Linux in Schools

"This is an excellent guest post by Scott Rowed on the use of Linux in K-12 schools, including strong evidence that school districts that do not have students using the Linux operating system are placing their students at a disadvantage, as well as a description of one outstanding success story in British Columbia.

"What computer operating system should students learn at school? Most schools use MS Windows or Mac, but a number have switched or are in the process of switching to Linux. For schools the advantages are lower costs, greater security, no viruses or spyware, easier upgrades and better reliability. Lastly, there are very few licensing hassles or concerns about pirated software.

"What about the students? One of the arguments frequently presented in favour of Windows is that students should learn on the systems they will be using after they graduate. But the computer world is changing rapidly, and it is difficult to determine if Windows will still dominate computer desktops to the extent it does today. More importantly, Windows in 2015 will almost certainly look different than Windows 7."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• GCreep: Google Engineer Stalked Teens, Spied on Chats (Updated)(Sep 15, 2010)
• More Than 60 Schools in Kaohsiung City Signed the Software Freedom Manifesto(Sep 15, 2010)
• Lower Merion School District ordered to pay plaintiff's lawyer $260,000(Sep 01, 2010)
• Mini-Education Summit LinuxCon Boston 2010(Aug 17, 2010)
• Uberstudent: The students' Linux (Aug 10, 2010)
• HP spins a netbook just for schools(Jun 24, 2010)
• Open source could be Brazil's real advantage(Jun 09, 2010)
• Moodle: The free learning platform(May 03, 2010)