Miguel Guhlin Another Think Coming Challenge Claims, Uncover Reality

by mguhlin

Peel and Orange - Put Your Money in Tech NOT Teachers...huh?

EdTech


Source: Curt Bonk’s and Ke Zhang’s book, Empowering Online Learning

Tim Holt (Intended Consequences) leaves a long comment in response to a recent blog post entitled Think Different in Schools. Tim’s objections boil down to the following:

  1. Linux just isn’t good enough for schools.
  2. You need a geek to provide support.
  3. Not all peripherals are supported so we should use more inclusive operating systems like Mac or Windows.
  4. Will an iPod Touch work with Linux?
  5. You get what you pay for…and with GNU/Linux, since it’s free, you don’t get value.

What a bunch of baloney. Let’s take these points one at a time and I promise I’ll be brief:

  1. If GNU/Linux isn’t good enough for schools, why are Indiana Schools, India, China, and many other organizations using GNU/Linux distributions to meet their educational needs? They use it because they realize significant cost savings and, more importantly, discover a freedom about free software that isn’t possible with proprietary solutions. Furthermore, use of GNU/Linux doesn’t eliminate the use of other tools. But the vast majority of technology in schools SHOULD be the least expensive tool to get the job done, rather than the most expensive one that few learn how to use.

  2. You can’t advocate for social networking, connected learning, global communities, the power of connectivism and then dismiss free software by saying it lacks a 1-800 support line. Actually, you can take your considerable cost savings and put them into support. Anyone who works with free software knows that there are plenty of geeks you can hire—they even form companies!—to provide support. And, that support is LESS EXPENSIVE than the TOTAL COST of buying proprietary software AND the support provided. Simply, you buy what you need, not what the vendor thinks you need.

  3. Peripheral device drivers are developed as demand increases. It’s happened time and again…and, yes, Wacom tablets DO WORK on GNU/Linux, such as UbuntuLinux…and a 2 second Google search reveals that has been a fact since 2005.

  4. Will an iPod Touch work with GNU/Linux? Uh, well, no but that’s the point isn’t it? Apple makes all their stuff as closed as possible to CONTROL use of devices. In fact, if we are about freedom, liberty, pursuit of happiness, Apple’s approach is an indictment and seeks to limit your creativity to the bounds of their imagination. Ipod? What about Android? The more open your technology, the better.

  5. I’m going to steal from another writer. You could get me for plagiarism but I’m going to cite the source and provide some linktribution. “Whoever pays the piper calls the tune.” Ahh, yes, it’s great to have vendors fighting over school districts, wining and dining Board members and superintendents.

In fact, allow me to share a real story from a colleague (from another district in Texas); note that the person was not in the target sales group. I’ve adjusted the names of the vendors to protect myself against slander or libel, I forget. It goes like this:

Peel and Orange—the names of two hardware vendors—were both competing for my district’s business. The Peel rep came up to me and asked, “What do I need to do to get your district’s business?” To this I replied, “You need to wine and dine the school board members, give them free laptops in tailored bags, and do the same for every superintendent’s cabinet member.” The Peel rep was crestfallen. Then, district staff member looked at us and asked us, “Do you know who got the contract?” Ruefully, we shook our heads afraid of what was coming. “Orange” We were surprised. Really? “Yes, they did exactly what I told the Peel rep needed to be done.”

The above is a story relayed to me. Whether it’s accurate, I encourage you to reflect on your experiences with vendors seeking your business.

So, “money talks” is clear. TCEA 2010 is next week and I’m so glad that I can toss the invitations to be wined and dined in the trash. I don’t need an expensive steak dinner to find out whether a product will work or not.

As for graphic organizer software, who the heck uses a desktop based graphic organizer anymore? That’s like using a database that only one person can access.

As a parent and educator, I’ve seen how public schools use technology in schools. For the most part, they run kids through drill-n-practice software, test them for high stakes data collection, and then, when that’s over, they expect them to use technology as a reward.

I’m sure technology can be used for a lot more than that. Go read Bonk’s R2D2. Is it OS specific? And, if not, why are you wasting taxpayer funds on fancy equipment and software only a small percentage of people bother to learn and use?

Go ahead, sprinkle a few Macs and Windows machines in for high end video editing work. But bring the workhorses in for the mass of students and educators who are just interested in R2D2.

Here is his comment:

It is interesting that your perspective is the only one “of reason.” “What will it take to get superintendents to listen to reason?”

Really? Really?

There are a lot of reasons that open source is not used. Despite what you always write, the programs are NOT always as reliable, or as stable. Nor do these OS programs have any kind of support other than the obscure geeks that know each other. Where do I go for support for an OS program? There is no 1-800 number. I have to join a listserve or become part of the LInux Illuminati in order to get help.

I am sorry Miguel, but you are really off on this one. OS, FOR THE MOST PART, is imitative, not innovative.

For instance, is there, after all of these years, an OS program as GOOD as Kidspiration? No, There are imitators, there are online ones, but for little kids, there is NOTHING like Kidspiration. Sorry.

There is NOTHING like iMovie 09.
There is nothing like Garageband. (Audacity cannot do video and graphics, sorry.)
Yes, there are online versions, but they too, for the most part are imitative.
Lego Mindstorms? Pasco Probeware? Do they run on Linux? No, unless there is some hack somewhere that is not supported.

Do Wacom tablets work with Linux? No. So I guess graphic arts is out.

Will my iPod touch work with Linux? No, it is not designed to. So if it does, it is a hack job that is not supported by the vendor.

It isn’t always about the Operating system either. It is about the ecosystems that goes with the operating system. Sometimes, things just run on Mac or Windows. Sorry. That is a good enough reason.

For someone that is always insisting that students be given the chance to show how innovative they can be, it pains me whenever you insist that OS is “just as good.” It isn’t.

It is “good enough,” but it isn’t just as good.

I think it is pretty amusing that the OS-ers in the world insist that everyone ELSE should use the cheapest programs they can find. Why stop there? Why not insist that we use the cheapest computers? The cheapest cars? Live in the cheapest houses? You know why they don’t say that? Because they know, deep down, that you get what you pay for.

Next time you are with all of the OS dudes, ask them what kind of cars they drive? Then ask them why didn’t they get a less expensive car? Why waste money on a car that drives better or has a nicer interior than a less expensive car.

The answer is in the experience. The more expensive cars give the drivers and passengers a better experience.

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