[ILUG] Thoughts on the provision of a laptop to every secondary school pupil

[david.howe at howesystems.com]

Hi,

I may get a bit of criticisnm for the following comments but here  goes.

In 2002 I wrote an article for ILUG on the moral and technical reasons for
adopting free ( as in freedom not as in no cost) computing in schools. See
the following link for a look at the article.
http://www.linux.ie/articles/opensourceinprimaryeducation.php

Over the years I have come to the opinion that the real reason for the non
adoption of Linux for example is one of political will and ideology.

The idea of individual laptops per child is a non starter from my point of
view without universal broadband.

I am also of the opinion that the OS is becoming less important that the
browser it operates. More and more peoples computing experiences are browser
driven. So broadband plays a pivotal role for students and networking plays
a pivotal role for schools all areas in which Linux excels.

If as I suggest the real impasse is political and not technical, then we as
ILUG members need to target political parties that our message may appeal
to.

Any thoughts on setting up a political/lobbying wing of ILUG for schools and
government.


Regards,

David Howe




Gavin McCullagh writes:

> Hi,
>
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2007, Pádraig Brady wrote:
>
>> John Madden wrote:
>> > Mr. Coveney,
>> >
>> > As an IT contractor, I read with interest the piece in your most recent
>> > weekly newsletter (16th February 2007) about the provision of one laptop
>> > to every pupil starting secondary school. I can tell you, I would have
>> > loved to have been given a laptop to use in secondary school, instead of
>> > lugging around a bag full of books and notepads!
>> >
>> > However I would have some reservations about such a plan.
>
> You're not alone in having reservations.  To be honest, my reservations
> start way before what software they should be using.
>
>> Have you a link to details of the plan?
>
> http://www.finegael.ie/policy/index.cfm/area/information/pkey/671/PubCatID/16/type/details
> http://www.tui.ie/Press%20Releases/PR061127.html
> http://www.adammaguire.com/blog/?p=322
>
>> Would the OLPC be appropriate here?
>> At least worth a mention:
>> http://www.laptop.org/
>
> It's a possibility alright.  The fact that you can wind them up may be
> useful as some secondary schools have 4-6 power points and if they're lucky
> 1 network point per classroom ;-)  What current a laptop draws when on
> mains, I'm uncertain, but even the wiring is a big job.
>
> Let's not even think about maintenance and support or the fact that every
> student would be carrying Eur400 worth of saleable equipment to and from
> school each day.
>
> There's no mention of whether teachers might be given laptops.
>
> Gavin
>
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