Hi all, I've been lurking on this list for quite a while now, because it is a topic that interests me. I would come to some of the meetings, but I am in Adelaide so that somewhat precludes it. :-(
Anyhow I have an issue that concerns me and I'd be interested in other people's experiences in this area. It seems an increasing number of schools, even primary schools, are requiring parents to purchase and support an iPad or similar closed proprietary technology as part of their day to day education. Even state/public schools are in on the act here, and it rapidly seems to be becoming normal that the cost of a public education in Australia is $600 per child to Apple Inc on a semi-annual basis. This situation feels totally wrong to me. eg. See these threads a few days ago on the linux-sa list: http://www.linuxsa.org.au/pipermail/linuxsa/2014-November/096770.html http://www.linuxsa.org.au/pipermail/linuxsa/2014-November/096782.html My sons' school is next on the bandwagon it seems, more information here: http://www.craigburn.sa.edu.au/files/BYOD%20iPads/innovative_learning_prgram_craigburn.pdf Regardless of the merits of using a mobile computing device for daily learning - and I see both pros and cons here - the requirement to provide a specific device from a single company and tied into that corporation's highly proprietary and restrictive platform and license terms is in my opinion potentially disastrous. It also puts me in a very difficult position as my beliefs and principles preclude me from purchasing such a device, but then I already have 2 children and soon a 3rd at the school, and clearly I also do not want to disadvantage them in any way. Although the program is stated to be entirely optional it is abundantly clear that this is not necessarily going to be true, nor is it likely to remain true once an accepted norm is established. eg. http://www.mamamia.com.au/parenting/bring-your-own-device/ IMO this latest threat to users' computing freedom and thus all of our futures is potentially one of the most damaging I have seen for a very long time, much more so than government legislation. If the entire education system is geared to binding children and their families into a single vendor's platform, and teaching them all to be perfect consumers, then the war would be lost. I'd be interested in any experiences and opinions others have on this as I intend to put a submission to the school explaining why I think they are making a bad decision. Cheers, Martin _______________________________________________ Free-software-melb mailing list [email protected] http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
