Dear all
I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a potential
opprotunity or future benefit.
Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project
Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the
wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To achieve
this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness,
adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid
this we are commissioning a project to:
1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools who use
and develop open source products by April 2010; and
2. Provide schools specific content development on open source
implementations.
The intended timetable for project award will be:
2nd May
Invitation to Tender issued
By 12 noon 9th May
Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender documents.
(see 1.6 above)
13th May
Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all tenderers
By 12 noon 20th May
Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above)
3rd June
Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be
invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a
final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 above)
12th June
Contract Award
Please address all correspondence or requests for tender documents to
tender.questi...@becta.org.uk
> Dear all > I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a potential > opprotunity or future benefit.
> Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project
> Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the > wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To achieve > this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness, > adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid > this we are commissioning a project to:
> 1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools who use > and develop open source products by April 2010; and
> 2. Provide schools specific content development on open source > implementations.
> The intended timetable for project award will be:
> 2nd May > Invitation to Tender issued
> By 12 noon 9th May > Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender documents. > (see 1.6 above)
> 13th May > Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all tenderers
> By 12 noon 20th May > Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above)
> 3rd June > Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be > invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a > final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 above)
> 12th June > Contract Award
> Please address all correspondence or requests for tender documents to > tender.questi...@becta.org.uk
-- Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
> Who is interested in working on this (besides me)
> R
> On 02/05/2008, dcarey121 <dca...@oxfordlogic.com> wrote:
> > Dear all > > I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a potential > > opprotunity or future benefit.
> > Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project
> > Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the > > wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To achieve > > this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness, > > adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid > > this we are commissioning a project to:
> > 1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools who use > > and develop open source products by April 2010; and
> > 2. Provide schools specific content development on open source > > implementations.
> > The intended timetable for project award will be:
> > 2nd May > > Invitation to Tender issued
> > By 12 noon 9th May > > Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender documents. > > (see 1.6 above)
> > 13th May > > Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all tenderers
> > By 12 noon 20th May > > Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above)
> > 3rd June > > Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be > > invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a > > final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 above)
> > 12th June > > Contract Award
> > Please address all correspondence or requests for tender documents to > > tender.questi...@becta.org.uk
> -- > Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org > Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
> Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail > M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
> M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee > Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 > 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
The tender would have to include sufficient funding to cover staff for development time and for website development and hosting.
Could the tender come from us as a whole group, perhaps with the INGOTs as one assessment focus?
I am certainly happy to join in as I already publish this sort of thing to www.thefreemac.com as my own effort. If we can include sections on courseware, training materials, etc. I think that this is a real possibility.
I will just have to get the Head to confirm that I can join in in school time and get back but definitely interested.
> We are, just waiting for confirmation from the head and deputy.
> Jo
> 2008/5/2 Richard Rothwell <rich...@caliban.org.uk>:
> Wow!
> Who is interested in working on this (besides me)
> R
> On 02/05/2008, dcarey121 <dca...@oxfordlogic.com> wrote:
> > Dear all > > I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a > potential > > opprotunity or future benefit.
> > Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project
> > Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the > > wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To > achieve > > this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness, > > adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid > > this we are commissioning a project to:
> > 1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools > who use > > and develop open source products by April 2010; and
> > 2. Provide schools specific content development on open source > > implementations.
> > The intended timetable for project award will be:
> > 2nd May > > Invitation to Tender issued
> > By 12 noon 9th May > > Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender > documents. > > (see 1.6 above)
> > 13th May > > Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all > tenderers
> > By 12 noon 20th May > > Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above)
> > 3rd June > > Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be > > invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a > > final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 > above)
> > 12th June > > Contract Award
> > Please address all correspondence or requests for tender > documents to > > tender.questi...@becta.org.uk
> -- > Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org > Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
> Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail > M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
> M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee > Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 > 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
If this message was sent to you regarding the business of The Bolitho School, you should be aware that this email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email.
Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the Bolitho School. Unless expressly stated in the text, this email is not intended to form a binding contract. The Bolitho School does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure although due care has been taken to minimise any potential risk.
The Bolitho School: Company Registration No: 3088645 Charity Registration No: 1048545 Registered Office: Polwithen Road, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 4JR
I've also uploaded the zip file containign tender documents to the
group area. If you ar eunable to access this eamiul
tender.questi...@becta.org.uk and they will forward you a copy.
Regards
David Carey
Becta Consultant
On May 2, 10:28 am, dcarey121 <dca...@oxfordlogic.com> wrote:
> Dear all
> I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a potential
> opprotunity or future benefit.
> Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project
> Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the
> wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To achieve
> this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness,
> adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid
> this we are commissioning a project to:
> 1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools who use
> and develop open source products by April 2010; and
> 2. Provide schools specific content development on open source
> implementations.
> The intended timetable for project award will be:
> 2nd May
> Invitation to Tender issued
> By 12 noon 9th May
> Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender documents.
> (see 1.6 above)
> 13th May
> Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all tenderers
> By 12 noon 20th May
> Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above)
> 3rd June
> Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be
> invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a
> final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 above)
> 12th June
> Contract Award
> Please address all correspondence or requests for tender documents to
> tender.questi...@becta.org.uk
On 02/05/2008, Simon Elliott <simon_elli...@mac.com> wrote: > wow. > > The tender would have to include sufficient funding to cover staff for > development time and for website development and hosting.
Will look at the docs now they're uploaded.
> Could the tender come from us as a whole group, perhaps with the INGOTs as > one assessment focus?
Absolutely - I think an sf-uk tender would be best, we can decide on the 'official company to front it in due course, and then employ consultants :-)
Yes, using theINGOTS asn assessment focus is a good idea.
> I am certainly happy to join in as I already publish this sort of thing to > www.thefreemac.com as my own effort. If we can include sections on > courseware, training materials, etc. I think that this is a real > possibility.
I hope everyone would see it that way.
> I will just have to get the Head to confirm that I can join in in school > time and get back but definitely interested.
Good luck - assuming the contract is big enough, we can pay release fees to the school - that is what Becta and the exam boards do.
rgds,
R
> Simon > www.thefreemac.com > > > On 2 May 2008, at 02/05/2008,11:09, linuxgirlie wrote: > We are, just waiting for confirmation from the head and deputy. > > > Jo > > > 2008/5/2 Richard Rothwell <rich...@caliban.org.uk>: > > > > Wow! > > > > Who is interested in working on this (besides me) > > > > R > > > > > > > > > > On 02/05/2008, dcarey121 <dca...@oxfordlogic.com> wrote: > > > > > > Dear all > > > I felt this may be of interest to members of this list as a potential > > > opprotunity or future benefit. > > > > > > > > > Notification of invitation to tender for School Open Source Project > > > > > > Becta wishes to ensure that schools are aware of and can access the > > > wide variety of open source software in the marketplace. To achieve > > > this it recognises that they must be supported in its awareness, > > > adoption, deployment, use and ongoing development. In order to aid > > > this we are commissioning a project to: > > > > > > 1. Support a sustainable and significant community of schools who use > > > and develop open source products by April 2010; and > > > > > > 2. Provide schools specific content development on open source > > > implementations. > > > > > > The intended timetable for project award will be: > > > > > > 2nd May > > > Invitation to Tender issued > > > > > > By 12 noon 9th May > > > Tenderers submit questions and comments regarding tender documents. > > > (see 1.6 above) > > > > > > 13th May > > > Becta responds to questions and comments via email to all tenderers > > > > > > By 12 noon 20th May > > > Bidders submit tender (see 1.8 above) > > > > > > 3rd June > > > Please endeavour to keep free as a shortlist of bidders may be > > > invited to Becta to discuss their tender submission, after which a > > > final decision will be made on awarding the Contract. (see 1.3 above) > > > > > > 12th June > > > Contract Award > > > > > > > > > Please address all correspondence or requests for tender documents to > > > tender.questi...@becta.org.uk > > > > > > Best regards > > > > > > David Carey > > > > > > Becta Consultant > > > > > > david.ca...@becta.org.uk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org > > Education Consultant http://m6-it.org > > > > Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail > > M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector'' > > > > M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee > > Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 > > 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > http://www.karoshi.org.uk > > > > > > > For free Mac software, teaching resources and training opportunities, visit: > > http://www.thefreemac.com/ > > If this message was sent to you regarding the business of The Bolitho > School, you should be aware that this email and any attachments may contain > confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended > recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the > sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended > recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained > in this email. > > > > Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily > represent those of the Bolitho School. Unless expressly stated in the text, > this email is not intended to form a binding contract. The Bolitho School > does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses > or 100% secure although due care has been taken to minimise any potential > risk. > The Bolitho School: Company Registration No: 3088645 > Charity Registration No: 1048545 > Registered Office: Polwithen Road, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 4JR > > > > > > >
Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
On 02/05/2008, Richard Rothwell <rich...@caliban.org.uk> wrote:
> Wow! > Who is interested in working on this (besides me)
Way hey hey! Thank's Becta.
If I can contribute as a freelance developer then I'm definitely interested in getting involved. Even more so if there's an accessibility angle (bound to be) or use of Mozilla tech. Happy to develop and/or educate on OSS and web use/development for sustainability.
-- Steve Lee -- Open Source Assistive Technology Software web: fullmeasure.co.uk blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
On 02/05/2008, linuxgirlie <linuxgir...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There are no files there?
Jo, there is something very strange, they are there, but sometimes not visible. I can't get something reproducible to tell you. Try navigating up and back or a good old ctrl+F5
On 02/05/2008, Steve Lee <st...@fullmeasure.co.uk> wrote:
> On 02/05/2008, linuxgirlie <linuxgir...@gmail.com> wrote: > > There are no files there?
> Jo, there is something very strange, they are there, but sometimes not visible. > I can't get something reproducible to tell you. Try navigating up and > back or a good old ctrl+F5
> Steve
-- Steve Lee -- Open Source Assistive Technology Software web: fullmeasure.co.uk blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
> On 02/05/2008, Steve Lee <st...@fullmeasure.co.uk> wrote: >> On 02/05/2008, linuxgirlie <linuxgir...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> There are no files there?
>> Jo, there is something very strange, they are there, but sometimes >> not visible. >> I can't get something reproducible to tell you. Try navigating up and >> back or a good old ctrl+F5
>> Steve
> -- > Steve Lee > -- > Open Source Assistive Technology Software > web: fullmeasure.co.uk > blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
> > On 02/05/2008, Steve Lee <st...@fullmeasure.co.uk> wrote: > >> On 02/05/2008, linuxgirlie <linuxgir...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>> There are no files there?
> >> Jo, there is something very strange, they are there, but sometimes > >> not visible. > >> I can't get something reproducible to tell you. Try navigating up and > >> back or a good old ctrl+F5
> >> Steve
> > -- > > Steve Lee > > -- > > Open Source Assistive Technology Software > > web: fullmeasure.co.uk > > blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
> ---
> Tim Duckett > +44 (0) 7525 786 492
-- Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
-- Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
> > > On 02/05/2008, Steve Lee <st...@fullmeasure.co.uk> wrote: > > >> On 02/05/2008, linuxgirlie <linuxgir...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >>> There are no files there?
> > >> Jo, there is something very strange, they are there, but sometimes > > >> not visible. > > >> I can't get something reproducible to tell you. Try navigating up and > > >> back or a good old ctrl+F5
> Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org > Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
> Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail > M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
> M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee > Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 > 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
-- Steve Lee -- Open Source Assistive Technology Software web: fullmeasure.co.uk blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
R -- Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
> Richard Rothwell, richa...@m6-it.org > Education Consultant http://m6-it.org
> Web services * Back-ups * Support * Training & Certification * E-Mail > M6-IT CIC ``Software Freedom for the Education and Voluntary Sector''
> M6-IT is a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee > Registered in England & Wales, Registration No: 6040154 > 11 St Marks Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 7DT
-- Steve Lee -- Open Source Assistive Technology Software web: fullmeasure.co.uk blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 15:43 +0100, John Ingleby wrote: > On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 11:07 +0100, Richard Rothwell wrote: > > Wow!
> > Who is interested in working on this (besides me)
> Count me in.
I've been out all day and got to go out again now but I'm in :-)
I need to read what details there are tomorrow. Two things.
Let's not assume we will automatically win it, we don't know who else got it. We need to work out how to bid. OSC, SFUK, OSA and a number of individual companies might decide to bide separately. That might or might not be a good strategy. Just needs some thought.
You have received this email from the following company: The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales.
I have been told that we are interested in going ahead with this tender, though I have no details till a meeting next week. Has anyone here decided on anything community wise, I could bring up?
> On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 15:43 +0100, John Ingleby wrote: > > On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 11:07 +0100, Richard Rothwell wrote: > > > Wow!
> > > Who is interested in working on this (besides me)
> > Count me in.
> I've been out all day and got to go out again now but I'm in :-)
> I need to read what details there are tomorrow. Two things.
> Let's not assume we will automatically win it, we don't know who else > got it. We need to work out how to bid. OSC, SFUK, OSA and a number of > individual companies might decide to bide separately. That might or > might not be a good strategy. Just needs some thought.
> Ian > -- > New QCA Accredited IT Qualifications > www.theINGOTs.org
> You have received this email from the following company: The Learning > Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 > 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales.
On Sat, 2008-05-03 at 23:01 +0100, linuxgirlie wrote: > I have been told that we are interested in going ahead with this > tender, though I have no details till a meeting next week. > Has anyone here decided on anything community wise, I could bring up?
When you say we do you mean Dover Boys Grammar or do you meant we as part of SF-UK? Or the royal we :-)
I don't think there is anything wrong with DBG doing its own bid, it would just be useful to know who is likely to submit a bid. And who are potential partners.
So far OSS Watch have declared they will bid on a non-advocacy ticket.
Richard, as Chair of SF-UK do you propose a SF-UK bid? What about M6-IT?
We could do a TLM bid and I know Axiomtec are interested but probably my preferred route would be to partner TLM and INGOTs with SF-UK and other education focused private sector companies (Including CICs like M6). A genuine public/private/third sector consortium bid I think would be politically attractive.
Basically such a bid would focus on SF-UK and its web site with a community manager and say bounties or competitions with prizes to incentivise schools to contribute open source resources and learning content. My first thoughts are to concentrate on Web based resources to support primary schools. (This would solve a lot of technical support issues and make migration from proprietary to FOSS easier) This would be complemented by resources such as a free open source managed learning platform (Moodle) and Web 2.0 community environment (Drupal) from the INGOT web site that is supervised and teaches learners how to use social networking safely as well as FOSS apps. All contributes to the e-strategy. We already have 20,000 + learners on the certification site and about 2000 actively using Blogs etc and it's all on free software/CC licensed content. We could move or link the resources section from there to the SF-UK site. In terms of educating people about FOSS, we already have QCA accredited certificates to do just that and we also support staff development with links to the Teacher Learning Academy of the General Teaching Council. We can put out tenders to the OSC companies on behalf of schools that want to install FOSS infrastructure and provide consultancy on development planning to move progressively to FOSS from current circumstances. The publicity from the BECTA involvement is probably as valuable in getting confidence and the message out as the money. If as a result we make more money from services to schools and eg INGOT academies we'll be able to develop more resources for the web sites so BECTA (tax payer) gets value added beyond the original investment and we demonstrate sustainability fo when the finance comes to an end.
You have received this email from the following company: The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales.
> We could do a TLM bid and I know Axiomtec are interested but probably my > preferred route would be to partner TLM and INGOTs with SF-UK and other > education focused private sector companies (Including CICs like M6). A > genuine public/private/third sector consortium bid I think would be > politically attractive.
I like it but would need to factor in the larger admin costs.
> My first thoughts are to concentrate on Web based resources to > support primary schools. (This would solve a lot of technical support > issues and make migration from proprietary to FOSS easier)
Primary schools have perhaps the most to gain from cost savings and community. Would the lack of secondary emphasis compromise a tender?
> We already have 20,000 + learners on the certification site > and about 2000 actively using Blogs etc
Impressive
> In terms of educating people about FOSS, we already > have QCA accredited certificates to do just that
With out checking the certificates again I wonder if that is at levels above primary student's ability or too time intensive for staff and so may need some work?
> The publicity from the BECTA involvement is > probably as valuable in getting confidence and the message out as the > money.
plus the BETT seminar and public workshop would do no harm ;-)
> If as a result we make more money from services to schools and eg > INGOT academies we'll be able to develop more resources for the web > sites so BECTA (tax payer) gets value added beyond the original > investment and we demonstrate sustainability fo when the finance comes > to an end.
Good point for the tender
I think that is a good starting point Ian. We should at least consider MIS/Admin even if we decide it is a little immature at this point in time (though there very useful tools in the various projects). Perhaps we just provide info and otherwise treat like infrastructure?
-- Steve Lee -- Open Source Assistive Technology Software web: fullmeasure.co.uk blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
Not sure yet, the meeting will be next week but the school is interested in making it's own bid, but I have also bought up the fact that maybe we should do our own bid AND a joint bid with SFUK. In total though the WE would be DGSB as they would be the ones we have to be compensated for my time.
> > We could do a TLM bid and I know Axiomtec are interested but probably my > > preferred route would be to partner TLM and INGOTs with SF-UK and other > > education focused private sector companies (Including CICs like M6). A > > genuine public/private/third sector consortium bid I think would be > > politically attractive.
> I like it but would need to factor in the larger admin costs.
> > My first thoughts are to concentrate on Web based resources to > > support primary schools. (This would solve a lot of technical support > > issues and make migration from proprietary to FOSS easier)
> Primary schools have perhaps the most to gain from cost savings and > community. > Would the lack of secondary emphasis compromise a tender?
> > We already have 20,000 + learners on the certification site > > and about 2000 actively using Blogs etc
> Impressive
> > In terms of educating people about FOSS, we already > > have QCA accredited certificates to do just that
> With out checking the certificates again I wonder if that is at levels > above primary student's ability or too time intensive for staff and so > may need some work?
> > The publicity from the BECTA involvement is > > probably as valuable in getting confidence and the message out as the > > money.
> plus the BETT seminar and public workshop would do no harm ;-)
> > If as a result we make more money from services to schools and eg > > INGOT academies we'll be able to develop more resources for the web > > sites so BECTA (tax payer) gets value added beyond the original > > investment and we demonstrate sustainability fo when the finance comes > > to an end.
> Good point for the tender
> I think that is a good starting point Ian. > We should at least consider MIS/Admin even if we decide it is a little > immature at this point in time (though there very useful tools in the > various projects). Perhaps we just provide info and otherwise treat > like infrastructure?
> -- > Steve Lee > -- > Open Source Assistive Technology Software > web: fullmeasure.co.uk > blog: eduspaces.net/stevelee/weblog
On Sun, 2008-05-04 at 06:15 +0100, Steve Lee wrote: > 2008/5/3 Ian Lynch <ian.ly...@zmsl.com>:
> > We could do a TLM bid and I know Axiomtec are interested but probably my > > preferred route would be to partner TLM and INGOTs with SF-UK and other > > education focused private sector companies (Including CICs like M6). A > > genuine public/private/third sector consortium bid I think would be > > politically attractive.
> I like it but would need to factor in the larger admin costs.
I'd see it more that the supporting companies benefit from association with the project and might even donate time and effort because of that. All such a project needs is a full time community manager and a budget for that person to incentivise participation and to promote any consultancy services such as migration support, tendering support, IT health check and strategy for migration etc. They then put the work out to the the partner companies to do. The idea would be to achieve a self-sustaining income so that in future the project was not dependent on BECTA handouts although BECTA/DfES might still fund specific strategic projects. We definitely don't want to absorb funding with admin and bureaucracy. A paid community manager with volunteer project leads works in OpenOffice.org although I have to say it could be much more effective than it is. If there is a budget of 130k, say 50k for web hosting, paying the community manager and expenses then leaves 80k for promoting services and providing incentives for participation.
> > My first thoughts are to concentrate on Web based resources to > > support primary schools. (This would solve a lot of technical support > > issues and make migration from proprietary to FOSS easier)
> Primary schools have perhaps the most to gain from cost savings and community. > Would the lack of secondary emphasis compromise a tender?
You have to start somewhere. I'm not saying we ignore secondary schools, just that if we want some tangible learning resources quickly to show that the project has an immediate impact in the classroom it's probably easier to do something on the lines of the Ottos_club type resources. www.theingots.org/Ottos_club. Simple programming and providing exemplars of how to join in. These are in Java script but Python or similar could be used. We can offer secondary schools services for migration strategies. They have more money than primary schools for paying for consultancy etc. That gives a chance of generating a sustainable business beyond the initial funding. we have to get a balance. I'd be in favour of initially targeting things that can generate revenue so we have the means to achieve more in the longer term but we also need to do things like an audit of existing FOSS resources and work out how to make them accessible to schools. Maybe grade them eg Inkscape, OOo, Audacity grade 1, Ubuntu live grade 2, setting up Firefox on the network grade 3, Migrating servers to Linux grade 4 etc.
> > We already have 20,000 + learners on the certification site > > and about 2000 actively using Blogs etc
> Impressive
> > In terms of educating people about FOSS, we already > > have QCA accredited certificates to do just that
> With out checking the certificates again I wonder if that is at levels > above primary student's ability or too time intensive for staff and so > may need some work?
Not really, I designed the INGOTs for progression. The certificates are carefully planned to support progression from young children in primary schools/special needs to self-sufficiency in using free resources. This is based on the QCA foundation Tier research, functional skills and the Lietch report. They have to start with some key generic skills and knowledge but the Bronze 3 is specifically targeted on Year 6 as a bridge for cross phase progression to Silver in Y7. We already have primary schools saying that they can get Silver down in to KS2. Take a look at the Moodle pages below (Log in as a guest or make an account, it's free)
Note the progression to build concepts and ideas of increasing sophistication. The goal is learning how to learn through understanding of key transferrable knowledge and skills.
If anyone can add and improve these courses please do. I have already made them available for download so people can put them in their own Moodles, it's all CC licensed generally using CC resources.
> > The publicity from the BECTA involvement is > > probably as valuable in getting confidence and the message out as the > > money.
> plus the BETT seminar and public workshop would do no harm ;-)
We would need to work out where the cost-benefit is greatest in spending on promotion. Alliance with other government agencies such as SSAT and e-skills would probably be a good idea.
> > If as a result we make more money from services to schools and eg > > INGOT academies we'll be able to develop more resources for the web > > sites so BECTA (tax payer) gets value added beyond the original > > investment and we demonstrate sustainability for when the finance comes > > to an end.
> Good point for the tender
> I think that is a good starting point Ian. > We should at least consider MIS/Admin even if we decide it is a little > immature at this point in time (though there very useful tools in the > various projects). Perhaps we just provide info and otherwise treat > like infrastructure?
MIS and admin can certainly be covered in consultancy services on lock-in etc. I doubt there is sufficient money initially to make much of a dent on providing a full open source MIS system to replace SIMS although, Skegness might tell me differently :-). We could certainly start a community project to start that process. At least find out what people would consider the core essential applications and compare those to what already exists. The difficulty for a school is that it needs a complete admin system, not just part of it so it's sort of an all or nothing situation, and they need confidence that it will work and that the relevant support is available.
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> On Sun, 2008-05-04 at 06:15 +0100, Steve Lee wrote: > > 2008/5/3 Ian Lynch <ian.ly...@zmsl.com>:
> > > We could do a TLM bid and I know Axiomtec are interested but probably my > > > preferred route would be to partner TLM and INGOTs with SF-UK and other > > > education focused private sector companies (Including CICs like M6). A > > > genuine public/private/third sector consortium bid I think would be > > > politically attractive.
> > I like it but would need to factor in the larger admin costs.
> I'd see it more that the supporting companies benefit from association > with the project and might even donate time and effort because of that.
I feel that people have put enough effort into this on a voluntary basis - I'm sure people and companies will be willing to work on a low-cost basis.
> All such a project needs is a full time community manager and a budget > for that person to incentivise participation and to promote any > consultancy services such as migration support, tendering support, IT > health check and strategy for migration etc. They then put the work out > to the the partner companies to do. The idea would be to achieve a > self-sustaining income so that in future the project was not dependent > on BECTA handouts although BECTA/DfES might still fund specific > strategic projects.
Agreed.
> We definitely don't want to absorb funding with > admin and bureaucracy. A paid community manager with volunteer project > leads works in OpenOffice.org although I have to say it could be much > more effective than it is. If there is a budget of 130k, say 50k for web > hosting paying the community manager and expenses
I pretty much agree with this figuring - does it makes sense if the community manager can handle the research component as well?
> then leaves 80k for > promoting services and providing incentives for participation.
Looking at the tender, the key factor is the quality of the consultants, followed by the research methodology. The other 40% is probably noise. If you are reading services as consultants and development then I agree.
> > > My first thoughts are to concentrate on Web based resources to > > > support primary schools. (This would solve a lot of technical support > > > issues and make migration from proprietary to FOSS easier)
> > Primary schools have perhaps the most to gain from cost savings and community. > > Would the lack of secondary emphasis compromise a tender?
> You have to start somewhere. I'm not saying we ignore secondary schools, > just that if we want some tangible learning resources quickly to show > that the project has an immediate impact in the classroom it's probably > easier to do something on the lines of the Ottos_club type resources. > www.theingots.org/Ottos_club.
TheINGOTS are very important to this bid, but I feel we should not neglect the secondary sector - especially in the tender. Use of words is very important - if we make our KPIs mainly from the primary sector, then fine, but the bid should cover the whole sector.
> > > The publicity from the BECTA involvement is > > > probably as valuable in getting confidence and the message out as the > > > money.
Hmmm.... please following this timeline covering the past 6-8 weeks...
1) The Tory party received a briefing paper on FOSS. 2) Cameron makes his speech - timed to prevent the Labour party responding rapidly, because of the rules about making announcements before elections. 3) The day _after_ the local elections, this tender is published. 4) The period of the project is set to run until just after the expected date for the general election.
There is a win-win potential here...
I expect that if you look around you will find the most government agencies have just released similar tenders, all designed to counter the spin doctors' expectation of the Tory manifesto.
> > plus the BETT seminar and public workshop would do no harm ;-)
the BETT stuff is good news - I presume it will be in 2010? January? .....
> We would need to work out where the cost-benefit is greatest in spending > on promotion. Alliance with other government agencies such as SSAT and > e-skills would probably be a good idea.
> > > If as a result we make more money from services to schools and eg > > > INGOT academies we'll be able to develop more resources for the web > > > sites so BECTA (tax payer) gets value added beyond the original
> > > investment and we demonstrate sustainability for when the finance comes
> > > to an end.
> > Good point for the tender
> > I think that is a good starting point Ian. > > We should at least consider MIS/Admin even if we decide it is a little > > immature at this point in time (though there very useful tools in the > > various projects). Perhaps we just provide info and otherwise treat > > like infrastructure?
> MIS and admin can certainly be covered in consultancy services on > lock-in etc. I doubt there is sufficient money initially to make much of > a dent on providing a full open source MIS system to replace SIMS > although, Skegness might tell me differently :-). We could certainly > start a community project to start that process. At least find out what > people would consider the core essential applications and compare those > to what already exists. The difficulty for a school is that it needs a > complete admin system, not just part of it so it's sort of an all or > nothing situation, and they need confidence that it will work and that > the relevant support is available.
Yes, the targeting of the limited development funding is important. I'm not sure this needs to be decided now - the tender could propose that the first stage of the development project was to determine the most efficient deployment of limited resources between projects, such as MIS, CAD, simulation, datalogging, other TLAs and some things I haven't mentioned :-)
Anyway, it's good news.
R
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