpenSource
> software

"... teacher buy-in."

That is a tough nut to crack, but I look at it through a different lense
than normal. Teachers can stay on MS Office if they want; let students
use LibreOffice and submit work via .pdf. The focus, for me, is on
student learning and choice. Open Source allows a tremendous wealth of
choice in applications to get the 'job done'.

I do get frustrated when those preaching 'life long learning' throw up
roadblocks because they do not want to learn.

Charles
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Thanks for all the great advice!*
This will indeed be a struggle, to use Edubuntu--or any Linux--in NYC schools.*

The push-back in the NYC DOE seems to be top-down. On my first morning of campaigning, I was told by our building tech (from Central) that Linux is not a "permitted operating system" within the DOE, and that computers utilizing this system will not be serviced for software--only hardware.*
Sadly, this applies even in the case of a dual boot install--a "back door for viruses" that could compromise the entire system.*
It seems that this policy is more about contracts than common sense.*

Its not surprise that large systems are resistant to change, but *we are a school in the specialized Innovation Zone. I had hoped for more possibilities.*
The Tech called me a Revolutionary. But really, this battle is too big for me.*
(open to your ideas)
As it is now, I'll have to start small, to investigate the ease of running virtual Edubuntu.*




On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 1:01 PM, Don Davie <dedavie@gmail.com> wrote:

I agree with Charles, A well rounded tech that can objectively look at the pros and cons of all software is a major plus.** the biggest issue we have encountered with opensource and Ubuntu is teacher buy-in.* They are comforitable with Microsoft products and that has been the single road block to my tech plan.* Our english department went crazy when we didn't puchase MS Office!* I even created tutorials on how to open/save OpenOffice/LibreOffice in MS Word and a teacher inservice on OpenSource software

*our high school is on a college campus, and we are not allowed to have a server.* Our SIS uses a LMS (similar to moodle) through Pearson.* It handles a good chunk of the homework submission and exams.* We send out a flyer home with our students with direction on how to create a Gmail Account or a Hotmail account and the importance of backing up their documents.*

*We also use windows embeddid for print stations.* It allows the students to load a thumbdrive and print any doccument without the worry about them toying around with the OS.* *each student has been issued a laptop with DeepFreeze from Feronics.* Its.... ok.* Nothing is ever 100% effective and some of my students are expert hackers.* I end up recloneing their drives after each semester *

*I am expereminting with Netbook version of Ubunto on our netbooks to replace the Win7 Starter.* Hopefully our english department will begin to see that there are friendlier alternatives available.

*If you need more info, im here to help anyone on the list Don E. DavieUniversity Preparatory High School915 S Mooney BlvdVisalia, CA 93277559-737-5455

*

*On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 5:40 PM, Adam Schwartz <aschwartz@aupnyc.org> wrote:


howdy ubunteurs

I'm an educator (hope I got the right list!)
I'm a teacher in the NYC dept of education, where I have ended up as the go to tech guy as well.

I use ubuntu 10.4 at home on a dell desktop, and just got a 10.4 acer aspire one netbook--just installed edubuntu suite on that. anyway, I am writing because., I want to start using it at s




My school is lucky enought to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!
*


My school is lucky enough to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!

*

chool.

My school is lucky enought to have been chosen at an IZONE school for next year, and we are actually hiring a tech guy!

but I hate the idea of having 100's of WinX or even Macs running in our classrooms--just more targets for malware and game software. that's why I want to go for edubuntu



*
Any NYCDOE teachers out there? anyone have any advice for adopting edubuntu for a serverless school environment--(using google docs and online storage systems)

thanks!


--
Adam J Schwartz

The Academy of Urban Planning


--

ubuntu-education mailing list

ubuntu-education@lists.ubuntu.com

Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-education






--
Adam J Schwartz
The Academy of Urban Planning


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ubuntu-education@lists.ubuntu.com
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On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 6:37 PM, Adam Schwartz <aschwartz@aupnyc.org> wrote:
> The push-back in the NYC DOE seems to be top-down. On my first morning of
> campaigning, I was told by our building tech (from Central) that Linux is
> not a "permitted operating system" within the DOE, and that computers
> utilizing this system will not be serviced for software--only hardware.

Unfortunately this is the case for most of the US. The non-profit I
work with that gets Ubuntu into schools has thus far only really been
successful in charter schools and after school programs which have
their own budget and policies outside that of the unified school
districts.

However, we did recently enter a proper public school and were able to
set up computers, not in their computer lab, but in their library.
Perhaps getting into a department that isn't currently served but
could do well with a computing infrastructure is worthwhile for you
too? Even if it doesn't access the network (thus hopefully laying to
rest some of the concerns of administrative folks) Ubuntu can be super
useful in underserved art, math and literature departments if the
right software and resources (books, etc) are loaded up.

--
Elizabeth Krumbach // Lyz // pleia2
http://www.princessleia.com

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On 06/02/11 21:37, Adam Schwartz wrote:


Its not surprise that large systems are resistant to change, but we are
a school in the specialized Innovation Zone. I had hoped for more
possibilities.


Adam - this is really disappointing.

Do you think that you might have more political capital if you tie Linux
into your iZone initiative explicitly? Can you give us more details
about what your school is trying to accomplish and why they were selected?


I understand iZone as a way to pilot innovative initiatives...if you can
make the case that you want to pilot Edubuntu as part of the iZone, than
the decision will probably not rest solely with the DOEs tech team. In
fact, part your innovation could be to work with the DOE to securely and
efficiently support Free Software (and reap the benefits). Is there any
room for this?


-mxc

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