national OSS-ed summit & barnstorming

[Steve Hargadon]

On 4/11/06, Tom Hoffman <tom.hoffman at gmail.com> wrote:

> Unfortunately, we have no education specific books to sell (am I
> forgetting something?)

ISTE.org, the organization behind NECC, has asked me to put together a
book on Open Source in Education, for which I've been soliciting help
from the lists over the last few weeks.  I think it's a unique
opportunity to determine what we want to say, and what people want to
hear.

>
> Perhaps a more plausible plan is wooing some of the people who already
> have the keynote/pundit gigs locked in.  David Thornburg is actually
> doing pretty much straight-up Linux advocacy in his talks now.  Does
> anyone know him personally?

I've been corresponding with him, and he has submitted a presentation
for our Open Source lab at NECC which I think we'll likely accept.

Some additional thoughts:

1.  Mark Shuttleworth's sponsorship of labs in South Africa, I think,
has made a huge difference for interest in and acceptance of Open
Source in schools there.  That would sure help here, and there is
plenty of need (think Gulf Coast).
2.  At the Ed Tech shows that I've coordinated Open Source labs for
(NECC and CUE), the huge draws have been Moodle, blogging, and
podcasting.  That seems to be the door that is open right now.
3.  Just replacing proprietary software solutions is a limited vision
that is unexciting to most educators.  Collaborative learning and -- I
think -- students participating in Open Source projects will likely be
the key to broader interest.  If we are just replacing what works,
even if we are saving money, that's not a message that gets a lot of
attention.  But when Open Source does something that can't be done
otherwise, then you'll see some excitement.

Steve