ICT in Education

Today I visited RM and during my time there I had the opportunity to get my hands on the Asus Eee PC (or the RM Asus miniBook as they are calling it).

The Asus Eee PC is a mini PC that runs using a Linux OS rather than Windows (yay! ) and comes bundled with a whole bunch of Open Source (yay! ) software:

• OpenOffice for documents, spreadsheets, presentations
• Firefox (for Internet, of course)
• Thunderbird for email
• Pidgin for Instant Messaging (MSN, Yahoo, IRC)
• Skype
• PDF Reader
• Music, Photo and Video Managers
• A range of educational programs including TuxPaint
• A range of games (Solitaire, Sudoku etc)

You can see what is available and test drive some of this here: Asus Eee PC Online Interactive Demo

The specs of the Asus are:

• Mobile Intel Celeron-M ULV 900MHz processor
• Asus-developed Linux-based operating system
• 7″ TFT screen
• 256MB or 512MB Memory
• 2GB or 4GB Solid-State Hard Drive
• Integrated LAN
• Lithium-Ion battery
• Integrated IEEE 802.11b/g wireless
• Integrated webcam
• Integrated microphone and speakers
• Ports for external microphone and speakers or headphones
• Options of wireless 3G module
• 3 USB ports
• VGA-out port
• SD card reader

These are taken from RM: RM Asus miniBook

There’s an 8Gb model planned for next year. The solid-state hard drive should make it a bit more robust than a PC with a standard hard disc. The SD card reader is a nice addition as it means the capacity of the Asus can be increased beyond the current 2Gb/4Gb size without having to have a USB pen drive sticking out of the side.

Wireless capability will be great in schools that have this, as a group of children or a class can then be using the Internet from the classroom without having to trek down to the ICT suite.

Asus estimate that the battery will last for around 3.5 hours (depending on usage), which would be enough for half a day’s work before charging at lunchtime or at the end of the school day.

It is possible, although not that easy, to install other software on the Asus. Here are details of software that has been tried on it: Applications tested on the Eee PC

I am very excited about the Asus Eee PC/ RM Asus miniBook. I think it has great potential – more so that using PDAs in school. I can’t wait to get my hands on one again to give it a thorough testing.

So could the Asus be the “one laptop per child” that we’ve all been waiting for…?!

Tags: Asus Eee PC, Firefox, Linux, Open Source, OpenOffice, PDAs, Pidgin, RM Asus miniBook, Thunderbird, TuxPaint

Recently I sold an old edition of Microsoft Office 2000 Professional on eBay. I was rather surprised to get just over £50 for it. Yes, that much for a copy of M$ Office that is 3 versions before the current version on the market! I guess it achieved the price it did because the buyer could then purchase the latest version, M$ Office 2007, as an upgrade and therefore at a much reduced cost from the full version. But why do people insist on paying for M$ Office when they can have a good, free office suite instead – OpenOffice.org?

Open source software seems to be looked at with some suspicion by some people. This appears to stem from two incorrect thoughts – “if its free it can’t be any good” and “there’s no support”. Let’s take each of these in turn.

1. If it’s free it can’t be any good – well take a look at Firefox. Or OpenOffice.org. Or Audacity. Or GIMPShop. Or Moodle. Try any of these and you will see that these are decent programs. In the case of Firefox, some (me included) would say it’s a far better browser than Internet Explorer.
2. There’s no support – not true. There is support through forums, usergroups and the ability to contact the software author. OK, this isn’t the same as picking up the phone to a software manufacturer. However, with enthusiasts for the software out there, the response to a problem can often be quicker and is often solved by the community rather than the author. Not that the author doesn’t listen to the users. Feedback plays a crucial part in the development of open source software, with suggestions from those who use the software shaping the next iteration of the program.

Some countries have already woken up to the possibility of using open source software including the US and parts of Europe such as Germany. The UK seems to be lagging behind, as usual.

In the UK education sector there is some use of open source software going on. Moodle is being used by schools in some authorities (including Buckinghamshire). However, the uptake of open source software is certainly not huge.

A while ago I spoke to a well-known educational hardware and software supplier about the possibility of offering OpenOffice.org instead of M$ Office. The response I got was that they had considered this in the past but there wasn’t the demand for it. Rather than offer it as an alternative, no choice was given and it was (and still is) M$ Office for your office suite. I do wonder how much of this decision is commercially driven and keeps the company’s relationship with Microsoft sweet…?

Personally I think OpenOffice.org is a credible alternative to M$ Office. OK, it doesn’t look quite as pretty as Microsoft’s latest iteration but it is sound and would at least suit the needs of pupils in primary schools, if not secondary. The old excuse of sticking with M$ Office as it is the “industry standard” doesn’t wash – pupils leaving school now at 18 would have joined the education system when M$ Office 3.0 was being used (M$ Office 2007 is version 12). Many would have started computing in schools with a BBC Master 128 or Acorn Archimedes 3000. What they first used is nothing like what they will use in the workplace today. So there’s no reason for pupils today not to be using open source software just because it isn’t used in industry (yet!)

So am I saying that schools should just be ditching all commercial software for open source alternatives? No! Firstly there isn’t an open source alternative for all commercial software. Secondly, some commercial software is more suitable for use by pupils and teachers than open source software. For example, Audacity is a great sound editor and can be used to create podcasts (although you’d have to create the RSS feed yourself of use a separate piece of software to do this). However, Podium is a lot easier to use, especially for primary pupils and teachers as this creates the podcast and publishes it, so allowing the focus for the school to be on learning and teaching with podcasts rather than on the technicalities of publishing them. Before anyone points me to Odeo Studio (which is free but isn’t open source), I am aware of this but it isn’t as flexible as Podium, plus podcasts are hosted on the Odeo website and not on your own.

I think my mission this year should be to get schools to consider open source software as an alternative to commercial software. The main consideration in what software should be used is its fitness for purpose and whether it will allow pupils and teachers to focus on learning and teaching rather than on ICT technical issues. If the software that does that is open source, then great. If commercial software proves to be better in that instance, then so be it.

I must now get around to compiling a list of open source software. When I do, I’ll post it on a page in this blog.

Tags: Acorn, Acorn Archimedes, Audacity, BBC Master, Buckinghamshire, Firefox, GIMPShop, Microsoft Office, Moodle, Odeo Studio, Open Source, OpenOffice.org, podcast, podcasting, Podium