Notes
Edubuntu Summit Notes
Application Selection
Should content, applications and links be provided or should that be up to the educators to sort out?
Issues
- Do most educators have the skills to do this?
- Do most schools have the resources (Internet access and bandwidth) for this? - Solution possibly a default set of applications should be available to start?
Questions to be answered:
Which desktop do we want to launch with? (Gnome suggested, because Gnome has advanced a lot since SkoleLinux launched, and Ubuntu is a Gnome distro by default etc).
- Which languages will we support? (Suggestion English by default, and then the standard languages which Ubuntu ships with)
- Target Education Sector? Junior, Secondary, Tertiary group? (Suggestion - junior school - 6-12 years old - universities tend to do their own thing and have plenty of skill and strong ideas.)
- Applications - if multiple applications exist for the same task/subject, which one will be selected and by whom? ( Suggestion one by default and the others in a repository on-line (universe/multiverse etc) and/or on a set of CDs or a DVD etc).
- How will new applications be identified, evaluated and included into Edubuntu over time.
- What subject matter/content areas will be selected?
- Content creation - wikis - allowing classrooms to build and populate wikis with content (tuXabs is using this already - Jonathan Carter has more info).
Option: to make the Edubuntu default install very sparse and then provide other content and options as add-ons, either on the same installation Cd, or on separate CD add-ons etc (comparable to Windows, SQL & MS Office CDs etc, to put one workstation together).
Minimal default install Add-ons Breezy +1
Menu Structures
To be sorted by application type or age groups? May be able to switch between menu structures if there are various requirements - could be confusing though...
GUI / Desktop Environment
Gnome or KDE or other (T)? This need to be decided asap for first release, it is important to note that educators do not care about Gnome vs KDE vs xyz, they are concerned about receiving content in their own language and good applications, and ease of use, above all else..
Community Involvement / Presence
- Mailing lists - Edubuntu-devel list up and running (+-65 members as at 01Jul'05)
- Web-site - not in existence yet - TBC (must be at www.Edubuntu.org, hno73 asked to look at setting this up)
- Wiki - setup at www.Edubuntu.org - (hno73 to change theme and style to Edubuntu colours.)
- Logo - designed to be finalised shortly, (can be viewed on www.Edubuntu.org).
Languages / Translations
What languages will be supported in Edubuntu 1.0? Will it just be menu structures etc translated, or applications and content too?
Integration / Interoperability
Wine / Samba can be used to allow windows programs to be used with OS and OS applications to be used in Windows - this allows OS to filter into the market - and make the change over easier for users to transition between the 2 types of operating systems.
Issues
- running windows applications rendered to an Ubuntu terminal (technically possible, but has legal/licensing issues) on the Windows terminal server and application licenses.
Classroom Management
What is required for classroom management - the teacher being able to take control of the learner's desktops and apply setting etc. What tools and facilities are required for the educator
'Teacher Tool' is an option to be used here.
See TeachersPet fr more ideas.
Thick Windows Clients
How thin/thick must the clients be? There are requirements for multi-media video and sound streaming required and local storage (USB/floppy) drives required so that users can save data.
Learning Management Systems
School administration tools (School Tool is an option now). Need to look at options for school administration and management - may not be provided in Edubuntu ver1.0 - we will focus on a single classroom environment for now, and will expand to school/district/government level later on - all early architecture decisions must bare this in mind.
Web Access
Many schools (particularly in Africa) either have no, or limited Internet access, large/frequent downloads are not feasible.
Target Market
Spectrum of Age groups (primary, secondary or tertiary environments) Spectrum of subjects ( maths, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography, language, grammar, etc)
K12 LTSP
Teacher Tool - python package, for classroom management, allows teacher to switch applications for entire classroom.
- - need something like this for Edubuntu - Guadalinux has a similar tool
Adding and removing packages is currently through YUM. Not GUI. No easy way, catalog to find new applications. These have to be found through Google.
"shortcuts" ...?
The intention is for K12LTSP & Edubuntu to merge in future - Eric Harisson and Jeff Elkner support this view.
Legal, Policy & Privacy Issues
Content Filtering For schools a web content filter is required to ensure that children to not have access to unsuitable content. 'Dan's Guardian' Squid -Has white list and black list In Andalusia the security server is kept on a separate machine. Would allows Edubuntu to be seen as separate to the security layer. It is clear that Edubuntu will have to do something, but there are issues to be dealt with.
Software Patents Not being able to create OS versions of applications if the idea is patented? Need to be careful of violating patents in any way. The individual who owns the patent needs to object if they feel their patent has been breached. Becomes a legal (financial) battle. There could be an option to provide this as a service - speak to Paul Patent infringement insurance can be purchased by companies to protect themselves from unintentionally breaching a patent.
Accessibility Disability acts - mostly a requirement for visually impaired resources - currently the tools are all windows applications, funding would be required to produce good OS versions of these.BR Is this required at a general Ubuntu level only, or are Edubuntu accessibility learning tools required as well? Is there demand for school tools for people who are sight, hearing and mobility impaired etc. Edubuntu may need KDE & Gnome interface issues to be sorted out, especially if they are interacting.
User Personal Information (privacy) Not really an issue for Edubuntu1.0, as we will be confined to a single classroom. User data will not really be collected. National ID numbers - stay away from Keep data in databases, and use protection mechanisms to ensure its safety.
Windows licensing issues (cost), if windows programs are accessed from an OS system Want to help schools to save money on licensing costs.
IBM Patents for 'viavoice' etc becoming available? wrt accessibility and patents- get details from Paul Flints
Geographical Differences
What regional issues need to be addressed.
- Language support
- Spell Checking (in the various languages)
- Security Updates - how regular would these be? With 6-monthly releases there's an issue that most school could not do 2 upgrades during a 12-month cycle.
Makes sense to stay tied to the current Ubuntu release cycle. There is a possibility to produce a 'stable' version over a longer cycle - could be once every 2 years etc. This could be supported for a longer period as well.
- School schedules (N vs S hemisphere), the school year starts in October in N Hemisphere, and in January in the S hemisphere.
- Note the current upgrade process with K12LTSP is a reinstall, immediately Edubuntu will provide an upgrade path, which is an improvement on this.
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- Need to get tuXlabs cookbook to package for Edubuntu, lots of how-to information can be found in this.
- Need to look at K12LTSP documentation to see if this will be useful.
School Administration & Management
In the context of a single classroom mandate for Edubuntu 1.0. Things that need to be catered for:
- Calendaring (School Tool can do this)
- Timetabling
- Content filtering