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Computers in Class Rooms
Read more about: Education 
Last Week ( I was on Holiday in Bruges last week. Like a F**King fairytale) so I am a bit behind the news. But anyway last week the government announced.Taoiseach launches €150m plan for ‘smart schools’.
Every classroom in the country is to get a teaching laptop, software and digital projector over the next three years as part of a €150 million plan for ‘smart schools’ launched today [Monday] by the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD.
The new action plan has been produced by the joint advisory group established by the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe TD, and builds on the earlier strategy group report, ‘Investing Effectively in ICT in Schools’.
Sounds good.
Now with the state of the economy as it is and the government looking to save money at every step and considering that software is a large part of the cost of modern computing. You would think that the government should consider. Open Source software to cut down the costs. For general word processing and computer operating they have benefits. Also if we were to start introducing computer programming to classrooms they offer a good environment for this. True there are pit falls to open source software but with a limited budget open source might allow the spreading of resources and getting more hardware in schools.
Now the advisor board has this to say on open source software.
OSS can be characterised as software for which the source code can be read, modified and acquired free of charge or for a nominal fee. It is important to note that even though a free product may seem at face value an attractive proposition, software licence costs are only one aspect of the total cost of ownership of any ICT solution. For a valid comparison to be made, extrinsic factors, including hardware, software, training, support, transition costs and exit costs etc, and intrinsic factors (accessibility/usability/language support/collaboration) must be fully considered and evaluated in the procurement decision.
The Advisory Group recommends a comprehensive approach to considering fitness for use and that total cost of ownership be adopted when considering all software options, such as open source, proprietary and mixed solutions.
Which seems fair enough it is not a clear cut case. But one thing that bothers me is this.
The advisory group was chaired by Paul Rellis, Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland
Are we really going to get a proper debate if the chairman of the advisory group has a vested interest in the decision on open source or closed source?
I call on every teacher in the Country to take a stand against this blatent waste of public funds particularly when so many teachers find themselves without employment. Is there nobody in Dail Eireann who has the ‘cop on’ to realise that 150 million would be far better spend retaining lower teacher pupil ratios, getting teachers off the dole and getting School premises built. A computer is no good to a child in a classroom with a leaking roof! We currently have children who will spend their entire Primary and secondary schooling in temporary buildings. 150 million might go some way to alleviate this problem. Are we basically being told by the government that Teachers are effectively dispensible. Computers are important to education but in the current climate whilst so many teachers are shaping up to christmas on the dole it’s an absolute disgrace that a laptop in every classroom is considered a high priority.
We should also note that since this is a laptop per class room that it is in effect doubling up as a free laptops for teachers scheme. Which may sooth the feelings of some teachers in the light of upcoming industrial action.
In fairness, Microsoft are likely to give software for free or almost free for a project like this, and the cost of supporting a Linux-based solution would be much higher, because the expertise is difficult to find (especially spread over the entire country). Generally, there’ll be a teacher who could do running repairs on Windows problems, but they’re unlikely to have the skills necessary for Linux problems.
btw, I should have included some evidence on the MS thing – they currently sell Windows 7 for less than €25 to students in the US & Canada (£30 in the UK – don’t know what the offer is in Ireland).
That might be the case Keith but it is not just Linux, but stuff like Open Office as well. I am not demising the use of Microsoft products and it may well be a better solution.
But just the fact if you are asking people to give an answer of A or B you don’t ask the person who makes money if the answer is A.
You know, I doubt that Paul Rellis had any evil intentions when he took up the position, but it was still a massive failure on the part of the DOE to give him that job. At best, we could regard him as having a slightly optimistic view of Microsoft’s products.
Nice find Simon.
In fairness, Microsoft are likely to give software for free or almost free for a project like this, and the cost of supporting a Linux-based solution would be much higher, because the expertise is difficult to find (especially spread over the entire country). Generally, there’ll be a teacher who could do running repairs on Windows problems, but they’re unlikely to have the skills necessary for Linux problems.
Firstly, I’ll adjust the terms of this from ‘Windows’ to ‘Microsoft/proprietary’. As Simon notes, Microsoft sell on more than Windows, and especially the expensive MS Office, which traps your work in non-open formats which are somehow always breaking in competitors’ software.
The assumption here that third-party Microsoft/proprietary support would be cheaper – it isn’t – or better – most ‘support’ for Microsoft/proprietary consists of re-installing! – is plainly incorrect. There are also anti-competition considerations (i.e. MS’s long and repeated record of monopolist behaviour, which a Labour intellectual ought to be cognisant of).
And then there’s the more long-term problem in that going with the Fisher-Price software model means that students aren’t exposed to the ‘real’ Information Technology which created such wonders as the Internet – open, freely-available technology which did not, and never could have, developed out of the commercial software model which Microsoft itself invented some thirty years ago. A culture which fosters dependence on proprietary, closed technologies has a lot of blame for the generally poor level of our IT graduates.
I wouldn’t get worked up about MS/Open Source. There is feck all chance most of this money will ever be spent since it doesn’t actually exist. My bet the Cabinet have found an area of their lives that isn’t covered by a massive salary and 5 pensions and have given Hannifin a list of schools where their sons/daughters/nieces/nephews/grand-children/god-children attend. These schools will get the laptops and projectors (and SNAs and anything else they need). Then the money will run out again and the rest of our children can whistle for a proper education.
This has been announced about 5 times over the last five years (and the laptops looked older than the children) but the difference about this announcement was the fantastic press and mass media coverage given to Brian and Batt surrounded by lots of children.
Who doesn’t like children? I mean come on, they’re so cute…and we’ve got a really tough budget coming up and all. Brian isn’t so bad really. He likes children? You know like his pal brian who nuzzles dogs in kitchens and eats garlic, the eccentric so and so.
Having a Linux based netbook which works perfectly including Open Office I am disappointed that these computers have now disappeared from the shops.
I can only conclude that the computer business is like the banking business.
Note: Listening to the news this morning about American IT jobs coming to Ireland I find strange that we should be outsourcing our IT jobs to India. It’s a strange world!