LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Jason Tan <jason@rebel.rebel.net.au>
  To  : Matthew Geddes <mgeddes@xavier.sa.edu.au>
  Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:31:53 +0930 (CST)

Re: MS Curriculum at schools and TAFEs ...

On Mon, 23 Apr 2001, Matthew Geddes wrote:

> Ian McLeod wrote:
> > 
> > I like your attitude!!!!
> > 
> > This is my point exactly.  We will all sit here and
> > damn Microsoft to Hell and do nothing about it.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 

Fulltime professional IT staff at schools,.
At some number of IT staff per some number of PCs woudl be a good start.
most of the problems I am aware of in schools are directly or indirectly
related to teachers being forced into technology and roles where they are
nto trained,, that arnet part of their jb descriptiona nd that they
recieve no useful support for, and cant afford to get useful support.

Remove the stress with computers and I think you will remove the biases
and the cause for resistance to change - ie change will cost me more
stress and more work, which I wont get paid for and dont ahve the skills
to do.

The problem is attracting suitable staff, reatining them and convincing
the education department/govt that they are needed in the first place.

Incidently I happen to think that for a very high percentage of school
requirments, Windows or Mac hosts are fine and even desirable.
They have the required applcations base in most casses at affordable
rates for schools, they are proably the most well
understaood platfrom amongst both teachers and students and this is the
most telling point against other paltforms in a school environment.
Most schools simly dont ahve enough in house schools to adminsiter PCs and
networks, but all the skills they do have are typcially Winor Mac based.

I do think howver that certain applications such as servers and teaching
IT(as opposed to teaching non IT topics using a computer as a tool in the 
same way we use a pen as a tool) that linux/freebsd would be
useful/desirable.

So what should be done is hilight he need for proessional IT staff.
Perhaps the IT staff of parliemnt house should be allput in schoools. That
might hilight how esential it is for computer netowrks to ahve
professional IT staff to the pollies.

Because teachers tend as far as I am aware know taht professional admins 
are needed, but dont have the funds to get it.

Jason

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