[NTLUG:Discuss] Help with schools

[Brian Koontz]

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 08:43:20PM -0600, Greg Edwards wrote:
> My wife is a teacher in Richardson and she has started a discussion with 
> her principal regrading OSS alternatives to M$.  Given the current 
> budget issues in our schools this is a good time to try and get 
> something accomplished.

FWIW, Garland ISD (12th largest ISD, 70th largest in the US) is
running Moodle.  I was part of the testing group, put all of my Comp
Sci classes on it.   We are now working on middle school curriculum
and a couple of other high school subjects.

In my own classroom, I've convinced the tech folks to create images
that include Eclipse, Firefox, Open Office, GIMP, and a couple of other
F/OSS applications.  (I do know that the computer graphics design
classes use GIMP for some editing as well.)  While I've not yet
convinced them to install Linux (I doubt that will happen), I feel
that inroads have been made.   (For my students, I set up student
accounts on a remote Linux server and teach them some Unix when time
permits.) 

My boss approved the purchase of 15 Arduino inventor kits from
SparkFun.  We use these at the end of the year for some embedded
programming fun.  Another F/OSS foothold...

Perhaps this is the approach your wife should take.  Start small, work
towards the big prize.  She's welcome to contact me for details.

  --Brian