Published by Robert Pogson May 29th, 2007
in Uncategorized.
I made a contract to teach K-10 computers in a remote northern community today. This could be very good or a very tough year. One never knows exactly what to expect in such places.
I usually teach high school subjects so this will be an adventure. I have been advised to keep the little munchkins busy and having fun, so I will stock up on strategies and resources all summer so I do not go under fire unarmed, so to speak.
The little ones are active learners so this could be a lot of fun. High school students often carry a lot more negative baggage and limit themselves in school. I will start by reviewing the K-12 curriculum for computing. The high school computer science was recently revised and is much better than the previous 1990s stuff when computers were capable of much less. My impression is that the introductory courses cover far too little for engaged students (too much warm/fuzzy stuff). I will treat the curriculum as a minimum requirement and put in as much reinforcement of the regular classroom learning as I can manage. For example, teachers often have only 1 PC in the classroom so it is hard to do much for the class. I will have a lab to put to work with games, graphics, audio, video, and even hand-eye coordination for the little ones. How to use a mouse and keyboard may take some time.
Last year, I had some grade 5 students who could manage mouse and keyboard fairly well, as expected, but they had little idea what could be done with computers. We did something different every day, visiting websites, checking out spreadsheets and word-processors. I touched different areas of the curriculum each day: language arts, science, math, social studies but did things that are quick and easy using computers and difficult without. One day we visited Babelfish and found out what translating repeatedly does to meaning… 
Another day we did a search on the local server for text about anything and found books to read without going to the library or turning a page. We researched endangered species in Canada and tried to find out why they are endangered. We found pictures of things they never knew existed. Kids love pictures. I can set up a database for the kids to store images and annotate. I can set up a local search engine with local content so kids have a very snappy and safe environment. Activites are limited only by the imagination of the computer teacher.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson May 29th, 2007
in Uncategorized.
I have been spending some time at DesktopLinux and feeding some trolls. I know it is generally advised not to do that but there seemed to be a lack of information on the site and a well-researched comment blows away their denial so easily. For instance, when confronted by a link to an EU report on the impact of FLOSS in the world, one replied, “Why don't you cite some references that aren't fatally biased.
Your references above are obvious propaganda, written poorly despite their own assertion that they utilized high academic standards.”
and
“Statements about "fairness" are INHERENTLY and INTRINSICALLY biased!”
I had to chuckle… Others claimed that M$ was a poor unfortunate being abused by losers in the market place and ignore that M$ had been convicted of illegally propping up their monopoly on the desktop. I immediately pointed them at the US Department of Justice webpage where you can find this gem of a memo from Joachim Kempin advising the team about strategies to deal with the ever-falling price of PC hardware. The artificial shortening of PC life was a theme as well as the strategy of hiding their licence fee in the price. The illusion that M$ is an innovator competing on price and performance certainly vanishes after reading things like that. The judge thought so, too. In his ruling, he wrote:”62. Microsoft's actual pricing behavior is consistent with the proposition that the firm enjoys monopoly power in the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems. The company's decision not to consider the prices of other vendors' Intel-compatible PC operating systems when setting the price of Windows 98, for example, is probative of monopoly power. One would expect a firm in a competitive market to pay much closer attention to the prices charged by other firms in the market. Another indication of monopoly power is the fact that Microsoft raised the price that it charged OEMs for Windows 95, with trivial exceptions, to the same level as the price it charged for Windows 98 just prior to releasing the newer product. In a competitive market, one would expect the price of an older operating system to stay the same or decrease upon the release of a newer, more attractive version. Microsoft, however, was only concerned with inducing OEMs to ship Windows 98 in favor of the older version. It is unlikely that Microsoft would have imposed this price increase if it were genuinely concerned that OEMs might shift their business to another vendor of operating systems or hasten the development of viable alternatives to Windows.”
The message is clear. If you want to get value for your money do not buy from M$ directly or indirectly. I welcome the release by Dell of a selection of hardware shipped with GNU/Linux. You should save some money by buying those models if you buy from Dell. A lot of schools do just that. Trolls do not have much fun…
- Robert Pogson
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