Now Serving: Open Source in Education
![Rikki Endsley Rikki Endsley](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/online/blogs/rose-blog-rikki-s-open-source-exchange/275384-25-eng-US/ROSE-Blog-Rikki-s-Open-Source-Exchange.png)
ROSE Blog: Rikki's Open Source Exchange
I finished grad school almost a year ago, and since then I thought a lot about what things I should cram into those tiny chunks of time that were previously filled with graduate classes. T.V. got boring much faster than I expected, so I considered opening a roller rink, I surfed the web for law schools, and I fantasized about opening a little cupcake shoppe (which I would name Cupcake Castle). None of these other side gigs would fit well with the day job, however, and I have no intentions of giving up this sweet gig.
Plus, now that my kid is a pre-teen, it's my job to ruin her life and "get into her business," so I set my eyes on her school, specifically the computer lab. I started talking with the technical director of the school and he was enthusiastic about moving toward open source in the classroom. Last week, the school board unanimously signed off on our plans, and now we just need to draw up a formal outline of our goals and how we intend to meet them.
Meanwhile, I started talking about my idea with other people in the open source community, and every single person I spoke with offered to help us. Kristin Shoemaker, Lisa Hoover, Zonker, David Nalley, and many other open source community members offered advice and resources. In fact, the Fedora Project already donated a few XOs to get the kids started, and members of our local user group offered to help by contributing their time and expertise, as well as help collect gently used laptops for the cause.
Pia Waugh also helped (perhaps inadvertently, but I'll take it) by posting Ubuntu training for educators on her blog. Pia recently held a training session for teachers, and she provided a list of resources for attendees as well as anyone else who is interested. Check out her blog post for the complete list, which includes Ubuntu-specific topics as well as links to other FOSS resources.
If you or someone you know is helping a school (or K-12-aged children) move to open source, please leave a comment or email me your stories. I'd love to hear what has worked – or not worked – for you. Oh, and wish us luck!
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.
Qimo 4 Kids
qimo
Qimo