Hi,
Yesterday, IBEC released a press statement on the subject of "Information and Communications Technologies" (http://www.ibec.ie/ibec/press/presspublicationsdoclib3.nsf/wvPCDCCC/ABC6702F... -- http://tinyurl.com/bwmcd) calling on the government to provide every secondary school student with a laptop computer within 5 years. While there's no mention of the matter in the press release itself, IBEC spokesman, Brendan Butler, was quoted in certain news items as saying that one of the benefits will be to eliminate the need for school books and bags. Clearly he's never found himself dragging a laptop from site to site on his bicycle every day.
In light of the news that Princeton University and other colleges are offering students electronic versions of textbooks that have "digital rights management" controls on them (http://news.zdnet.com/2102-9588_22-5825301.html?tag=printthis), while I applaud the initiative on the part of IBEC, I believe IFSO needs to respond to highlight the dangers of it regarding the freedoms of students. I propose the following as a press release.
I had a brief discussion with Ciarán, Malcolm and Teresa regarding this last night at the meal for Beatriz, and they suggested some changes. I haven't put those changes in because I don't have the time right now.
Also, if IFSO decides not to go with this, hopefully we can use this as an exercise in drafting press releases in order to make the process more efficient. With that in mind, there was a number of criticisms offered by Colm McCárthaigh on the first/last press release from IFSO. Can some one point me to where they are so that I can apply them to this one?
Thanks,
Éibhear
(with thanks to Ciarán for the separator!)
=========================8<----------------------
School Laptops and Freedoms.
The Irish Free Software Organisation (IFSO) welcomes the call from IBEC for all secondary school students to be provided with a laptop within 5 years. Noting the suggestion that this initiative will remove the need for school books and bags, IFSO cautions against the potential on the part of administrators and publishers to restrict the freedoms that students currently enjoy.
"The temptation on the part of publishers to control electronic text books with 'digital rights management' (DRM) features will be too strong to resist," says [a functionary of IFSO]. "The education sector will need to fully understand the implications of this with respect to how students acquire and use text books." Recently some colleges in the United States, including Princeton University, have offered "cash-strapped[1]" students electronic versions of text books for a 33% discount. However, these versions of the books are controlled by DRM features that will not allow a copy of the book to be view on any but the computer it was downloaded to and will prevent the student from reading or accessing the book after five months. "If the idea becomes popular, the size of the discounts will progressively become smaller until the electronic versions of the books are no less expensive that the paper versions," said [yet another IFSO apparatchik]. "With the elimination of paper books, students will be significantly less free to learn than they currently are. At the same time, cost saving options like second-hand books will be denied to families who struggle every year during the back-to-school months."
Some examples of freedoms that students enjoy with school text books that would be denied to them by DRM-controlled electronic books are: * Writing notes directly into the book. * Retaining books indefinitely for the purposes of revision or reference. * Borrowing books from friends. * Getting books from older siblings. * Buying books from students from the class ahead.
Regarding the laptops themselves, parents and teachers need to make sure that the students' tendency to explore and learn are not inhibited by the software applications that are installed on them. "Inquisitive students like to change and adapt their computing environments to suit their own interests. Many software applications prevent the students from examining them in order to learn how they work." said [some one else crawling from the IFSO woodwork]. "In the light of an increasing culture of monitoring activities, students who think they are being spied on by their teachers and the vendors of the software applications on the laptops will be inhibited in their natural desire to learn, especially with such a powerful educational tool as a computer. Students should not be allowed to believe they could gain a criminal record, as in the case of some high-school students in Kutztown[2] in Pennsylvania, for exploring their computers." IFSO believes that school laptops should contain a wide range of Free Software applications to facilitate this, and the administration of these computers should encourage the use of Free Software for all school activities.
About Irish Free Software Organisation (IFSO)
IFSO was founded in January 2004 with the aims of promoting and protecting software which comes with the freedom to study it, modify it and redistribute it: Free Software. Notable examples of Free Software include the GNU/Linux operating system, the OpenOffice.org office suite and the Firefox web browser. IFSO seeks the wider use of Free Software, and a wider understanding of the benefits that software freedom brings through independence, transparency and the ability to collaborate with others. IFSO would also like to see businesses which write, deploy or support Free Software being encouraged. IFSO works to ensure that new legislation does not restrict the writing of Free Software so that Free Software can continue to flourish.
[1] "Coming to campus: E-books with expiration dates", http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5825301.html
[2] "Kutztown 13 Face Felony Charges", http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68480,00.html
=========================8<----------------------
Hi Éibhear,
The reference to eliminating the need for schoolbooks and bags may have come from this report. I think it's for real!
Irish Times, 26.8.2004
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, should introduce legislation to limit the weight of school books or face future litigation from adults suffering from back pain, Fine Gael has said. Mr David Stanton, the party's deputy spokesman on education, said research has shown that heavy schoolbooks could lead to serious long-term back problems. "One way of addressing this issue is to limit the size and weight of the books the children carry", he said..."The last thing we want to see is litigation from kids with bad backs..."
Teresa
Éibhear wrote:
Hi,
Yesterday, IBEC released a press statement on the subject of "Information and Communications Technologies" (http://www.ibec.ie/ibec/press/presspublicationsdoclib3.nsf/wvPCDCCC/ABC6702F... -- http://tinyurl.com/bwmcd) calling on the government to provide every secondary school student with a laptop computer within 5 years. While there's no mention of the matter in the press release itself, IBEC spokesman, Brendan Butler, was quoted in certain news items as saying that one of the benefits will be to eliminate the need for school books and bags. Clearly he's never found himself dragging a laptop from site to site on his bicycle every day.
In light of the news that Princeton University and other colleges are offering students electronic versions of textbooks that have "digital rights management" controls on them (http://news.zdnet.com/2102-9588_22-5825301.html?tag=printthis), while I applaud the initiative on the part of IBEC, I believe IFSO needs to respond to highlight the dangers of it regarding the freedoms of students. I propose the following as a press release.
I had a brief discussion with Ciarán, Malcolm and Teresa regarding this last night at the meal for Beatriz, and they suggested some changes. I haven't put those changes in because I don't have the time right now.
Also, if IFSO decides not to go with this, hopefully we can use this as an exercise in drafting press releases in order to make the process more efficient. With that in mind, there was a number of criticisms offered by Colm McCárthaigh on the first/last press release from IFSO. Can some one point me to where they are so that I can apply them to this one?
Thanks,
Éibhear
(with thanks to Ciarán for the separator!)
=========================8<----------------------
School Laptops and Freedoms.
The Irish Free Software Organisation (IFSO) welcomes the call from IBEC for all secondary school students to be provided with a laptop within 5 years. Noting the suggestion that this initiative will remove the need for school books and bags, IFSO cautions against the potential on the part of administrators and publishers to restrict the freedoms that students currently enjoy.
"The temptation on the part of publishers to control electronic text books with 'digital rights management' (DRM) features will be too strong to resist," says [a functionary of IFSO]. "The education sector will need to fully understand the implications of this with respect to how students acquire and use text books." Recently some colleges in the United States, including Princeton University, have offered "cash-strapped[1]" students electronic versions of text books for a 33% discount. However, these versions of the books are controlled by DRM features that will not allow a copy of the book to be view on any but the computer it was downloaded to and will prevent the student from reading or accessing the book after five months. "If the idea becomes popular, the size of the discounts will progressively become smaller until the electronic versions of the books are no less expensive that the paper versions," said [yet another IFSO apparatchik]. "With the elimination of paper books, students will be significantly less free to learn than they currently are. At the same time, cost saving options like second-hand books will be denied to families who struggle every year during the back-to-school months."
Some examples of freedoms that students enjoy with school text books that would be denied to them by DRM-controlled electronic books are: * Writing notes directly into the book. * Retaining books indefinitely for the purposes of revision or reference. * Borrowing books from friends. * Getting books from older siblings. * Buying books from students from the class ahead.
Regarding the laptops themselves, parents and teachers need to make sure that the students' tendency to explore and learn are not inhibited by the software applications that are installed on them. "Inquisitive students like to change and adapt their computing environments to suit their own interests. Many software applications prevent the students from examining them in order to learn how they work." said [some one else crawling from the IFSO woodwork]. "In the light of an increasing culture of monitoring activities, students who think they are being spied on by their teachers and the vendors of the software applications on the laptops will be inhibited in their natural desire to learn, especially with such a powerful educational tool as a computer. Students should not be allowed to believe they could gain a criminal record, as in the case of some high-school students in Kutztown[2] in Pennsylvania, for exploring their computers." IFSO believes that school laptops should contain a wide range of Free Software applications to facilitate this, and the administration of these computers should encourage the use of Free Software for all school activities.
About Irish Free Software Organisation (IFSO)
IFSO was founded in January 2004 with the aims of promoting and protecting software which comes with the freedom to study it, modify it and redistribute it: Free Software. Notable examples of Free Software include the GNU/Linux operating system, the OpenOffice.org office suite and the Firefox web browser. IFSO seeks the wider use of Free Software, and a wider understanding of the benefits that software freedom brings through independence, transparency and the ability to collaborate with others. IFSO would also like to see businesses which write, deploy or support Free Software being encouraged. IFSO works to ensure that new legislation does not restrict the writing of Free Software so that Free Software can continue to flourish.
[1] "Coming to campus: E-books with expiration dates", http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5825301.html
[2] "Kutztown 13 Face Felony Charges", http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68480,00.html
=========================8<----------------------
"The last thing we want to see is litigation from kids with bad backs..."
You've got to admire that honesty. And I thought they'd be worried about the kids themselves!
Malcohol.
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Hi Teresa,
teresahackett@eircom.net said:
Hi Éibhear,
The reference to eliminating the need for schoolbooks and bags may have come from this report. I think it's for real!
Indeed. And I heard a reference to Mr. Butler's comment on the radio yesterday morning, which is confirmed at http://breakingnews.ie/2005/08/31/story218564.html .
Éibhear
Hi.
On this topic, two essays from the FSF might be of interest:
* http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ebooks.html * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
On to IBEC's press release: While the techy in me says "free laptops, cool!" my more conservative side thinks that we shouldn't necessarily accept IBEC's premise that giving school children laptops instead of paper books will have an educational benefit. From the IBEC PR:
The advantages of increased use of ICT in schools are clearly evident
But the press release says nothing about the possible disadvantages: * The expense for the taxpayer (relative to state-provided textbooks, more funding for libraries, etc.). Costs of computers, power, technicians, etc. The other side of this could be the negative effects of "sponsorship" deals with e.g. Microsoft and Dell, to defray the costs introducing yet more advertising into the classroom. * The added complexity of increasing the amount of ICT in the classroom: technical problems with computers, projectors, etc. * The distraction factor: passing notes in class replaced by instant messaging; research replaced by aimless web surfing.
and include: · access to global information sources;
Many of which are of dubious quality. Some recent research seems to show that school students are very poor at determining the quality of material found online, treating it all as equally trustworthy. Old-fashioned paper libraries tend to filter out at least some of the rubbish, even if the remaining stuff has an "establishment" bias.
· the development of skills required for competitiveness of the
economy;
While I'm sure IBEC thinks this is a worthy goal for state education, we should not blindly accept it. Do we want students to grow up to be well-informed broadly-educated critical thinkers, or is the aim to produce workers with the skills the market (i.e. the corporations) demands?
· the inclusion of geographically remote schools and disadvantaged
areas;
Great, but don't make this a substitute for real education infrastructure.
· the quality of the education experience;
Not sure how it is "clearly evident" that ICT will help this. I really hope they're not talking about PowerPoint presentations!
· support for the transition from second to third level education;
ICT is the least of the worries here. Maybe IBEC should instead be demanding that all schools are non-denominational and co-educational and that the students are treated as young adults.
· communication and collaboration between educational institutions.
Great, but of course the core education of students should take precedence over novelty projects with video conferencing, etc.
Now for the IFSO press release. I think this is a good idea and agree with most of what's said:
Déardaoin, 2005-09-01 ag 12:15 +0100, scríobh Éibhear:
=========================8<----------------------
School Laptops and Freedoms.
...
"If the idea becomes popular, the size of the discounts will progressively become smaller until the electronic versions of the books are no less expensive that the paper versions," said [yet another IFSO apparatchik].
Do we have any evidence for this last statement? The other problems are bad enough, so we don't need to speculate about this sort of thing.
...
Regarding the laptops themselves, [...] "In the light of an increasing culture of monitoring activities, students who think they are being spied on by their teachers and the vendors of the software applications on the laptops will be inhibited in their natural desire to learn, especially with such a powerful educational tool as a computer. Students should not be allowed to believe they could gain a criminal record, as in the case of some high-school students in Kutztown[2] in Pennsylvania, for exploring their computers."
I'm sure IBEC would deny that they would support such intrusive measures, so perhaps we could change this a little. I'll have a go later...
IFSO believes that school laptops should contain a wide range of Free Software applications to facilitate this, and the administration of these computers should encourage the use of Free Software for all school activities.
Yes. And I think the use of Free Software should play a bigger part in this press release. We should at least say that such a scheme should not be used as an opportunity to tie schools to a single software vendor (ahem) or, indeed, hardware vendor.
It's not clear to me how this scheme would operate: Do the students (or their parents) own the laptops or are they borrowed from the school? Do students take laptops home or just use them in school?
\end{rambling}
David