Introduction

Why hasn't Ubuntu been adopted wholesale by school districts? And, why additionally, have ThinClient setups not been wildly propagating throughout cash-strapped education circles? Of course there are multitudes of reason--it's not simple--nonetheless, by examining them a bit it might focus our efforts to grow Edubuntu's use here in Minnesota.

Challenges

Some reasons leading to the lack of Ubuntu in MN schools probably include:

• It's relative newness: how long has the GUI been so easy to use for the TechLiterateTeacher?

• It's different: we all know there's enough stress in life without abandoning familiar territory and MakingTheTransition into a new country, especially when you are the captain of 30 squirming, inquisitive, diverse human beings in a small room for 58 minutes, five times a day, and the "No Child Left Behind (sic)" bureaucracy on your back...

• Overly scattered, incomplete, outdated information The information may be out there, but... there are thousands of pages on Ubuntu/Edubuntu, (millions?) but it seems difficult to find all of the details, up-to-date, needed to make a classroom ComputerLab work.

• PoliticalChallenges: How are decisions made in your district? It is very reasonable that the person in the district who is held accountable for the technology infrastructure as well as it's administrative and educational uses would be wary of jumping onto a new technology.

• ThinClient setups are uncommon and incompletely documented: sure you hear about businesses using them and see references to schools using them http://www.localnetsolutions.com/press.html but that isn't enough for MakingTheTransition.

Solutions

• A focused, concise and current wiki system with critical external links could be the single 'scaffold' to facilitate the TechLiterateTeacher's leap to using Ubuntu in class. This does not ignore the incredible resources out there, instead it updates, consolidates and organizes the best of the best and creates what is missing.

• Before opening discussions with decision-makers, we must provide them with all of the information necessary to make a wise decision. This wiki could perform this function.
• One hears about various isolated experiments throughout our state and this would be a great place for Minnesota projects to connect and support each other.

Tasks

• The list of tasks to create this super-focused education wiki is on the ComputerLab page.

• Minnesota Education Projects (customize a line to add yours to the table)

CategoryEducation