Open source is sitting at the head of the class in a growing number of schools with all levels of education. Its no-cost starting point and use-it-your-way flexibility gives open source technology an advantage over proprietary solutions with its no-license and no-fee lesson plan. <\/p>\n
Don't think so? LinuxInsider spoke with several technology administrators around the country who gave their open source experiences a solid A+. <\/p>\n
Penn Manor School District in Pennsylvania gives each student a laptop powered with Linux and configured with root access. The experiment provides a soup-to-nuts education where students handle the laptops from box to classroom. <\/p>\n
The school system created a student-run computer help desk, which enabled the students to work together to unbox, label and inventory the laptops. <\/p>\n
Oakland Unified School District in California is another of many schools making a big move into instructional technology using open source. In that school district open source is widespread. The students participate in the active programmers community and get to see much of the process first hand. <\/p>\n
\"There is a big push in the district to get students technologically literate. Open source software is ideal for meeting our goal of differentiating instruction for each student,\" Tierre Messa, dean at Oakland Unified School District and a technology teacher, told LinuxInsider. <\/p>\n
For many education outlets looking to bring a fresh approach to technology, open source is an easy selling point. In fact, for many open source adopters at schools, open source technology sells itself. <\/p>\n
Todd Ross Nienkerk, managing partner of Four Kitchens Web Design, uses open source software almost exclusively in designing systems for education users. He sees an increasing adoption of open source technologies in that market. <\/p>\n
\"We usually do not have to sell people on using open source. By the time they contact us, they already decided on using open source,\" Nienkerk told LinuxInsider. <\/p>\n
His company addresses the use of open source in three key areas: multi-media publishing, non-profit and education. The company works with education reform groups in elementary and high school education. It also consults on web technology issues at major universities. <\/p>\n
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