RE: Linux in high schools.

[j s <rambozo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As of this week, KLUG will have at least three actively attending members from 
Portage Central High School, all of which will be seniors next fall.

The computer environment in the Portage Public Schools is very, very 
Microsoft-centric, and I don't know if there is any interest in the technology 
department as far as adding another OS (which no employees are familiar with) 
to the list of things they need to support.

Portage Central (I don't know much about Northern), though, is beginning to 
add more and more computer-oriented classes.  And, speaking without any real 
authority or influence, putting Linux on some computers in the labs and 
offering a class involving said OS would be very beneficial for the students.  
But, I don't know if its even remotely possible.  The courses currently being 
offered are far from advanced - "Computer Programming" is Visual Basic only.  
But VB is a whole other rant.

It probably wouldn't be very effective if I suggested this addition to Portage 
administrators, especially considering my recent and unpleasant confrontation 
with them in the computer arena.  But some sort of outreach to the Portage 
school district would be very cool.

As far as outreach into the educational system, there are a lot of 
possibilities for Linux.  As I mentioned above, installing Linux on lab 
computers for teaching purposes is one.  Another is using it for servers (for 
example, the NT box hosting portageps.org).  The problem is that most 
educational IT employees are Microsoft-dependent.  And, without meaning 
anything insulting to any teachers out there, the general rule is that 
teachers are completely and utterly lost with technology; simplicity is of 
highest importance.  But, schools are always complaining about money 
situations, and getting rid of huge licensing costs could definitely help 
financially.

I'm gung-ho excited about the whole concept of Linux in High Schools, and 
anything that I can do to help... just let me know.  Since I also attend the 
Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC), I have computer-literate 
friends in just about every area high school.

-Josh Soper
http://www.wastedgenius.com

>===== Original Message From bob@acm.org =====
>
>Perhaps "Linux in the high schools" is the next thing we can consider 
tackling.
>
>Thoughts?
>                                                            Regards,
>                                                            ---> RGB <---