Canadian Education

2009-12-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

Well, please enjoy the holiday season...and the next time someone says to you: "...nobody uses linux...", suggest that they might have a look at this! :-) (Funny, I used to hear that all the time...now, not so much! :-)) And as someone who has constantly been trying to teach computer science, using linux, as opposed to the 'educators' teaching student how to use MS Word and Excel and becoming dependent on MS and calling themselves 'computer literate', I couldn't agree more with the following comments: (The problem? Computer illiterate 'leaders', 'administrators', 'decision-makers' and all the other nonsense terms they like to call themselves...):

"Steve Lohr writes in the NY Times that the country needs more 'cool' nerds — professionals with hybrid careers that combine computing with other fields like medicine, art, or journalism. Not enough young people are embracing computing, often because they are leery of being branded nerds. Educators and technologists say that two things need to change: the image of computing work, and computer science education in high schools. Today, introductory courses in computer science are too often focused merely on teaching students to use software like word processing and spreadsheet programs, says Janice C. Cuny, a program director at the National Science Foundation adding that the Advanced Placement curriculum concentrates too narrowly on programming. 'We're not showing and teaching kids the magic of computing,' Cuny says. The NSF is working to change this by developing a new introductory high school course in computer science and seeking to overhaul Advanced Placement courses as well. The NSF hopes to train 10,000 high school teachers in the modernized courses by 2015. Knowledge of computer science and computer programming is becoming a necessary skill for many professions, not only science and technology but also increasingly for marketing, advertising, journalism and the creative arts. 'We need to gain an understanding in the population that education in computer science is both extraordinarily important and extraordinarily interesting,' says Alfred Spector, vice president for research and special initiatives at Google. 'The fear is that if you pursue computer science, you will be stuck in a basement, writing code. That is absolutely not the reality.'"

2009-12-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

For an example of a nation that is rapidly providing an EXCELLENT computer education for their children, look to Spain...300,000 computers in just ONE region of Spain (Andalusia) in their schools, PLUS an extra 180,000 notebooks, all running linux. Compare this with the problems the Toronto District School Board has handling a mere 43,000 computers with a dismal 10 to 1 student to computer ratio...sigh...oh, and the region has saved over 180 MILLION Euros while providing this vastly better computer education system for their students!

2009-12-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

The OS wars continue...and linux is gaining ground! :-)

2009-11-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

And the beat goes on...seems that linux has gained a few more percentage points to claim 90% of the world's most powerful computers...:-)
And we do indeed live in interesting times...:-) a new Android (linux) based phone has become available, and Google announced the Chrome OS this week as well! :-)

2009-10-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

So, Uruguay apparently believes in educating their children. They have just completed providing a linux based computer for EVERY elementary school child in the ENTIRE country! Meanwhile, back in corrupt, illiterate Canada, politicans spend billions on 'consultants', (i.e. friends, relatives, consultants, lobbyists, etc.)

2009-10-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

And then there is the Aurora, Colorado school district, supplying their students close to 2,000 linux netbooks! :-) Meanwhile, back in corrupt, incompetent Canada, a billion dollars wasted and not even anything remotely resembling a electronic health care system. And one can find many, many competent, responsible IT people...in France! And need more evidence of the incompetent, criminal governments of Canada, wasting tax payers money, when open source solutions exist? Take a look here. Includes ehealth report, etc., etc.

2009-10-06T20:30:00.001-07:00

Well, more schools are moving to linux, open office, etc. And of course, the London Stock Exchange has finally made some intelligent decisions in that they are ditching windows and moving to linux, following competent exchanges, such as NYSE, etc. And here's an interesting article about new Dell computers, with an 'instant on' Linux bootup, and people are spending 70% of their time using linux! :-)
And then there is the Dutch police force, which has wisely chosen to switch to linux! :-)

2009-09-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Looks like there are going to be another 360,000 users of Open Office instead of MS office in the very near future! :-)

2009-08-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

Soooo...do you know a 'Charlie Brown' user? ;-)

2009-08-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

Interesting new campaign to inform people about Windows 7, etc. :-)
Visit windows7sins.org today! :-)

2009-08-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who have, or know friends that have these MS things, do them a favour and get rid of them before they catch fire, etc. :-)
Xbox failure rate over 50% !!??!!...yep, similar to windows quality...oh wait, windows isn't NEARLY that reliable...:-)

2009-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today's news includes the University of Verona moving 4,000 computers to linux! :-)
And here's a technical school in Iceland reporting huge savings on switching to Ubuntu, etc. :-)
Finally, a thoughtful blog from a retiring teacher, (I can certainly relate to the points she brings up) and other education articles (U.S. based)

2009-07-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Those lucky kids in Brazil...:-)
The Ministry of Education in Brazil is providing 26,000 new computer labs for about 10 million students in their education system...and of course, they're using linux to do it! :-)

And then there are the 50,000 linux laptops going to kids in Venezuela! :-)

Meanwhile, back in corrupt, computer illiterate Canada...if only a few so-called "leaders" and "decision-makers" would pay attention and make the same kind of smart decisions as Brazil, etc.

2009-07-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well, this comic made me smile today! :-) Check out the archives, etc. :-)
And YES! At last, some people who know what they are doing, have been empowered, rather than tech illiterates making bad decisions...City of Edmonton is moving to open source! :-)

2009-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Interesting commentary by Carla Schoder about user habits, etc. :-)
And it appears that the fall is going to be a very interesting time, in the computer world...Google is working on, and will release their own version of a linux OS, Google Chrome OS, and it will not only work on the standard x86 platform (standard desktops and laptops), but with ARM processors (CPU common in mobile devices, etc.) as well! Thank you, Google! :-) Yet another slow but steady chipping away at M$. (Remember who won the race? The rabbit or the turtle? ;-)) Let the OS wars begin! :-)

2009-07-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

So, there is at least one competent, informed, genuine leader in the world, who is serving his people, rather than serving corrupt corporations. Apparently, the speech given by the President of Brazil, the world's fifth largest economy, is now available on Youtube. And then there is this article, with a wonderful quote from Walter Bender:

The next talk was given by Walter Bender, who took a rather different approach. He's head of Sugar Labs, the software team that broke away from the One Laptop Per Child project when the latter decided to put Microsoft software on its machines, thus ensuring that young minds were enslaved by Windows even earlier.

Indeed, it was evident from Bender's presentation, albeit quite low-key, that he believes passionately that children have a right to free software, for the simple reason that they cannot truly learn with any other kind.

As the Sugar Labs site puts it: “emphasis on learning through doing and debugging: more engaged learners are able to tackle authentic problems.” That is, free software gives the unique possibility of allowing students to explore and modify their tools, whereas Windows- based solutions are simply used as given, with little flexibility.

I think this is a crucial point that not enough people in the world of education grasp. For them, software is simply a dumb tool, like a pencil: you just use it. For Bender, it's something much more exciting: it is part of the educational experience. If a learner can't hack it, it's not fit for the purpose.

He also emphasised how important the Sugar on Stick offering was. This is simply the Sugar software environment provided on a USB drive that can be plugged into any PC, and run without affecting the latter:

2009-07-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Soooo...is an unaccountable, undemocratic corporation controlling your children's education, getting them addicted to junk software, and unable to think for themselves, and dependent on their software drugs (the first M$ software fix is free when you buy a computer (actually, it's just included in the price when you buy a new computer...), corrupt school boards, governments, etc. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I.e. viruses, computer problems, etc. are good for business, bad for you trying to get anything done. Make the decision to choose freedom today, and start learning about the world revolution of those in the know, using linux! :-)

2009-07-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that the London Stock Exchange has finally come to its senses...and ditched both windows and the incompetent CEO that defended it. My guess is that they'll follow the NYSE, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, etc. who competently moved to linux YEARS ago, and have been chugging along nicely ever since. Comments in the article are especially enlightening...:-) Now if we could only see that kind of enlightenment in education...:-)

2009-07-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

As a very strong believer in the following quote:

A child's exposure to technology should never be predicated on an ability to afford it.

I work constantly to instruct people about linux. Sometimes, I've been punished for my views, by incompetent, illiterate power abusers (BTW, here's an excellent book about power abusers found in organizations, including schools, etc. ;-)). But like many others, I'll never give up. I've spent many years listening to the excuses and propaganda about why it can't be done, etc. Well, as shown by the many references on this blog, it IS being done, around the world, in all languages (more languages than windows, because MS considers some language groups, etc. "too small" or "not profitable, not worth the effort, the market is too small, etc.". In other words, don't let the nay sayers, and those who wish to exploit others, win the game! :-) Help spread the word.

2009-06-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

And yet another huge, famous company is moving forward with linux...;-) Running over 30,000 desktops on linux! :-) And then there are the police in France, who have saved over 50 MILLION euros by switching from windows to linux. And they mention how all the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about " oh, it's too difficult. It requires training, etc. " that I hear all too often from windoze addicts, etc. to be nonsense. Meanwhile, back in corrupt, incompetent Ontario...And want more references about competent schools, organizations, etc. moving to linux? Take a look, here for a sample. Especially note the "Related stories" links at the bottom of the article for more, etc. :-)

2009-05-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that in over 140 countries, 20,000 schools, and millions of school children are using linux! :-) And that is just one linux company! :-) Meanwhile, back in incompetent, corrupt Toronto and Ontario schools...sigh...are your children being left behind, forced into using monopoly, criminally expensive, unreliable junk technology?

2009-05-21T13:19:00.001-07:00

So, here's a story about someone who has finally seen the light of freedom...a Microsoft employee and programmer of 11 years, noless, has now switched to linux and written a book about his experiences at MS, etc. Quite interesting...:-)
And now MS is putting the squeeze on charities...personally, I don't donate to any charity running MS software. I prefer my money goes to helping people in need, not Bill Gates. And check out the Los Angeles Times articles, if you need more reasons to quit using windoze, and switch to linux! :-)

2009-05-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I think this article is looking a bit too optimistically into the near future, but hey, it's Taiwan, where a very large chunk of our computers are made...they must have some idea of what is going on...:-) In any case, I hope they are right! (i.e. 50% of netbooks will be linux based! :-))

2009-05-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Recent post summarizing linux in some school systems around the world, etc.

2009-05-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, checkout how some people are really LEARNING using linux! :-) Rockets, space science and other cool stuff...
And then there are intelligent schools, who are not locked into schemes by proprietary software, thanks to corrupt/illiterate politicians/bureacrats, etc.