[K12OSN] Some "community friendly" presentation ideas

Thu Sep 15 23:09:24 UTC 2005

1.)  Print out this article.
2.)  Address the higher-ups with it, using the "business goal" of 
top-quality education.

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci1124759,00.html

The speaker is John Terpstra of the Samba Foundation, and I think his 
business logic makes a hell of a lot of sense.

--TP

Dan Hawkins wrote:

> Ohhh Shawn,
>  
> I know just how you feel, and I'm sorry to hear that.  A couple of 
> years ago I did a workshop on Thin Client computing during a "Tech 
> Show" at a major school district here in Idaho.  It was an all day 
> thing were administrators and teachers milled around and went to 
> various workshops.  I had a whole classroom set up and was planning 
> the same type of thing.  Granted I was using a Windows based Terminal 
> Services solution, but the whole concept is the same.  Not one person 
> showed up, not even the tech people.  Talk about disappointing.
>  
> I guess that has been just one bit of fuel that pushes me further 
> along to not only question every technology decision made in regards 
> to spending, but to question publicly the whole concept of technology 
> in K12 schools in general.  It's really sad, there ARE a lot of people 
> out there in the schools that REALLY do KNOW what they are doing.  The 
> people on this list are a shining example.  I've been watching this 
> list for a couple of years now.  But what's so sad is for every one 
> person who knows what they are doing there are 10 who don't have a 
> clue, and what's really sad is that most of those 10 are either school 
> administrators or the general public who "try to be helpful."  In the 
> state were I am from there has been over $400,000,000 sunk into 
> technology over the past ten years, and the state of technology in 
> this state is inadequate at best.  At one time I had visited (either 
> myself or a member of my team) almost every school in this! state and 
> documented the level of technology and people supporting it, and for 
> every one person like the people here we left thinking WOW, they are 
> doing really good (still need some work here and there :-) ), there 
> were 10 schools we left shaking our heads wondering where did the 
> money go?
>  
> I don't believe the problem is really an Open Sources -vs- Microsoft 
> or Novell or whoever else is out there.  I believe it is a fundamental 
> problem with how K12 education is setup and administered at all 
> levels. I believe it is a total lack of qualified leadership that 
> focuses more on the politics of education instead of setting 
> standards, making intelligent decisions, and following though with a 
> sound plan.  I personally think it's a miracle that kids even get an 
> education and I truely believe it's because the teachers actually 
> teach.  From what I've seen, what we call the Education system should 
> not work.
>  
> Well enough of my soapbox, this sort of hit a nerve with me and I 
> could go on for quite a bit.  For anybody out here I may offended, I'm 
> apologize, but just like many on this list, I've been in the trenches 
> and seen the follys of others.  Once again, I'm very impressed with 
> the level of expertise on this list, and Shawn I am sorry to read that 
> that happened, I've been there too.
>  
> DanH
>
> */Shawn Powers <spowers at inlandlakes.org>/* wrote:
>
>     On Sep 14, 2005, at 9:17 AM, JohnG wrote:
>
>     > I'm curious, how did the presentation go? What was the reaction?
>     > What worked and what didn't? Thanks!
>     >
>
>     Well, I had 32 computers that varied in brand and CPU booting to a
>     newly installed 4.4.1 server. I had planned to have the whole group
>     log in and "play" while I answered questions and talked a little
>     about Linux and thin clients.
>
>     I had 1 man show up. I was told to expect 30, and I had 1. He was
>     already a Linux user, and came because, well, because if you see
>     "Linux" in our local newspaper, it makes penguin lovers curious.
>
>     So hardware-wise it went perfectly (never did solve the glx issue on
>     the macs though) but I was lacking in attendance.
>
>     Thanks for asking though,
>     -Shawn
>
>
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