Subscribe to SuperTECH News SuperTECH NEWS is the bi-monthly newsletter of the BLE GROUP, which provides small- and medium-size school systems with supplementary technology management to produce high-quality educational results and efficient management. The purpose of SuperTECH NEWS is to provide education decision makers with concise information that allows them to make informed technology decisions to impact instruction, management and communication. This is information you can use on Monday morning. Editor, Susan DeMark Web Design, Charlene Polanosky Publisher, Eliot Levinson

Our October issue theme is open source technologies. Choose from the following articles.   The BLE Group and Its Services: We offer technology and management expertise to small and medium-size school systems. We can assess where your school system is and exactly what you need to do to implement NCLB. We provide management support to implement effective technology-delivered programs. The BLE Group also helps education firms develop and deliver high-quality products and services to schools. Theme of the Month—In this month’s newsletter, we look at open source technologies and software.  If you think open source is a world that only geeks know or understand, think again. Whether you are a small, mid-sized, or large school district, you need to look at open source and understand where it’s heading and what it can do for your schools. We define what open source is and isn’t, examine what’s available and working in K-12, and take a look at the pros and cons of open source. Products—We describe some of the major players in this arena, plus an IT company that has delivered an open source solution to school districts and another company that advocates for it and has used open source processes to modify its software. Finally, we offer a brief sampling of other open source software and resources. Best Practices—Lessons learned from two examples of open source in use – one in a large, statewide department and another in a smaller, local district.  We examine the Indiana Access Program, which is an initiative launched to provide a computer to every secondary student, starting with the deployment of desktops running Linux operating systems. Secondly, we check out how the Guernsey-Sunrise Schools in Wyoming is using open source technologies. Conferences—Check out the relevant conferences coming in the next several months. We want to hear from you. What do you agree and disagree with on this issue (we will post comments from readers in the next issue). Please write us at eliot@blegroup.com. DID YOU MISS AN ISSUE? You can read past issues of SuperTECH NEWS relating to NCLB online: May 2005 - Focus: Networking January 2005 - Focus: Professional Development October 2004 - Focus: Technology-based Early Reading Progams June 2004 - Focus: The Education Killer App March 2004 - Focus: Network and data security November 2003 - Focus: Handheld computers and software applications for these devices May 2003 - Focus: Data Warehousing and Data Management Solutions February 2003 - Focus: Web-based Assessment Products for High-Stakes Tests December 2002 - Focus: Student Information Systems August 2002 - Focus: Purchasing Hardware 2002 June 2002 - Focus: Web-based Applications for Early Reading May 2002 - Focus: Web-based Professional Development March 2002 - Focus: Technology of Accountability

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THEME: OPEN SOURCE

Open source technology is no longer something that only a small band of geeks knows or understands. Whether you are a small, mid-sized, or large school district, you need to look at open source now and understand where it’s heading and what it can do. Why? Because open source is fundamentally changing the way much of technology is done.

Open source software refers to software licensed and distributed under certain agreements that provide for its source computer code to remain in the public domain – as opposed to a private company that keeps it secret. This allows the freedom to redistribute, test, and modify it. Any redistribution must be in accordance with its license agreement. This allows it to be continually tested, debugged, and improved by a community of developers and volunteers. While open source technology is freely available, some choose to purchase it from companies in order to get full support and periodic updates.

Proprietary software and platforms such as Microsoft’s aren’t going the way of dinosaurs. But open source is making huge inroads, and it will allow schools to cut costs in technology, make applications work together more easily and effectively, and help districts get to 1-to-1 computing. It’s not the Holy Grail, but it’s a piece of it. Schools are using some open source applications right now that are stable, secure, and cost less than current solutions. Potentially, it could save schools thousands in technology costs.

Bottom line: Open source is a business and technology process that is legitimate, and is no more risky than proprietary technology.

The corporate world has been dealing with open source for a long time, but its use is now exploding there. Higher education has been very involved in open source. But open source is now just becoming a real alternative in K-12. In this newsletter, we will tell you what you need to know about open source:

• Is open source real or just a lot of talk? Where will the K-12 impact be?
• what’s out there that’s usable and what isn’t there
• what open source is and isn’t
• the pros and cons of open source

Is open source real? If so, why now and what will its K-12 impact be?

Yes, open source is real. A push for more open source technologies is underway from a combination that includes a group of dedicated people in K-12, a core of users at the state and local levels, device manufacturers, software producers, and interested nonprofit groups. Companies such as Red Hat and IBM see K-12 as key markets for open source solutions. The trick right now is sorting fact from hype, real results from potential.

What’s out there now that is usable and what isn’t there yet?

There are three layers where the impact of the open source movement especially will be felt in K-12: school IT infrastructure, the desktop, and learning systems. We’ll take a closer look at these three areas. First, a much larger number of schools are using servers that run on the Linux operating system, the most widely known open source application.  Schools that are employing Linux report a steep learning curve but are satisfied with its reliability and cost savings, according to the Consortium for School Networking (COSN). There’s a lot of controversy and debate back and forth about cost, but some say this misses a key point: Open Source allows more freedom to choose applications and software rather than have prepackaged solutions.

On the most immediate level is the desktop, where schools are reporting major cost savings by going with open source. And the biggest case in point and situation to watch: Indiana’s statewide program to introduce 1,600 desktop computers running Linux-based OS and software, starting this fall (see Best Practices).

Schools right now can see an immediate significant savings at the client workstation level. On a basic level, it’s the $300-400 open-source computer vs. the $800 desktop computer with Windows. Many classroom applications that perform all of the usual necessary tasks on a computer are available free, including apps for word processing, spreadsheets, image processing, database programming, etc. Office products also have many equivalents in open source compared with proprietary offerings.

Learning systems are the third major area for open source technologies that will include attendance systems, student information systems, transportation programs, etc. But we’re not there yet, and this will be the area that lags a bit behind the first two. It’s also important to note that some applications are still only available in proprietary software, but open source has come a long way and its use is expanding exponentially.

What open source is and isn’t

Open source grew in response to and in rebellion to proprietary software systems that consider their source code top-secret. In formal terms, it’s software that’s licensed under an agreement that confirms to the Open Source Definition – this allows access to the source code and the freedom to redistribute it and modify it. If it doesn’t do this, it isn’t open source. Through open source, a community of programmers, both volunteer and industry-supported, tests, debugs, and expands the software.

But there are many misnomers about open source. Many think the applications and software are all free, but they aren’t. While much software and systems are free, support, training, and hardware to use it all cost money. Others think that open source and open standards – the ability for all of the applications to interoperate – are one and the same, and they aren’t.

So how does it work? Let’s take Linux as an example. It is not a traditional company, but rather an industry venture. Many technology companies are involved together on improving Linux software. IBM, for instance, has hundreds of programmers working on Linux. Many other companies have a stake in expanding and making Linux more powerful. Then the companies make money by developing applications and services based on the Linux OS.

Pros and cons of open source technologies

Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of open source, especially for K-12, based on our interviews with a round of people both within education and industry.

Now that we’ve examined what open source is, and its pros and cons, let’s look at a representative sampling of Products and Solutions, and Best Practices examples of open source technologies in use in K-12 schools today.

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PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS: Examples of Open Source

Note: The BLE Group does not endorse any of the examples listed below. These products and services were chosen to give a representative sample of what is out there in open source technologies and related companies.

From a relatively small group of developers to a very large global movement, open source technology now encompasses thousands of products and solutions. Because there are thousands, we take look at some major players in the open space arena, as well as a company that has delivered an open source solution to school districts and another company that advocates for it and has used open source processes to modify its software. Finally, we offer a brief sampling of other software and resources.

This is meant as an introduction. Once you’ve explored open source technologies, you may find many other applications to serve your district’s needs. The companies and examples we examine are:

• IBM
• Novell
• Pine Cove Consulting
• Red Hat
• TrueNorthLogic
• Other Examples and Resources

IBM
http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/education/index.jsp

IBM has been pursuing a proactive and aggressive approach in higher education by urging the adoption of open standards, open source software, and open architectures, and through various initiatives that are seeing open technologies gain a stronger foothold in that arena. IBM is now expanding and taking this approach increasingly to K-12 schools. The company looks at open source as offering three core benefits to education clients: lowering costs, allowing flexibility of choice, and harnessing innovation within the community, according to Mike King, director, market development, IBM education industry and learning solutions.

Moreover, IBM has been a major corporate player in the open source world, and its endorsement of Linux has been a key factor in pushing Linux acceptance globally. Linux-related services are now a big source of revenue for IBM, and recently IBM and Red Hat announced a joint initiative to speed up the adoption of Linux, with particular emphasis on emerging markets worldwide.

One example of IBM’s approach is Eclipse, a framework for Java development. Instead of competing with other Java-tool providers and each company creating its own framework, IBM contributed the code as open source. It funded the start of the Eclipse Foundation. Today, all major Java tool makers are members, saving money for each company and ensuring that there is a consistent environment for open source development. This can bring about reduced costs for everyone, as well as supporting collective innovation.

In the K-12 market, IBM sees growth potential in Linux-OS Desktops. Beyond this, the trend is building for open source educational applications such as Moodle and ePortfolio, a newly launched product that is the first IBM-enabled open source solution for education, King says.  Launched in August, ePortfolio is the product of an rSmart and IBM collaboration. It’s used with IBM’s scalable middleware, database, servers, and storage, and is an electronic portfolio through which learners and instructors can track and store digital evidence of learning, and administrators can employ for data-driven decision making.

The move to open source has been more rapid in higher education, due to natural synergies, a community of developers and IT personnel contributing code and time, and funding. And some colleges are moving to major campus adoptions they believe will reap cost savings and help benefit students.

Bryant University, for instance, ranked the second-most connected campus in the U.S., recently announced that it will commit to open source computing by moving its entire data center from proprietary systems to IBM microprocessor architecture with the Linux operating system.  This will support the student-information, HR, and many other systems.  Consolidation to total Linux on this infrastructure has brought about up to a 25 percent reduction in overhead costs.

Such adoptions are slower coming in K-12 circles, with the far-flung school-district organization and funding challenges, companies like IBM acknowledge. And schools are taking a wait-and-see stance. However, IBM is emphasizing not only a set of open source applications, but rather open source as a part of a holistic “open approach” and open IT standards that will help schools focus on education more by making the technology work better and cheaper.

By this approach, schools examine their entire technology delivery and ask which components make the most sense to take open source into, according to Kirsten Schroeder of IBM K-12 Education. A superintendent can ask, “How do I target the budget I’ve got so that I can leverage it more into education?” she says.

When giving K-12 schools the ability and flexibility to choose and build their applications and software more, and make systems truly interoperable, costs can be driven down and efficiencies increased. A school may opt, for example, to do an open source data warehouse and its own portal that will cost far less than $10 per student. IBM maintains that schools, in making these choices, can free up monies and time for educational objectives: learning management, support, and training teachers to use the tools for data-driven decision making.
 

Novell
http://www.novell.com/industries/education/k12.html

Novell partners with Lumen Software to combine and provide solutions targeted to K-12 schools using open source technologies. Novell’s solutions range from a suite of plug-n-play portal applications that can be used across an organization to thin client technology through which clients and schools can extend the life of old machines. Through the technology, older desktops can be deployed as “dumb terminals” in a classroom, lab, or library.

The thin-client terminals boot to a Linux server so that they run at the speed of a server, not the speed of that computer, according to Novell. This also eliminates constantly upgrading software at each terminal. The company’s Virtual Classroom has a complete productivity suite, which includes e-mail client, Web browser, photo editor, and Open Office, which contains a word processor, presentation software, drawing tools, and spreadsheet. Because the software and applications are controlled by the Linux server, students and staff can access these from any computer, anywhere, and at any time.

Another solution marketed to K-12 by Novell is the Lumen District Dashboard. The program allows administrators and staff to have secure access to data that can support data-driven decision making and tracking district progress against accountability standards. It can be accessed from any secure computer, using a point-and-click interface. It utilizes best-of-breed Linux solutions.

Lumen offers a comprehensive suite of commercial-grade Linux-compatible solutions. It has developed K-12 education solutions that include a special education management system, help desk manager, and many others.

Pine Cove Consulting
http://www.pinecc.com/

Pine Cove Consulting is a network-systems and IT consultant that works with school districts as well as companies, primarily in the Rocky Mountain region, in states such as Wyoming and Montana. Pine Cove is now piloting an open source solution in a number of school labs in school districts. Rick Vancleeve, Pine Cove Consulting president, says that the districts have had “very, very good success” with open source. His company is now looking to broaden the pilot to work with teachers and extend the use of open source district-wide.

Vancleeve said that he has seen Linux and open source on the horizon for quite some time, but it just wasn’t ready for widespread adoption in venues such as schools three to four years ago.  It seemed too different from the Microsoft environment then, in his view, and “if it’s too different, people won’t go for it.”

But things have changed and evolved. His company, seeking to save schools money and free up their technical help for instructional needs rather than constant repairs and upgrades to computers and software, saw a need for thin-client workstations. Thin clients are computers that have as little software as possible on the computer but instead rely on a centralized server for access to software packages.

The company implemented thin clients in school labs, but ones still using Microsoft. The thin-client solutions have cost $300 per workstation, with schools saving money because they don’t have to purchase many licenses and word-processing software, imaging software, antivirus programs, etc., for each workstation.

Then, the company opted to look at open source solutions with a server running LTSP – the Linux Terminal Server Project, an add-on package for thin-client computers that permits you to connect many low-powered terminals to a Linux server. It also found Italy-based NoMachine NX, a very efficient terminal server and remote-access solution, according to Vancleeve. The technology, he says, is “awesome, stable, and requires a lot less horsepower.”

The company knew then that it could do a true open source thin-client solution for some school labs, putting in a server with NoMachine NX. It’s using Open Office, the open source office suite. Its newest beta version has a lot of the same features as Windows and it can open Microsoft documents; some students do not even know they are using anything different. The schools are reaping savings on software as well as IT time since constant upgrades and repairs are not needed for each workstation.

Vancleeve estimates that open source will drive costs down by 50 percent. While open source is free or low cost, it does require support and the hardware to drive it. The next step the company will do in these schools, he says: totally redoing a district with an open source networking solution. The biggest obstacle to using open source in schools, Vancleeve believes, isn’t technology, “it’s politically” – you have to convince the teachers and staff that you have not only a similar product to what they are used to, but a superior product. This is what it will take to overcome concerns because of their familiarity with what they currently use.

Red Hat
http://www.redhat.com/

Red Hat is a leading provider and distributor of enterprise operating systems and systems management based on open source technology. The 12-year-old publicly traded company is making major overtures in the education market and will be very proactive there in the next few years.

The company offers ways for staff to get training in order to get up to speed on Linux. It also provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge and skills in Linux through its Red Hat Academy. Red Hat is also working with some key, big strategic partners, such as IBM, to foster and speed up the development and adoption of Linux.

Page Gravely, director, Global Education at Red Hat, says that open source solutions can help school districts get to 1-1 computing, at the desktop level. To do this, schools must invest time in the learning and training. However, the return – in terms of reliability, security, and cost savings – makes open source a real alternative for schools, he says.

Also, a plethora of free technical programs will aid schools in recouping time and money rapidly, should they make the up-front investment. At the enterprise level, a variety of applications, from data mining to student information systems, can all lend themselves to open source technology.

Red Hat’s Global Education Solutions is the company’s initiative to foster adoption of open source technology in schools on the desktop or server. Through it, the company markets an Academic edition of its Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop and Enterprise operating software. This software solution has the same maintenance and management capabilities as corporate editions, but without Red Hat’s technical support. It is currently priced at $50 per server and $25 for desktop. This option is not for mission-critical servers.

Red Hat also offers the options of campus-wide subscriptions. At the other end, for mission-critical servers and core operating system and infrastructure is the Red Hat Linux Premium solution, which includes 24/7 telephone and Web support. It retails at $2,499, though volume can affect the pricing. According to Gravely, many schools will purchase – in order to provide for an unlimited number for students and staff – a site subscription of the academic version. And then the district may buy 5 to 10 servers for mission-critical deployment, for example.

As for training and learning, Red Hat has a number of definitive, proactive programs to bring clients and students up to speed on Linux and open source. It has 45 facilities across the U.S. where staff can obtain training –  and Gravely notes a huge upswing in the number of K-12 and higher-ed IT personnel getting such training. The company’s learning consultants work with customers to identify who on the IT staff needs training, and what type of training should be delivered. There are also eLearning courses.

Red Hat Academy is the company’s academic Linux curriculum. The curriculum is designed especially for credit curriculum and workforce development/continuing education in high schools, colleges, and vocational and technical organizations. It’s offered as a 12-month subscription fee for unlimited enrollment. Another component that schools are taking advantage of is the Fedora Project, a Red Hat-sponsored open source development project. Introduced in late 2003, Fedora is built for and with the open source community. It’s for developers and other high-tech enthusiasts deploying Linux in non-critical computing environments.

Gravely acknowledges that although there are many positives to Linux, such as stability and security, the con is “perception.” He says “there’s a fear factor out there” in terms of convincing prospective users of the value and importance of migrating to open source technologies.

TrueNorthLogic
http://www.truenorthlogic.com/tnl-corp/

TrueNorthLogic is an example of a company that has modified and shaped its products using open source processes. Though its software is proprietary, the company has worked with school customer-users to make modifications based on their input through an open source process.

TrueNorth Logic is a Utah-based company that offers three comprehensive product suites – TrueGuide, TrueAchieve, and TrueLife – for teacher development, student achievement, and administrator support, respectively. These systems are intended to guide teachers, students, and administrators and provide customizable tools and resources for teacher professional development, programs and grants, assessment and data management, student-teacher collaboration and communication, and unified K-12 Web portals.

Dan Cookson, CEO of TrueNorthLogic, says the company is a strong advocate of open source in the K-12 arena. He senses there is a lot of misunderstanding in K-12 about what open source is and what open architecture is. Open source refers to software and content that is distributed with its source code – which allows users to use it, modify the program, and redistribute the modified program. Open architecture refers to the ability for software to integrate and interoperate with other programs from a different vendor. TrueNorthLogic’s suite of products has an open architecture framework that is vendor-agnostic and able to scale to whatever-size build-out.

TrueNorthLogic’s products are used by approximately 850,000 students, teachers, and administrators, with large-scale adoptions in states such as California, Indiana, and Arizona.  Cookson notes that in working with clients in those states, the company collaborated with customers and shared code so that it could be modified and improved, and to create suites that were truly interoperable. This has facilitated cost-effective and efficient integration with what the districts already have in their operations.

Open Source Technologies: Other Examples and Resources
The world of open source applications, tools, and content is growing every day. Here is a sampling, as well as some Web sites that promote and provide links to other open source software.

Apache Server
http://httpd.apache.org/
Apache server is an open source HTTP server for various operating systems, including UNIX-like systems and Microsoft Windows. Since 1996, it has been the most popular HTTP server on the Internet. It’s developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. It is redistributed as part of different proprietary packages.

ATutor
http://www.atutor.ca/
ATutor is an open source, full-featured Web-based Learning Content Management System. Educators can use it to assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content.  Through it, users can retrieve and important prepackaged content and conduct classes online. It is also designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind.

Firefox
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Firefox is a free Web browser. Over the past year, since it was released in November, 2004, it has garnered much attention as it has dented the dominance of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox is a product of the Mozilla open source development project.  The evolution and acceptance of Firefox proves not the need for differing Web browsers. It also shows the trend of companies and various entities moving more of their tasks to browsers – Firefox is geared not only to Web browsing but also to writing applications that can be installed and run on top of it.

Interact
http://www.interactlms.org/spaces/space.php?space_key=1
Interact is an open source platform for online learning and collaboration. Besides a Net-based Learning Community Environment, it’s also a Learning Management System. Developed by Christchurch College of Education in New Zealand, it’s a free alternative to programs like Blackboard and WebCT.

Moodle
http://moodle.org/
Moodle is a free, open source course-management system for online learning and community. It is scalable, from a single-teacher site to a large university setting. Moodle’s online user community has more than 50,000 users registered at its site, located in 120 countries.

MySQL
http://www.mysql.com/
MySQL is the world’s most popular open source database.  It is used in more than 6 million installations ranging from large to small.

Schoolforge
http://www.schoolforge.net/index.php
Schoolforge aims to unify independent organizations that promote, use, and develop open resources for primary and secondary education. Its members advocate for the use of open source and free software.

SourceForge.net
http://sourceforge.net/index.php
SourceForge.net is a development and download repository of source code and applications.

Wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Wikipedia exemplifies the proliferation of open source content. It’s a Web-based, multilingual, free-content encyclopedia. It is written and modified collaboratively by volunteers. Online-measurement firm Hitwise calls Wikipedia the most popular reference site on the Internet. Supporters praise its breadth, availability, and extensive range of coverage. Meanwhile, as Wikipedia itself notes, detractors fault it for a perceived lack of accountability when compared with traditional encyclopedias and reference works. 

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BEST PRACTICES :

For Best Practices on open source computing, Super Tech News is taking a look at two cases: the state of Indiana and the Guernsey-Sunrise Schools in Wyoming. This will provide examples of open source technologies at both a very large, statewide department and a smaller school system.

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CONFERENCES:

Following is an annotated list of educational conferences that you may want to attend in the coming months (complete with links to information).

NYSCATE 40th Annual Conference: "Bridging the Digital Divide"
The conference will explore causes, implications, and social dimensions of the digital divide, as well as IT trends and new developments for 2006. Included will be hands-on sessions, keynotes, and networking opportunities. Sponsored by the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education.
Nov. 19-22, 2005
Albany, N.Y.
http://nyscate.org/conferences.cfm

TIES 2005 Educational Technology Conference
This Midwest education-technology gathering explores cutting-edge developments and innovative strategies. The conferences' nine strands range from technology decisions for administrators and e-learning to No Child Left Behind.
Dec. 3-6, 2005
Minneapolis, Minn.
http://tchlrn.ties.k12.mn.us/ties2005/main/details.asp

ICE 2006 Conference
Entitled "The World on Your Desktop," the program explores strategies to deal with new programs and projects, successful technology-rich learning, and other key topics related to technology tools and issues. Sponsored by Indiana Computer Educators.
Jan. 25-28, 2006
Indianapolis, Ind.
http://www.ptsc.k12.in.us/ice/

TASA 2006 Midwinter Conference
Sessions of this annual gathering will address accountability, assessment, school finance, and focusing on school improvement and student achievement. Among the general sessions is an exploration of how clusters of technology are organizing into technological ecosystems.
Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2006
Austin, Texas
http://tasanet.org/conferences/eventsdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=1016

AASA: The National Conference for Education
The American Association of School Administrators gathers today's leading thinkers and practitioners in education. Examine best practices in leadership, curriculum, technology, and governance.
Feb. 23-26, 2006
San Diego, Calif.
http://www.aasa.org/nce/index.cfm

COSN's 11th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference
"Measuring the Value of Education Technology" is the theme of this COSN conference. Hundreds of technology decision-makers learn from each other about leading-edge technologies and trends, and examine what works. The conference offers roundtables, leadership forums, workshops, and exhibits.
March 6-9, 2006
Arlington, Va.
http://www.k12schoolnetworking.org/

Florida Educational Technology Conference: FETC 2006
Annual conference allows educators, ed-tech leaders, administrators, and media specialists to share concerning curriculum-related technology practices and decision making. FETC sessions will address: Learners, Learning Environments, Professional Competency, System Capacity, Community Connections, Technology Capacity, and Accountability. Hundreds of exhibits.
March 22-24, 2006
Orlando, Fla.
http://www.fetc.org/

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SUPERTECH NEWS © 2002-2005 BLE GROUP. All rights Reserved. Do not copy or reproduce without written permission.
NOTE: The BLE Group does not endorse any of the products mentioned in this newsletter.
These were selected to illustrate the types of products currently available.