[Fsedu-developers] Definition of the problems of FSEDU

[James Michael DuPont]

Hi all,

It has been a long while, but whatever.

I have not forgotten about FSEDU, but have had little time for it.

Here are my thoughts as to why FSEDU is important and a definition of
the challenges facing us :

1. Money Makes the world go round, and in education even more.
Social Status and Class has a profound effect on Education. Free
Software in education lowers class barriers. This will lead to conflict
 with those who have no interest in doing so. 

2. Generation Conflict 
The issue with education is that the educators are seldom learning new
technolgies. They are mostly buffered from all change from the outside
world. 

The current generation of educators and even managers have thier mings
imprinted with the non-free software mindset. It is very difficult to
teach an old dog new tricks. The best we can do is try and capture the
minds of the young, those who have not been imprinted by microsoft.

3. Need for certification and testing (security)
We need technology that will alow remote testing to be possible. It
needs to be secure and we need a system of trust and peer review so
that cheaters can be eliminated. This may seem to be at odds with the 

4. The need for binding contracts 

We need to be able to have binding contracts between those who will
teach and those who want to be taught. Only this way will a long term
relationship be created.

5. non-free educational material.

It may seem paradox that educational material be non-free, but I see a 
definite need for this in order to be able to finance its production.
The educational material will have to be in the first step non-free
until it has been payed for. 

6. Teaching about free software 

On the final note, I think that the greatest potential for FSEDU is
teaching about free software itself. Teaching about licensing and
contracts. Teaching about marketing. I think that creating courses that
 are not free like books for teaching people about free software will
be able to finance itself and draw in experts who will want to teach.

This will only be possible with a secure infrastructure.

Look forward to your comments.

mike




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James Michael DuPont
http://introspector.sourceforge.net/